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I used 50mm @ f1.8 to take a portrait snap. Light source (fancy lights) was near to subject (~3-5ft). I couldn't get bokeh with big circles with the subject there, but without the subject I could get a snap with big circles.

Is it possible to get bokeh like this with a subject in thr foreground with a 50mm lens or do I need a long lens to blur background?

This was the pic which I took (with the subject cropped out). You can see the bokeh circles I want, but I'm disappointed by how small they are. I was hoping for a more dramatic effect, which I could get when the subject wasn't there.

enter image description here

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1  
show the image with the subject in it, and write down the camera settings in both pictures, so we can see what's up. – Michael Nielsen Dec 28 '12 at 8:42
How close were YOU to the subject? – Darkcat Studios Dec 28 '12 at 9:26
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@mattdm pic in question is with subject(cropped). Answer below and the link above are what I needed. I wanted a more prominent circle. – 2-Stroker Dec 28 '12 at 13:05
So, the above is what you got, but you wanted even more? I'm just trying to be clear here, because at this scale it looks about the same as in Matt Grum's answer below. – mattdm Dec 28 '12 at 13:09
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4 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

It's perfectly possible to get the effect you are after with Here's a shot I produced for another question to show the depth of field possibilities of a 50 f/1.8 on APS-C:

It was shot indoors using standard fairy lights for the background. The subject (which stands about 4 foot / 1.2 meters tall) was chosen to give a good approximate for tight headshot. The background was about 8 feet / 2.5 meters from the subject.

Larger circles in the background would be possible if the lights were further away but that would require a large room or an outdoor shot.

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Ahh that was what I was looking for. In my case there were too many lights closer which ruined the bokeh(circles) and it was closer to subject as well. – 2-Stroker Dec 28 '12 at 10:37
1  
@2-Stroker subject to camera distance is critical too - if you back the camera away from the subject the circles will shrink rapidly - even though they are further away. Close focus distances provide much shallower depth of field. – Matt Grum Dec 28 '12 at 10:42
Yep got it, point taken. – 2-Stroker Dec 28 '12 at 10:45
1  
@2-Stroker Check this website to calculate DOF, it would make it super easy for your to get what you want: Online Depth of Field Calculator – Omne Dec 28 '12 at 19:07
up vote 2 down vote

There are a couple of things that could be the reason.

  • The distance between the subject and the lights needs to be more. Further the distance, more out of focus the lights will be.
  • The photo without the subject that you have, might not have the same focal length as the one with the subject. (It may be shorter)
  • The aperture needs to be wide open to get a very shallow DOF. This also might get you better results.
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Does it depend on the light source as well ? Because the lights I used were pretty much tiny(fancy/christmas lights) – 2-Stroker Dec 28 '12 at 9:46
@2-Stroker Not really. As long as it shows up on the photo when in focus, it should show up when out of focus too. But if they are too small or if the background is white/bright, they may not be noticeable. – Vaishak Suresh Dec 28 '12 at 10:16
up vote 2 down vote

I guess the subject is too close to the background, that's why you didn't get that type of bokeh with the lights. Try increasing the distance from your subject to the background and use the lowest aperture possible (f1.8 with your lens). Keep in mind that the further the lights from the subject, the smaller it will appear. So you might not be able to reproduce that light bokeh that big. But, you'll get nice bokeh'd lights though. Happy holidays!

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up vote 0 down vote

your subject should be in front of the light and he/she is 3 to 5 ft from the light. It should be nice and bokeh will appear.

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Yes subject was in front of light source which was 3~5 ft behind the subject, but still bokeh was not that good as without subject like the one above. – 2-Stroker Dec 28 '12 at 7:41
Where do those numbers come from? – Imre Dec 28 '12 at 9:44
@Imre Nos are approximate values. – 2-Stroker Dec 28 '12 at 9:45

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