Using bokeh as a background element

"Bokeh" is a fancy term for blur!!! As defined by Wikipedia, bokeh refers to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field
In an image we want our subject to stand out from its surroundings. Hence a bokeh will remove distracting backgrounds from claiming attention in photos. Many creative photographers will use bokeh as the main subject, but in this post I will stick to examples where I have used it as background element.

First one to start with is a portrait of my wife. The background is busy, but I have blurred it out to keep the attention on my subject.

From Blog

The second is an extreme example of a Bokeh. The entire background is made completely blurred with the subject in focus. This is one shot I am very proud of: (View it in large in my Flickr photo album)


The third one is also a flower shot with small bokeh in foreground and a larger more out of focus bokeh in background.



The last in today's series is a planned treatment of mine. The bokeh is not very asthetically pleasing, but I believe it blends well with the subject and my treatment.

Let me know how you feel about these photos and show me yours.