Bokeh with a point and shoot camera

Green Elephant | By Romy Sollorano

Bokeh is a Japanese term meaning blur, or (when applied to a person) someone with a clouded state of mind.

In photography, bokeh keeps the main subject sharp while blurring other elements. This creates a beautiful effect used in portrait photography. Nowadays, almost everyone with an SLR (single lens reflex) camera can create the effect.

This macro shot of a small elephant figurine took a while for me to figure out using an instant camera, but it worked out well, in my amateurish attempt at bokeh. The blurred background focuses attention on the subject and removed distractions (a dirty kitchen didn't look nice for a background. Hahaha....).

There are many ways to create bokeh (even with a point and shoot camera). Try playing around with the controls and moving closer or farther away from the subject. For this shot, I tried a big aperture to defocus the background. The shallow depth of field created the bokeh effect. It's not going to win competitions but makes me happy to know that the effect can be done even with an old camera (Canon G3).

With that said, it might take time for newbies to learn how to create the bokeh effect, but with patience and perseverance, almost anything can be accomplished. And don't forget to have fun while doing it.
  

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