When I looked out onto the patio a couple of days ago I noticed that the rose I bought earlier in the year had unexpectedly produced some more buds. I thought it had finished flowering for the year some time ago so it was a pleasant surprise and it gave the ideal opportunity for experimenting with my camera. I managed a little bit of Bokeh, which is always a challenge with a compact camera:
In photography, bokeh[pronunciation?] is the blur,[1][2] or the aesthetic quality of the blur,[3][4][5] in out-of-focus areas of an image, or “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.”[6] Differences in lens aberrations and aperture shape cause some lens designs to blur the image in a way that is pleasing to the eye, while others produce blurring that is unpleasant or distracting— “good” or “bad” bokeh, respectively.[1] Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to create images with prominent out-of-focus regions.
Bokeh is often most visible around small background highlights, such as specular reflections and light sources, which is why it is often associated with such areas.[1] However, bokeh is not limited to highlights, as blur occurs in all out-of-focus regions of the image.
Beautiful Cherie…..and amazing!
Five minutes ago I was out in the garden looking at the only remaining rose.
I thought of the “Last Rose of Summer” and went back in for my camera.
Now unlike you you, I don’t understand all the in’s and out’s, bells, whistles and strange symbols on the back, so I just pointed and snapped.
What I was after was just what you have done – almost as I thought about it.
Very strange?
I need lessons.
It is quite amazing that you would be trying to take that picture just as I posted mine!
I don’t know what options your camera has, but to get that effect I chose the Av option on the dial which then shows an F number at the bottom of the screen which I set to the lowest number and then I clicked the macro option.
That is just very brief without getting technical about it. Feel free to ask more questions
Thanks Cherie,
I knew a bit about ‘depth of field’ from my days with the manual Pentax, but I didn’t know that I have control of the F number on my digital. The problem is, this camera didn’t come with a manual – just a CD/DVD. I think it is 82 pages long and lurks somewhere on my hard-drive. I can’t bare the thought of printing it all out, but I suppose I shall have to read up on it one day. All my pics are done using ‘auto’.
Thanks for your offer of help.
You can try for the effect on the auto setting too if you select the macro option. It works to an extent with my camera.
Whatever you do with your camera certainly works. This is such an inspiring, uplifting sight. Thank you!
Thank You Claudia
I keep looking at it and although I like the levels of light I just want to do something with the top left hand corner. But if I do that it changes some of the other elements in the picture which would make the picture unbalanced…
I think there is a lesson for me to learn in there somewhere. I am enjoying the challenge
It be bein Talk Like A Pirate Day, aaar! Shiver ye timbers, swab, an be meetin me on the poop dek! Aaar!
Ha Ha me matey, happy sailing
Y’know – I’ve never really read what the definition of bokeh is. Thanks for the education..and for sharing. And – I love the soft colors in this image. Beautiful garden!!!
I loved the sound of the word Bokeh when I found it on Flickr some time ago, it makes me smile.
Thank you so much
Ah, so that’s what ‘bokeh’ means: thank you, Cherie! Love the pic focusing on the (?miniature) Masquerade. Great series of photos – as ever!
Thanks Minnie I am glad you enjoyed them