[taosikoya]

I have searched the Internet and found little information on how to take pictures with blury background with my new K20D. I will appreciate a step by step hand holding. Thank you.

[johnyates]

Maximise the distance between the subject and the background.
Use a wide aperture.

[jatrax]

I assume you mean a picture where the subject is in good focus but the background is blurred?

This is more a function of the lens and the aperture and the distance between the subject and background than any specific camera.

Start with a telephoto lens such as an 85mm, 50mm will also work on crop sensor cameras. Set the aperture to a low number (wide aperture) such as f/1.8 or f/2.8. Focus on the subject and the background should have some degree of blur, adjust the aperture to get the amount of blur you need. If the background is too close it may still be in focus so try to maintain enough separation distance.

This is a very simplistic outline but it should get you started.

[Adam]

Yup, that about sums it up. Searching for "how to get nice bokeh" or just "bokeh" or "oof background" might help.

Adam
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[MPrince]

You don't mean blurry background, you mean out-of-focus background.

The key elements are focal length, aperture, distance from photographer to subject and distance from subject to background. You'll get better results with a telephoto lens than a wide angle lens, better results at f5.6 than f16, and better results with greater distance between subject and background.

Experiment. There's no film cost to worry about.

[John Poirier]

You don't mean blurry background, you mean out-of-focus background.

The key elements are focal length, aperture, distance from photographer to subject and distance from subject to background. You'll get better results with a telephoto lens than a wide angle lens, better results at f5.6 than f16, and better results with greater distance between subject and background.

Experiment. There's no film cost to worry about.

Depth of Field is the term used to describe how much of an image is in focus in terms of background vs foreground. It is often abbreviated as DOF. Bokeh is the term used in describing the character of the out-of-focus areas of the image.

Understanding of how to control depth of field is a valuable tool for advanced photographers. You will find lots of information about it on the Web and in books.

(Some people refer to depth of focus rather than depth of field when discussing DOF. The two are actually somewhat different concepts, but we do not want to go there. Lets just call it DOF and keep things simple.)

Some like using shallow depth of field, which is what the post I am quoting is describing when recommending f5.6 vs f16. That is also the correct approach to achieve what you are looking for. Others prefer greater depth of field for overall sharpness, in which case f16 would be better than f5.6. Either approach is valid. Just do what is appropriate to the situation and to your vision.

Some people make a fetish of bokeh. As a beginner I suggest you be careful about getting sucked in to that one!

And yes, the best way to learn about it is to experiment and see what you like.

[taosikoya]

Thanks all for your clear suggestions, I will try them and get back with my success stories. And thanks for the advise too, sure it wil be handy.

[Na Horuk]

What lens(es) do you have? So, yes, low f-number, subject close to you, background further away. A tele (high mm number/focal length) lens will have an easier time achieving this than a wide angle (like 24mm or 15mm). This can get really technical, though, so you might want to google up on "bokeh" (Japanese for blur, its a big thing in modern photography).

[taosikoya]

What lens(es) do you have? So, yes, low f-number, subject close to you, background further away. A tele (high mm number/focal length) lens will have an easier time achieving this than a wide angle (like 24mm or 15mm). This can get really technical, though, so you might want to google up on "bokeh" (Japanese for blur, its a big thing in modern photography).

I've got 2 lenses: 20-55mm and 50-200mm. Which one will produce the nicest bokeh?

[LFLee]

I've got 2 lenses: 20-55mm and 50-200mm. Which one will produce the nicest bokeh?

50-200. Use at 200mm and shot something close which u can get focus lock on. The background is now out of focus. Its called "bokeh".

[rbefly]

Hello Taosikoya,
Between those two choices, I'd say the 50-200mm, simply because it's a telephoto and longer (focal length) lenses tend to isolate the in-focus subject better.
Having said that, zooms generally don't have great bokeh. There are a few exceptions, like f/2.8 telephoto zooms, which tend to be pretty expensive and bulky. If you're looking for GREAT bokeh, a prime lens is the clear choice.
Overall, I'd suggest a 50mm up to 100mm prime lens, with a wide (f/2.8 or faster) maximum aperture.
This is the classic "Portrait" focal range, and also is widely used for Macro primes, two fine examples of subject isolation, shallow depth-of-field and soft, smooth background rendering (good bokeh).
Try googling the word "Bokeh" instead of fuzzy or blurry. You'll find that in addition to the techniques mentioned in the previous posts (which are all very good, by the way), certain lenses produce better bokeh than others. Some are so famous for their wonderful background blur and out-of-focus rendering that they have their own cult status and nicknames. There is the "Bokeh Monster", the "Bokina" and a few others. You will find entire sites dedicated to showing examples of each lens to its best advantage.
For an inexpensive and easily-available start, look for a Pentax A 50mm f/1.7. You can also use the M 50mm f/1.7, but will lose auto-aperture. Both are manual-focus lenses. Shoot some head-and-shoulder portrait photos and perhaps a few close-ups of flowers or other small objects, all at f/1.7 or f/2.0.
You will clearly see the difference in fast-prime bokeh, compared to your zooms.
Last, check out this thread;
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/mini-challenges-games-photo-stories/93874...our-bokeh.html
Just some ideas for you, hope it helps!
Ron

[neil]

50-200. Use at 200mm and shot something close which u can get focus lock on. The background is now out of focus. Its called "bokeh".

Yup, that about sums it up. Searching for "how to get nice bokeh" or just "bokeh" or "oof background" might help.

Bokeh is actually referring to the quality of the out of focus areas.

[taosikoya]

Guys, here are 3 samples of what I have done so far. Thanks for your guidance. Which one do you like the most.

[taosikoya]

Sample 2

[taosikoya]

Sample 3