If my photos make you feel like dancing, forget it, bokeh isn’t a dance. It is the aesthetic quality of the blur in the background of some photographs. In talking about a picture, one might say that it has good bokeh. I love to produce that effect myself. I get it mostly when I am photographing, for example, a bird with my long lenses. By using wide apertures such as f2.8 thru f6.3, I end up with a shallow depth-of-field. DOP as it is called briefly, is the small area in front, and in back of the subject, that is in focus. Everything in front of and in back that is blurred, is the bokeh. An example is this photograph that I captured of an Eastern Phoebe. Notice how the bird is in great focus, and the background is a nice, soft blur.
Eastern Phoebe
My Tamron zoom telephoto was set at the max range of 600mm and my aperture was set at f6.3. I was about 30 feet from phoebe. The background was several yards back. Distance can make a difference in the effect. This Osprey in the photo below, (which I published about a week ago in another post) was about eighty yards away on another tree branch. The background was made up of tree limbs and brush and you can see that the bokeh took on a different, but very pleasing look.
Osprey
Still another pleasing effect was in this photo of a Painted Bunting.
Painted Bunting
In the photo below, of the Greater Roadrunner, because of the angle of my camera, and the location of the bird, the background was more in focus, but not enough distract the viewer. The aperture was the same f6.3. Same lens.
Greater Roadrunner
In the photo below, I used the water itself as the background. I love these Greater Roadrunners.
Greater Roadrunner
While I am on the subject, I will mention that different type lenses might have a different look on the bokeh. Some will produce round dots of blurred light, for example. Also, there may be a difference in the different brands of lenses. Some may produce better bokeh that others. Personally, I a very satisfied with the results I am getting with mine. They make me feel like dancing. 🙂
Incidentally, I never mention this much, because I am not the greatest of salesman. My photographs are for sale. Just contact me and we can talk about sizes, prices, etc. I have satisfied customers all over the country, and I wouldn’t mind helping you to give additions to your walls, too.
Also, my book is still doing well, and you can check that out by clicking on the Flickr logo on the right side of this page, or the gallery link at the top of the page.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 