Background blur, often called “bokeh” after the Japanese word for blur, is generally associated with high-end cameras with wide-aperture lenses. The effect is popular for portraits, and is emulated — ...

The bokeh effect gives photos a certain look that we're sometimes willing to pay photographers hundreds to pull off. But you ...

Despite being at a disadvantage, your compact camera can be used to make your subject pop from its surroundings or give you shallow depth of field. Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and ...

A photo with a busy background can be distracting and divert attention away from your subject. If you have no control over the background during your shoot, you can still make alterations using an ...