What is Bokeh - Article

[Mt Spokane Photography]

A attempt to define Bokeh.

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/gadgets-electronics/blogs/what-is-bokeh-blurry-photography-effect-explained?hpt=hp_bn18

There are several examples, I find some of them to be ugly, others to be striking. I think each of us might like different ones, there is no right or wrong, just personal preference.

For example, I do not like the bokeh circles with the dot in the center, or the ones of the ocean waves catching light. The one with the sea birds on the rock are so ugly that they detract from the subject.

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Some of those pictures are nice... some not so nice. Bokeh can be overdone and if every shot has Boken it can lose its appeal.

I wished the article went into a little more detail on how to control Bokeh. Especially how to choose the right background for Bokeh.

 

[procentje20]

Those distracting bokeh donuts are from the donut shaped mirror in mirror lenses.

There is a large subject missing from the article. The longer the focal lengt, the more enlarged the background will be. So larger bokeh balls. or smoother bokeh blur.

I personally like the smooth separation more than the artsy balls.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I was wondering if one of those was a mirror lens. Mirror lenses do have distracting bokeh, so its necessary to work around that.

Here is a cropped example of from a old Sigma 600mm that I once had.

This one has the awful highlights

This one is a heavy crop from a different Sigma 600mm, it has no highlights in the background, so its only affected by the poor sharpness.

Here is one from a old Nikon 500mm reflex mounted to my 1D MK IV. I found it difficult to manually focus accurately at a close distance.