34th Challenge for the days ahead - Bokeh

Comfy

Comfy

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Ryan
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This week the challenge is...

Bokeh

For a little know how on the subject --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
And for some very good examples for inspiration --> http://www.alienskin.com/bokeh/examples-depth.aspx

I'm really hoping this will be popular with loads of people as I see it demonstrated amazingly well in many pics in these competitions all the time. It also gives you the chance to photograph whatever you like, pretty much.

Usual rules apply:

All entries must be new photos, taken within the timeframe of the comp.
Maximum of 3 entries per person.
Limited PP, cropping, exposure control, sharpening etc is okay, multi layered cut and pasting is not.
The winner chooses the theme for the following challenge.

Entries can be posted from 8pm on Thurs 24th September until 8pm on Sunday 27th September, with the winner announced later that evening.
 
hmm ... should i buy a new lens to get a better Bokeh ? :thinking: :)
 
I thought I new what bokeh was but apprantly I was wrong lol... Might want to add a defination for the newbies to get them interested...
 
I've added some links to clarify the term bokeh.
I was able to get decent results on the weekend with a 17-85mm lens so no need to go buy a new lens.
I found it easiest to get a small depth of field when I stood a little back from the subject and then zoomed in, this decreases your depth of field (ie gives you a smaller distance infront of your camera to be in focus) and so throws everything behind your subject out of focus.
I hope this helps a bit ;)
 
Well I've got three in the bag so far and I'm hoping to shoot some more during the week.
 
1.
20090923_125947_2897_LR.jpg


2.
20090923_133540_2930_LR.jpg


3.
20090926_105849_3057_LR.jpg
 
This one is taken with Nikon kit lens, so had to make sufficient distance between objects to get things out of focus. Hope to get more pics by the eow

3951419756_7d265cbf48_o.jpg
 
Here is one from me. I used my Marumi 330 close-up 'filter' on my 16-85 @ 85mm, f.5.6 (as wide as it will go at this focal length).

dsc4508web.jpg
 
Bokeh is background blur, and it can be good or bad depending upon the lens. Point light sources make useful examples from which to judge the quality of the bokeh, but bokeh applies to any background. There is an example thread here - http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=89349 - which talks about the ugly bokeh from Canon's 100-400 lens. Specular light sources need not be anything to do with it.

As much as I hate to admit it, Ken Rockwell actually has a pretty decent write-up of the subject - http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/bokeh.htm. I think it is unfortunate that Comfy used synthetic bokeh, from software, to illustrate what bokeh is about, but at the end of the day, bokeh quality is about how smooth and creamy the OOF areas look, as opposed to jagged/tizzy. The examples from the software do illustrate "nice" bokeh. I just don't personally think we should be using graphic editing software to create "nice" bokeh, when the idea is to be stimulating our photographic skillset. Let's not forget the rule about "limited PP" either.

The quality of the bokeh, which is what the topic is all about, really comes down to the lens design, so I guess we could have each listed out best "bokeh" lens and simply picked the winner based on lens ownership, but that doesn't really seem to be in keeping with the spirit of the competition for inspiration. Therefore I think the best we can expect is that people pick backgrounds that make for interesting or appealing images and which complement the subject when purposely thrown out of focus. Opening up wide to reduce the DOF will exaggerate the bokeh, but will do relatively little to change the quality/character of the bokeh. That said, round apertures usually make the nicest bokeh, and stopping down usually creates a polygonal aperture, which in some cases makes for very unappealing bokeh, so choice of aperture is a real consideration, as is choice of lens, focal length and relative distances of subject vs background.

With all that said, this is Comfy's contest, so it's really up to him to clarify the intentions of the contest and what the judges are looking for :). I've just stuck in my two cents. If Comfy says we need light bulbs or other specular highlights in the background then I guess I'll be reshooting two of my images, but, quite honestly, twigs and leaves make bokeh too. Here's what people on Flickr have tagged as "bokeh" shots - http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?q=bokeh+thames&s=int.

There is a thread with over 7,000 posts with bokeh examples here - http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=93122&page=474.
 
Well its a new term for me, but thats why I joined..."to learn". So here goes. All taken a couple of weekends ago at a local national trust pond...
(I think they're Bokeh, but hey I'm a newby!)

Slightly Bokeh...

3955955546_89eca539a4.jpg


More Bokeh....

3955174317_6870b59386.jpg


Very Bokeh.....

3955955970_96104ac378.jpg


P.S. If anyone knows what the hell that bird is called I'd love to know!

TTFN

Barney
 
dsc00222.jpg


oops sorry I cheated this photo was taken long before the competition started.
 
Well, thanks Tdodd, now I understand the term even more. I must admit when I saw confusion in some of the opening posts I just cut and pasted a few googled items for which I apologise as I was in a bit of a rush. Having just got back and seen the your post, I wish I had just gone for DoF for a heading to avoid confusion but wanted to keep it to a single word like most other titles.
Anyway, I'll take the responsibility for all the confusion on the chin as I've learned a bit more about photograghy terminology on this one and thats what I'm here for.
I'm just so happy about the number of entries :D which I will all judge on their own merits, strictly bokeh or DoF, it doesn't matter, they will all get equal standing in this one.
 
Here's the winners

1st goes to Barney12 with his 3rd 'very bokeh' entry. I really liked the crispness of the head in direct contrast to the immediately surrounding oof elements.

2nd goes to Tracer with his striking berries. I love the colours here and the composition is great giving nice depth :)

3rd going to Tdodd's berries... no the dog .. no the berries. Ahh I can't decide!! Both fantastic pictures, well done.

All images could have had a podium finish on another day, I was just struck by the quality of all of them which made my job tough.

And I hope some, as well as me, learnt a little more about bokeh.

Gratz again to Barney :)
 
Nice to see so many entries this week. Hopefully this is a positive sign for the future :)

Congrats to Barney and Tracer, and thanks to Comfy for a theme that was a little bit different.
 
Thanks for the placing. I absolutely love Barney's guinea fowl (???) and tdodd's dog.
 
:) Thanks Comfy, well chuffed! For me I loved Tims dog on the beach, great facial expression. Tracer thanks for the guinea fowl lead, a google proves you are right, I can finally tag those images now!

TTFN

Barney
 
Congratulations to all the winners. It was an interesting theme indeed.
 
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