Back to Basics - Month 6 - BOKEH

[Pete]

Hi everyone.

This is where to come if you've lost your photo-mojo and you're finding it difficult to work out what to shoot, how to improve your composition, and how to get your "eye" back again.

I'm intending this thread (and the ones to follow) to be open for people who feel that they need to get back to basics in order to improve their photography. Photos submitted should be posted with a view to them being (gently) critiqued by other members. I also invite pros to contribute with guidance for us poor lesser mortals and generally help us out with exploring the fundamentals.

Each month, I'll start a new thread introducing another compositional element to explore. That doesn't mean that each thread will die - far from it, I want each area to continue to be explored and discussed.

The idea is that you should go out and actively look for compositions that includes the subject, you should be very deliberate about what you're shooting, and why. This should really be treated as a learning excercise. It would also be helpful if when you post your shots, you can give a brief synopsis of why you framed it a particular way and what attracted you to take the shot.

BOKEH

Bokeh is the photographic term for a blurred background. This is used to isolate the subject matter from the background so that it stands out in a more appealing way.

What we're aiming to get is a background that doesn't distract from the subject, but rather compliments it. What we'd call 'bad' bokeh is something that's usually brighter than the subject (distracting attention away from it), or just plain looks ugly.

So, the workshop this month is to post shots that exhibit 'good' bokeh. Which can either serve as a background to the subject matter, or provide a non-distracting placement for the subject.

Bokeh is something that usually just 'happens'. Try not to think about it this way, but try to look at what's behind your subject and how that's going to look in the final print.

[Pete]

Here, the Bokeh places the Meerkat in a zoo.
http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos/normal/2006_beale_park_090.jpg

And here, the Bokeh serves as a contrasting backdrop
http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos/normal/IMG_2117.jpg

[Lightstream]

http://pix.lightrefineries.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2916&g2_serialNumber=3

I had cognac and I was invited to share, so... :)

Shot with a 28mm f/1.8 set to f/2.2.

Three main factors influence how much bokeh you can obtain. You can use any combination of the three, including just one of them.
- Telephoto lenses
- Large apertures (f/1.8, 2.2)
- And the distance between your subject and background.


In this case, I am using a wide angle lens (28mm) but a fairly large aperture (f/2.2). Note two POINT two and not f/22 (twenty two). I am also very close to my subject, whereas the distance from the subject to the background is relatively far.

[tommykjensen]

Ok first one is one of my favorite photos and is close to 3 years old. I was not paying too much attention to the background so the bokeh was not so even. It is a person that is standing in the background.

http://photo.klein-jensen.dk/photo.php?n=HarrisHawk1.jpg


For this next one I was more aware of the background resulting in a more even bokeh. The background was grass and some distance away.

http://photo.klein-jensen.dk/photo.php?n=060512_harrishawk2.jpg

[Pete]

Excellent examples, Tommy. Many thanks.

[Lightstream]

Contrary to popular belief you do not need to shoot birds or meerkats to obtain good bokeh. ;)

http://pix.lightrefineries.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2256&g2_serialNumber=2

This example uses a telephoto zoom (70-200 lens) at a relatively small aperture (f/4). Due to the long focal length and close distance to my subject (with relatively long distance between subject and background), I still manage to achieve fairly smooth bokeh. Again, I am using two of the above three factors I have named.

[Pete]

Very nice bokeh, Kevin. Shame about the subjects though. Nasty blown highlight on the bottle, and the central point on the flower head should be a flower, not a dead shrivelled up thing in the middle.

Very superb bokeh though.

[Permagrin]

here's something I find very hard to do...getting close enough to the birds I shoot to get seperation bokeh

http://LC-images.smugmug.com/photos/139560221-L.jpg

and here's one of my recent favorites using the bokeh as enhancement

http://LC-images.smugmug.com/photos/142538532-L.jpg

[Pete]

Oh Perm, perfect Perm...

You make the rest of us look inadequate...

Lovely...

[Permagrin]

Oh Perm, perfect Perm...

You make the rest of us look inadequate...

Lovely...

oh thanks Pete, what a sweet thing to say!

[red hot sheep]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/213/448439416_068ce35dd9.jpg?v=0 (http://flickr.com/photos/francishalliday/448439416/)

Bokeh is a bit 'busy' but the robin didn't comply and move to a better area!

[Pete]

No, that's perfect good placement bokeh. I still love that shot!

[BottomBracket]

Here, the Bokeh places the Meerkat in a zoo.
http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos/normal/2006_beale_park_090.jpg

And here, the Bokeh serves as a contrasting backdrop
http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos/normal/IMG_2117.jpg


I don't really see any bokeh on the second pic.

[T.D.]

I call this one mo(o)keh:

http://hoyboy.smugmug.com/photos/124701964-L.jpg

[Jamdiver]

Bokeh so nice.....
Shot with the Canon 60mm f/2.8 EF-S lens, a sweet piece of glass...

My preference is for shallow DOF shots with lots of colours and Bokeh if it can be created.
Generally these shots happen organically, i'm not specifically looking for bokeh in most cases.... it just happens.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/428195845_6939c40e20_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/390367599_1b8f7e4cf3_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/171/390346380_541c52be96.jpg

Shot with the Sigma 70-300mm, I'm not quite sure if this qualifies as bokeh??

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/188/405924021_e67cfb38cd.jpg

[Becky N]

This one I was paying attention to the background making sure I included some of the other spring bulbs stems and leaves. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing my contacts, for which my eyepiece is adjusted, so I missed focus a bit on the daffy-down-dilly:

http://performancephoto.us/images/Beckysgallery/20070329-IMG_4823.jpg

[rklepper]

This is my little Doxie Ruby Tuesday. I think this one works quite well.

[bfurbush]

Probably some weak bokeh, only had my kit for about 3-4 weeks now, Rebel XT w/ the kit lens. Still learning :) Any suggestions to obtain better (smoother) bokeh here?

[Pete]

moving slight further back and zooming in will get you more blur on the background, but that's a pretty good attempt.

What were your aperture and zoom settings for that one?

[R_Metzel]

Here is some yummy Bokeh @ f/8. Just to show you don't always need to shoot wide open to get it.
ISO 400, 200mm, f/8, 1/500.
Zoomed in to 200mm, took a few steps forward to fill the frame. Kind of contradictory to what Pete just said, but it depends on the situation and how close the background is to the subject.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/438162301_8b13a2116d_o.jpg

[Pete]

Here is some yummy Bokeh @ f/8. Just to show you don't always need to shoot wide open to get it.
ISO 400, 200mm, f/8, 1/500.
Zoomed in to 200mm, took a few steps forward to fill the frame. Kind of contradictory to what Pete just said, but it depends on the situation and how close the background is to the subject.


Very nice...! And I only said "step back" in the previous comment so that the flower would remain in frame when zoomed in.

[cdifoto]

I thought the treeline, sky and snow made a nice gradiant.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/meyeroptik/2007-02-26-019-1.jpg

[bfurbush]

Originally posted by Pete
moving slight further back and zooming in will get you more blur on the background, but that's a pretty good attempt.

What were your aperture and zoom settings for that one?

Thanks Pete for the advice and the compliment - Settings were as follows:

Av mode, ISO 100, F/3.5, 18mm (on 18-55mm kit), 1/1000

[In2Photos]

My primary subjects are my family. Occasionally I try to get out and shoot some wildlife. I usually try to shoot my subjects with pleasing backgrounds and make sure that I have plenty of room behind them to blur. Here are some examples.

Portrait Bokeh

http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/69500757.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/69497755.jpg

Here I could not get my subject any further from the background so I had to improvise and raise the camera slightly to eliminate a nasty element in the background.

http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/69498799.jpg

Wildlife Bokeh

http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/73549294.jpg

[Greg_C]

Bokeh mmm Bokeh.

The distance from your subject to the background plays a part in how the good the bokeh looks as Mike has said. Here's three different lenses.

No.1 Chives flower with a Sigma 105.00 mm 1/200 s at F 5.60 with ISO 100
http://www.steadyhands.net/photogallery/albums/temp/image7056.jpg


No.2 Seagull with the 100-400 mm at 400.00 mm 1/800 s at F 6.30 with ISO 100
http://www.steadyhands.net/photogallery/albums/temp/image16928.jpg


No.3 Barking Owl with the 70-200 mm at 148.00 mm 1/320 s at F 4.00 with ISO 100
http://www.steadyhands.net/photogallery/albums/temp/image17785.jpg

[Becky N]

Took this shot with this thread in mind. Used the 75-200 zoom with 2TC knowing the majority of the background was at some distance from the subject. Might have been better if the smaller branches weren't there, but with Ma Nature I take what she provides:

http://performancephoto.us/images/Beckysgallery/20070413-IMG_4933.jpg

[JaGWiRE]

A photo of me (the pimpin big balls of bokeeeh)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/166/434636620_a00b71f691.jpg?v=0
Courtesy of my friend http://flickr.com/photos/geimov/ Thanks Charlie!

And one of my own

http://brianstar.smugmug.com/photos/140329820-L.jpg

[Pete]

Great work, Brian. I like that first shot a great deal.

[JaGWiRE]

Great work, Brian. I like that first shot a great deal.

It is an excellent shot.
We took about 100 of me that night, this was near the beginning and was quite excellent, everything seemed right about it.
I'm wondering if I should tell you guys what lens it was taken with :D.

[Miniflash]

Here is my idea of some BOKEH

[Pete]

Apologies for another meerkat...

http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos/normal/IMG_2909.jpg

[Jamdiver]

Water Lily flower up close.... :)
I aimed to show the lily in its natural environment and have the green of Lilypad in the background to complement the colours of the Flower.
Shot with a telephoto lens Sigma 70-300mm to try and compress the background and also the lily was too far away for my macro lens..

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/241/458860663_92c80e1d22_o.jpg

[misspix]

Lilacs
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k259/miss-pix/Nature/IMG_1891-01.jpg

[Pete]

Mmmm... I'm really enjoying the contributions to this one. Looks like most people have it made!

[tommykjensen]

Since you are pressing so hard for more examples here is a couple more I like. :lol:

http://photo.klein-jensen.dk/photo.php?n=penguin.jpg

http://photo.klein-jensen.dk/photo.php?n=owl_edited.jpg

http://photo.klein-jensen.dk/photo.php?n=HarrisHawk3.jpg

[olly_k]

My primary subjects are my family. Occasionally I try to get out and shoot some wildlife. I usually try to shoot my subjects with pleasing backgrounds and make sure that I have plenty of room behind them to blur. Here are some examples.

Portrait Bokeh

http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/69500757.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/69497755.jpg

Here I could not get my subject any further from the background so I had to improvise and raise the camera slightly to eliminate a nasty element in the background.

http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/69498799.jpg

Wildlife Bokeh

http://www.pbase.com/madawson/image/73549294.jpg


can I just compliment you on your photo's - I see many people with much more expensive gear produce worse shots than the ones you have posted! - LOL assuming you have recently updated your gear list that is!

[olly_k]

This is my most pleasing attempt at Bokeh with my new camera so far. I am not actually sure what I think about the picture itself so I would really appreciate some feedback :D


http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u270/olly-k/Img_2944c.jpg

[In2Photos]

can I just compliment you on your photo's - I see many people with much more expensive gear produce worse shots than the ones you have posted! - LOL assuming you have recently updated your gear list that is!
Thank you very much. And I have not updated my kit so my sig is correct.:) Most of my shots are with the Tamron 28-75 on my XT. The rest were taken with my 70-210 f/3.5-4.5 USM ($165 ;) ). While I would love to have some more expensive gear I just try to do as best that I can with what I do have. I did get to play around with an 85 1.8 for a while and can't wait to get my hands on one for good. I also found that I enjoy my results more when using flash, either as my main light source (indoors) or as fill (outdoors).

[Pete]

Nice bokeh, Olly. The flower seems a little out oof focus though, but that could be the wind blowing it about. What settings did you use for that one?

[olly_k]

Nice bokeh, Olly. The flower seems a little out oof focus though, but that could be the wind blowing it about. What settings did you use for that one?

AE 1/500 shutter f6.3 ISO 100 @70mm so I don't think wind was much of a problem... Sharpness is something I am finding a little bit hit and miss on my 350D TBH - I love sharp images and am quite critical in this area, although for some reason this shot didn't bother me - I appreciate you pointing it out!
Normally I tend to shoot MF especially in macro but I think the lack of light in the viewfinder might have got the better of me here... Also DOf I think was quite shallow but now I am just coming out with poor excuses :lol:

Oh, Just rememberd I have increased the image brightness / contrast a little in PSP but that is all!

[Pete]

It'll be a lot better to find a reason for why the shot didn't work all that well rather than attempting to postulate excuses...

It could be that you're being fairly careful with the autofocus and pressing the shutter half way, pausing and then pushing home all the way. In that period of "pause" the flower might have moved in the wind. to test this, do exactly the same thing, but indoors with a flower in a vase or something. Working out what's going wrong is a matter of trial and error. Once you know what the problem is, you can correct it.

[olly_k]

It'll be a lot better to find a reason for why the shot didn't work all that well rather than attempting to postulate excuses...


Tbh like I said I was in manual focus, and I honestly think I perhaps couldn't distinguish which parts of the flower were in absolute sharp focus at the time. Also I am trying to improve my shutter release movements, by trying to make everything as smooth as possible - this could have been partly to blame!
You are right in that I may have moved but when in autofocus I generally use custom function 4/1 as my prefered ae/af with AI servo so maybe I am taking the right steps to minimising this sort of situation?
Thanks for the hints though I think I will try various handheld / tripod shots like you suggested!

[Pete]

Yes, AI Servo is probably the best way to go and it definitely looks as though you're taking all reasonable steps to take the best photos that you can.

I use AI servo quite a bit for wildlife (tracking them walk/swim around). I'm not so sure how good it is over the smaller distances though. Stopping down the aperture to f/10 or so might increase the depth of field enough to get more in focus. f/6.3 seems a bit wide for something so close.

[Jamie Holladay]

I think there is some nice bohen in these?

http://www.24zero.com/lee/gear%20shift%20knobx800.jpg

http://www.24zero.com/macro/IMG_5285.jpg

[Boxlock]

does this one work in Macro???

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/682422/14894582/246500429.jpg

[dbvirago]

A nice squab

http://brooksimages.com/images/mPigeon.jpg

and from my Christmas shots

http://brooksimages.com/images/mChristmas%20Time.jpg

[nadder-diary]

http://www.nadder-diary.net/page7/files/page7_blog_entry39_4.jpg

[Danellyn]

Thoughts on this one?

http://www.danellyn.com/potn/gathering1/images/PotnGathering062.jpg

[Pete]

Hmmm... My thoughts are that it's an excellent example of missed focus.

I enjoy the irony of the Canon strap though...

[Permagrin]

oooh, I forgot about this thread...here's a couple of recent bokeh shots for you Pete :)

http://LC-images.smugmug.com/photos/145936930-L.jpg

http://LC-images.smugmug.com/photos/145936426-L.jpg

[Danellyn]

ok one better than the last one.

http://www.danellyn.com/other/botanic/images/botanic1_48.jpg

[Pete]

Excellent, Danellyn!!

I like the frame too.

[LaFemmeNIKITA]

Here is my idea of bokeh. What do you guys think?
I used my 18-55mm kit lense. Shot with macro mode 1/500, f 5.6 , ISO 400, 55.0mm

[littlehuw]

Hi again, Noobie still posting! Comments and Critiques welcome.
This is kind of the effect I wanted to experience and play with on the DSLR as opposed to a point and shoot camera. So now I now what bokeh means I wanted to share!

1/400s at f4 on Av mode. ISO 400 Tamron 55 - 200 at 55mm no flash.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb45/littlehuw/Leaf.jpg

[condyk]

Buddha and Ganesh ...

http://www.buzzdns.com/buddha.jpg
http://www.buzzdns.com/ganesh.jpg

[queenbee288]

Here is a nice smooth background.

http://lanephotography.smugmug.com/photos/140326497-M.jpg

And this is my favorite for Bokeh.

http://lanephotography.smugmug.com/photos/86652285-M.jpg

[nuklehead]

wish this one wasnt hot on the baby's back...
http://klicken.smugmug.com/photos/483882346_wD9pD-M-4.jpg

http://klicken.smugmug.com/photos/521491035_4ZtsC-M-3.jpg