5D admirers, assemble!

I see it this way...there's two types of primes. The L's, and the non-L's. For a hobbyist, the non-L's are great, and a great way to start learning. Once that hobbyist has 'learned' enough, they can choose two routes. One, remain a hobbyist and continue to make people, and themselves happy. Two, continue the journey, and pick ONE nitch market. With that 'one' market, develop a portfolio. Dump the non-L's, and pick up the glass that you know won't take abuse, will produce what you are looking for, and will take your part-time career further. Meanwhile, retain your day job, so you have money coming in...and keep shooting. Take it to the next level, where you can keep both sides of your life...and have one day off, a week.

I believe I just shared my life story... Of course, I can't predict the future, so, I don't know what comes after the first paragraph. I'll let you know, though.

Meanwhile, would anyone like to see an unreleased picture, of Anastasia? Please let me know, and I will post one. It may not be perfect, but, well, I guess we'll find out...right?

inthedeck wrote in post #6205268
Meanwhile, would anyone like to see an unreleased picture, of Anastasia?

Would we like to see another shot of a beautiful woman? Hmm...that's a tough one. Gonna have to think about it for a minute.

Erm....um....YES!!


I can see you like to ask the difficult questions.

inthedeck wrote in post #6205268
I see it this way...there's two types of primes. The L's, and the non-L's. For a hobbyist, the non-L's are great, and a great way to start learning. Once that hobbyist has 'learned' enough, they can choose two routes. One, remain a hobbyist and continue to make people, and themselves happy. Two, continue the journey, and pick ONE nitch market. With that 'one' market, develop a portfolio....

I'm not sure I buy this. Are you saying that you need L primes for really nice bokeh? Because I definitely don't believe that to be true.

My 85 1.8 has wonderful bokeh and my 50 1.4 often does, but the 50 seems to have a greater tendency for unpleasant bokeh on FF, even more so on 1.6X crop for some reason.

versedmb wrote in post #6205411
I'm not sure I buy this. Are you saying that you need L primes for really nice bokeh? Because I definitely don't believe that to be true.

My 85 1.8 has wonderful bokeh and my 50 1.4 often does, but the 50 seems to have a greater tendency for unpleasant bokeh on FF, even more so on 1.6X crop for some reason.

You don't need L primes to get really nice bokeh, just even better bokeh.

Whilst on my recent Cruise we visited Croatia, we took a trip up the Neretva River which runs through Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

I took a few images whilst on the Neretva River recently, but this is my favourite!

Canon 5D, 70-200 f4 L IS @ 70mm.

EOSBoy wrote in post #6205470
You don't need L primes to get really nice bokeh, just even better bokeh.

Exactly.

versed...Never said anything bad about the non-L's, did I? I did not mean to imply that, either. Heck, I love my 50 2.5 macro...and some of these shots were taken with that lens. The 5D does help, there, as well.

kcb...you're twistin' my melon man...alright. Hey, at least I know you sorta read what I wrote...haha. Mind you, it's just a proof. I'm going to get a reflector, soon enough to get rid of the silver cast. I haven't retouched it, except for slight crop, etc. Apologies about the copyright...I can't help it dude. Must be that way, when you promote someone...

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EdBray wrote in post #6205508
Whilst on my recent Cruise we visited Croatia, we took a trip up the Neretva River which runs through Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

I took a few images whilst on the Neretva River recently, but this is my favourite!

Canon 5D, 70-200 f4 L IS @ 70mm.

very nice. Maybe add a 'touch' of contrast, to the trees, and the 'haze' will burn away. I love the peacefulness, of nature, and I can just hear the slight rumble of the motor, in my head.

Always told myself if I did this, I would remain 'very' grounded, and not forget my roots. I still intend to be that way...my humble self. This picture reminds me of how to remain humble...does that make sense?

I'll admit, I'm all for the earth, and always will be.

what is bokeh?

love 5D (this picture is a crop from original version).
bokeh - that Out Of Focus blur

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flyinganchovy wrote in post #6205620
what is bokeh?

The blur that a lens creates, while maintaining all sharpness, of the 'actual' subject in the frame. Look at the brilliant shot with the tomatoes, a few posts up. That's classic right there, because it leads your eye to the most sharp object...i.e., the batch of tomatoes up front, where the individual has focused. Nicely done shot...I must say. Reds are reds, and those stupid green cartons, are green like they would be, in person. Not too much saturation...which is perfect...cause the tomatoes are already pretty red.

I like bokeh. Is that what you would refer to when aperture is opened all the way and you get that shallow depth of field?

These are some mini race cars some guys at work have set up. 24-105, f4, 1/60

^^That would be it. Though, there's multiple other ways to produce it. Though the 'bokeh' in the image you have, is all about the background...and how well you 'cannot' define what it is, which is also displayed in your image. If you have used the 24-70 f/2.8 at 2.8, you would maybe, just maybe see the mirror of the red car in focus...and those white lines back there, would be even 'more' blurred.'

I'm still learning that, with people...never really been a 'people' photog. Always enjoyed nature, and stuff.

inthedeck wrote in post #6205521
kcb...you're twistin' my melon man...alright. Hey, at least I know you sorta read what I wrote...haha. Mind you, it's just a proof. I'm going to get a reflector, soon enough to get rid of the silver cast.

LOL. Thanks dude. Yum.

What's your lighting setup? Depending on what you're using to generate light, you might be able to use colored filters over them to better match the ambient light. I have a gold Sto-Fen omni-bounce that I use on my 430EX and it works pretty nicely indoors. I haven't tried shooting something in sunset with it, but it would make for an interesting experiment. I may have an opportunity to do that this weekend, actually...

A reflector would work too, I guess, but the nice thing about artificial lights is the amount of control they give you.

Thanks inthedeck. I had a RebelXt a few years ago and didn't know anything about the settings really. Now that I have this camera it's like clockwork trying to learn more. Lovin' it!

flyinganchovy wrote in post #6205753
I like bokeh. Is that what you would refer to when aperture is opened all the way and you get that shallow depth of field?

You'll get out of focus blur in any part of the shot that's not within your depth of field (and how much something is out of focus depends on how far from the focus field it is), and that's controlled by your aperture, focal length, and camera to subject distance.

If you're shooting at very close range, you can be stopped down as far as the lens will go and still get blur in the distance.


Bokeh I think is a term that refers in part to the quality of the out of focus area of the shot. And it's very much a matter of personal preference (like much of photography, really. It's an art form, after all). But like any such thing, some types of bokeh are more appealing in general than others.

Some lenses render a very smooth background blur, even when there are lots of highlights in the background. Others render a harsher, edgier blur. You can use either to good effect (it all depends on your creative intent, really), though I think most prefer a smoother, creamier bokeh.

There are other elements that get thrown into the mix, too. For instance, the shape of out of focus highlights (such as point lights in the background that are out of focus). Lenses with straight aperture blades will tend to render such highlights as polygons (with the number of sides equalling the number of aperture blades). Lenses with curved aperture blades tend to render them in a circular manner or very close to it. The latter is generally regarded as more pleasing, which is why most modern lenses have circular aperture blades.

Anyway, all these things add up to that quality (elusive or not!) we call "bokeh".