BOKEH BOKEH BOKEH - The Good and the Ugly

Flo wrote in post #11414617
OK,is it just me ..or we getting DOF and Bokeh muddled?
I know its a libertarian thing, Bokeh, but what are we looking for?

For late, I am noticing alot of DOF.which doesn't always translate into Bokeh....just me...on a rainy Tuesday......

Bokeh, by definition, is the aesthetic quality of an out of focus blur, so DOF always translates into bokeh, it's just that some lenses, some lighting and some photo compositions do it with more pleasing and pronounced results.

Allow me to climb on my soapbox for a minute, though - for me, a lot of pictures in this thread fall into the category of "just because you can doesn't mean you should". Some of the shots here don't really show a lot of imagination. I could fill up a CF card in a few minutes with the 70-200 IS II in the backyard and get some killer bokeh, but those shots, aside from the bokeh, wouldn't be very interesting to look at. A fence post, a blade of grass, a brick, a leaf on a tree? If done well, they can be awesome, but they usually aren't very interesting subjects. On the other hand, this is a bokeh thread and not a photo subject thread, and it is titled "Good and the Ugly", so maybe I'm just wrong about that.

Flame away!

Would this have pleasant bokeh?

Racer997 wrote in post #11415718
Bokeh, by definition, is the aesthetic quality of an out of focus blur, so DOF always translates into bokeh, it's just that some lenses, some lighting and some photo compositions do it with more pleasing and pronounced results.

Allow me to climb on my soapbox for a minute, though - for me, a lot of pictures in this thread fall into the category of "just because you can doesn't mean you should". Some of the shots here don't really show a lot of imagination. I could fill up a CF card in a few minutes with the 70-200 IS II in the backyard and get some killer bokeh, but those shots, aside from the bokeh, wouldn't be very interesting to look at. A fence post, a blade of grass, a brick, a leaf on a tree? If done well, they can be awesome, but they usually aren't very interesting subjects. On the other hand, this is a bokeh thread and not a photo subject thread, and it is titled "Good and the Ugly", so maybe I'm just wrong about that.

Flame away!

Lol.no flaming here, I understand. Thing is for me, not too much else to photograph right now, weather is just all wet and cold and windy.I agree with the " just because you can" as well, and I am most likely guilty of it.:o Wish I lived in a big city.lol.people are far more interesting than fir trees.

Geno, the second to last is lovely, the last is just wrong in all ways...

^^^Oooh, love that!!

Sunset/backlighting in the desert bushes bokeh with the 85L @ 1.6

^ Perfection

That is great work Lisa. I had got past my lust for the 85L on a FF camera... You're not helping!

geno.ca wrote in post #11415841
Would this have pleasant bokeh?


What about this one?

Geno...who's lookin' at bokeh??

Lisa, I just love those pics....I am not usually a fan of TS games with focus...it's often done as a gimmick. You make it into an art form with that TS-E 90, and your lovely models help as well.

Also you handle that lovely back lighting so well. Did you use any kind of fill-in reflector on that last shot? Whatever you used it is very subtle!

Thanks guys!

Ricardo, no fill or reflector. I have to say that I love the light here in Arizona.

nice work, guys

Harm! How was Down Under? Did you run into Ricardo?

geno.ca wrote in post #11419053
Harm! How was Down Under? Did you run into Ricardo?

No, he didn't visit....but anyone who does will get a warm welcome.
Where'd you go, Harm?

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.