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Jan 01, 2023
What is “bokeh”? Merriam Webster defines bokeh as “the blurred quality or effect seen in the out of focus portion of a photograph with a narrow depth of field.” Harold Davis, a world-renowned photographer, mentor, and artist says that “good bokeh is smooth and pleasing whereas bad bokeh produces a jagged and discordant effect.” He goes on to say that “the quality of bokeh is largely due to the construction of the lens. For this reason, lenses that provide high quality bokeh are prized.”
Another incredible fine art nature and landscape photographer I have just begun following, Gary Hart, in his blog on “Selective Focus”, says that “while it’s true that bokeh generally improves with the quality and other characteristic of the lens, as with most things in photography, at least as important as the lens is the photographer behind it.”
I was in third grade when I got my first pair of baby blue cat-eye glasses. Today I am so nearsighted I cannot see anything at all beyond my nose without my glasses. Like most of us who wear glasses, my eyesight has progressively worsened to where I now wear tri-focals (as if bi-focals weren’t enough, right?). I tried wearing contacts but was just much more comfortable in glasses. When I was a teenager, I didn’t want to wear glasses. They made me look older. As I got older, I needed glasses to cover the bags under my eyes from long days of work and little sleep. In the 80’s my glasses were huge, comical even. My husband and I laugh about those day whenever we see old photos (he had them, too). I’ve had every style imaginable, in nearly every size and shape they made. I’ve been wearing them all day, every day since I was about seven years old.
I have been having some issues with my eyes this past year, which is no fun for anyone, especially when you are a photographer. I’ve been having trouble focusing my camera and have been studying my owner’s manual to see what I might be able to do differently using all the many auto-focus features available. My eye doctor of 30+ years tells me my eyes are healthy (just older). He has shown me pictures of my eyes, and he’s right, I still have relatively clear lenses (or as we photographers say “good glass”). Without my glasses, with a very narrow depth of field, my eyes themselves produce some very pleasing bokeh effects, too. Are you near-sighted? Do you were glasses? Take them off and look at a lighted Christmas tree, candlelight or a streetlight from a distance and you’ll see what I mean. That pretty, soft circular out of focus glow emanating from those lights you see is bokeh.
As far as my camera goes, I shoot with Olympus OMD cameras (OMD-EM1X and OMD-EM Mark II) and Olympus Zuiko Pro Lenses (8mm f1.8 fisheye, 12-40mm f2.8 and 40-150mm f4.0) which can produce some very pleasing bokeh effects. I find that I am very drawn to creating bokeh in my photographs. I live in Northeast, PA and frequent Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square. I spent one holiday photographing nothing but “bokeh” of their holiday lights to use for backgrounds and textures. Fun! I also love photographing flowers and creating soft pleasing backgrounds that helps accentuate the beauty of the flowers.
Even if you don’t have a pro lens, you, as the photographer, can still produce some creative bokeh, by adjusting your depth of field (what you choose to focus on), and your exposure (the amount of light controlled by the aperture setting you are using or f-stop). I’ve included a few of my favorite examples. With my camera (and my new glasses) I will continue to create using bokeh where appropriate in my work. Without my glasses, it’s all bokeh to me.
I hope you had a safe and joyful holiday season. I am so very grateful for all my family, friends, and followers who have been cheering me on during the start of my journey as a full-time creative in 2022. I look forward to continuing to grow and I truly value your support. Stay tuned to my IG, my FB page, my website and your inbox for more tales of discovery, learning and adventure in 2023. Happy New Year!
With sincere gratitude, Cindy
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