Help me with background blur, PLEASE

Ok i read bens newbie guide. i learned alot! totally but im still unclear about somethings...
Whats the best way to get bokeh! (Background Blur) Keeping in mind i have kit lens which i know it isnt my favor but i plan to buy a nifty fifty asap...
Is it Stand back zoom in or stand forward zoom out or does it not matter...

2 scenarios...

Im snapping shots of my baby sister out in a flower field with perfect natural lighting and i get close and away just candid stuff mixing it up.... whats the best way to achieve it and what settings is it best with?

Im messing around inside my living room suns almost down got inside lighting on and i want a nice picture of my kitten with nice bokeh is this acheivable if so please let me know settings and all.. thanks!!!!

For blurred background shoot with A) wide aperture, B) long side of the zoom and C) close to the subject, far from the background.

Shallow Depth of Field and good Bokeh are not the same!
The former depends on three factors mentioned above, the later depends strictly on the lens itself.

Hermeto has it right.

Bokeh is a result of the lens - you can't change it. Some lenses have great bokeh; some terrible bokeh, and it can vary somewhat with the f/stop.

For a good read that will help you understand bokeh, try this:

http://www.rickdenney.​com/bokeh_test.htm

ok great thanks guys much help!

would a nifty fifty help me out or shall i get a diffrent lens

Thenicky,
Yes the nifty 50 will help you get more bokeh then your kit lens but you will get higher quality bokeh (smoother) with the 50 f/1.4

Depends on how much you need to shoot your kitten in low light? I'd suggest the 70-200 f/4 L as a complement to your kit lens & suggest that you use some tin foil to bounce your flash off the ceiling.

ok awesome thanks guys i will look and try these i appreciate it...

PhotosGuy wrote in post #5708046
Depends on how much you need to shoot your kitten in low light? I'd suggest the 70-200 f/4 L as a complement to your kit lens & suggest that you use some tin foil to bounce your flash off the ceiling.

Yup, this lens tested out very well for pleasing bokeh in the Rick Denny test; it rivalled some of the world's best lenses.

what about the 28-135mm
those are the 2 im thinking about buying and im kinda stuck on em

The price of the 28-135 is not bad for what you get. You can get these used for about $300 all day long. The aperture is not as large as the 50 1.8 but the additional focal length will help blur the back ground some. You may be able to get plenty of blur with this at 135mm but I would not expect it to provide a pleasing bokeh.

The important things are large aperture (small number), longer focal length, smaller distance from lens to subject, longer distance from subject to background.

You can change one of these and still get the same amount of blur as long as you change another to offset the difference. Meaning if you increase the distance from lens to subject but also increase the distance from subject to background you will have similar amount of blur.

Ok great thanks...

Watch the sell forum. a 70-200 f/4 NON-IS goes for around $450-$500.

The 70-200f/4 is a killer lens, the saturation and color tone are gonna get you hooked.