Looking Forward to Challenge #2 - Bokeh

Our second Challenge is going to begin on Sunday, but here is a preview and definition of what Bokeh is and how it is pronounced. Food for thought as you continue to take your Macro shots.

Bokeh (from the Japanese boke ボケ, "blur") is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject.

Origin - Mike Johnston, former editor of Photo Techniques magazine, claims to have coined the bokeh spelling to suggest the correct pronunciation to English speakers, replacing the previous spelling boke that derived directly from the Japanese word for "fuzzy" and had been in use at least since 1996. Pronounced(boke-aay or boke-uhh). The term bokeh has appeared in photography books at least since 2000.

Description - Although difficult to quantify, some lenses enhance overall image quality by producing more subjectively pleasing out-of-focus areas, referred to as bokeh. Bokeh is especially important for large-aperture lenses, macro lenses, and long telephoto lenses because they are typically used with a shallow depth of field. Bokeh is also important for "portrait lenses" (typically medium telephoto — 85–150 mm on 35-mm format) because the photographer would typically select a shallow depth of field (wide aperture) to achieve an out of focus background and make the subject stand out.

Here is a sample shot;

Here is a short You Tube tutorial that might help;

♥ Snap Happy ♥