Creating Bokeh Backgrounds With Ultraflares

Ultraflares is much more than a lens flare plugin; it’s a full feature light studio. Its elaborate feature set provides an endless number of applications.

One interesting use for Ultraflares is in the creation of bokeh backgrounds. These backgrounds provide a subtle and minimalist out of focus backdrop from which your subjects can stand out from. Ultraflares can generate bokeh backgrounds using the powerful multi-iris object. Any number of options can be tweaked to deliver the exact result you’re after. You can even produce bokeh backgrounds using optical vignetting (Cat’s Eye Bokeh). In the example below, a bokeh layer was generated in HD with Ultraflares. The output took less than 1 second:

The bokeh layer can then be easily integrated into your own images. In this case, it was composited with this portrait and then color corrected:

If you haven’t already, check out Ultraflares and feel free to test drive the demo!