Photographers throw the word 'bokeh' around a lot, but what exactly is it? Our resident mad scientist, Don Komarechka, takes us on a ride through a bokeh-rific world of creative possibilities.
This video is certainly fun! Great creative ideas and I really like the "thinking out of the box" approach. Well done Don, and thanks DPReview (TV) for sharing / hosting / facilitating this. :) Easter Greetings from Australia.
Everyone has their preference, but I've always leaned towards trying to downplay the bokeh effect, preferring to stop down to f2.8 on a f1.4 lens, for example, to soften the edges of oof elements w/sharp edges, like branches, grass blades, or lamp posts. I like separation of subject & background & find that the background jumps forward when sharp lines boarder objects that are otherwise oof, &, for me, this defeats the point of pushing your background oof.
It seems to me that bokeh brought out from purist photogs as it is one of the few factors of the science of photography that cannot be manipulated in whatever kind/stage of software processing. Ι understand that for some fields of photography bokeh could be of some value if not this very value per se meaning that someone has to invest time, money and resources for the delivered result. In any other case just buy the lens you like and can afford for the given job, bokeh is more or less irrelevant, bokehmania is just an obsession and obsession it's something that does not tell a story in your images.
Rephrase that to "bokeh...cannot be manipulated or created from scratch unless you know what you are doing in Photoshop, i.e. you can map your degree of out of focus with a depth map and add bokeh from existing or your own digitally created specular highlights. There is no limit really other than your imagination and dedication to learn "how-to" using Photoshop or another layer-supporting graphics tool", as described here: https://www.facebook.com/piximperfect/videos/2143136112581355/
Cool video. I still don't like phrases like "have bokeh" or "more bokeh", it sounds like hipster talk for "I want to sound like I've been into photography for, like, years man."
I tried this and it works but I don't get any music. Bokeh aside, there's a lesson here about paying $1000 for a triplet. Even Leica doesn't try to get you to do that.
What makes old lenses great for this is that even cheap ones used to have lots of diaphragm blades. When auto-diaphragm cameras came along, it cost money to move all those delicate blades for 1/1000th exposures and they realized for most things you could get away with as few as 5 leaves. For some reason, the apertures formed by 5 blades are almost never symmetrical, though.
The usage of this term always generates "interesting" discussions about what it does not mean and how not to pronounce it, both of which are totally irrelevant, because these things are not defined by pedants, but by the people using the term.
Lab coats are great! When I was young and knew no better, I could put on a lab coat and tell people in a street that the local airport lights were out, and as they were on the flight path, would they wave a white sheet in their garden between 7 and 8 pm.
KUDOS2 "Our resident mad scientist, Don Komarechka"... In the end, isn't photography a "world of creative possibilities" and "Visual experiments"? Thanks for your remarkable efforts and dedication. Keep on sharing!
I don't know why and I know it's not a big deal, but it really bothers me when people do not pronounce bokeh properly. It only takes a moment to search for the correct pronunciation. Yes, people do pronounce it in different ways, but they're doing it wrong if they say it any way other than "Bo-Ke" (ボケ).
No insult intended to anyone and I say this in general, but it makes me feel that a person not properly pronouncing the word of the subject they are covering is probably not very familiar with that subject in the first place.
Nikon, ISO, bokeh: just a few of the photographic words I may pronounce differently from other people and they all still know what I'm talking about.
This really becomes a discussion on linguistics, how words are borrowed and adapted from one language to another, and how different dialects create further variation. If people from different parts of the world pronounce words like "again", "beta", "tomato" etc. differently, it doesn't make one of them more correct than the other. Language is a very fluid thing, changing constantly with society.
You might pronounce words differently than I do, but that shouldn't be a measure of intelligence. Though I've always found the British accent to be more "factual" for some reason.
Which British accent are you talking about? I can hardly understand many dialects of that ancient language but I can understand all American dialects, so which is more factual?
Absolutely this. (The OP, not Don or other replies between.) No, it's not something which is open to interpretation. It's not a matter of accents. The two syllables have a specific meaning and pronunciation and pronouncing either one incorrectly can result in you actually saying something entirely different. It's *not* like "tomato" where the different pronunciations still follow the same spelling and result in the same meaning. When you say "bo-kah" or "bo-ke", you're not just butchering the language, but you're actually saying a different word. "Bo-ke" refers to the mechanical quality of the rendering in a photograph or video of anything not in the plane of sharpest focus; when you say "bo-kah" you're actually talking about a person being tired and slow-witted, as it's an abbreviated form of 寝ぼける, nebokeru. You only get that 'kah' sound when you're following the 'ke' with another syllable, which necessitates a downward inflection on the 'e'.
"No, it's not something which is open to interpretation. It's not a matter of accents." Common usage doesn't give a flip for your concerns. That's a fact. The sooner you come to terms with this, the more you will enjoy your study of language.
Good luck being language police, and trying to change how people pronounce Espresso, et cetera, and not to say "I could care less" when they mean "I could not care less", and to stop people using double negatives. Etc.
All modern languages (except artificial ones) are basically brutally destroyed versions of the older versions. Get over it.
@Funshui, artificial language is not the same as "artificial" + "language". It's a widely used term, meaning more or less the same as constructed language:
"By contrast, some philosophers have argued that all human languages are conventional or artificial. François Rabelais, for instance, stated: "C'est abus de dire que nous avons une langue naturelle; les langues sont par institution arbitraires et conventions des peuples." (It is a misuse of terms to say that we have a natural language; languages are arbitrary and conventions of peoples by institution."
@panumom Regarding "bokeh" as an artificial language, it fits none of the definitions you linked to. "Bokeh" is a Japanese word used for centuries. How can it be anything unnatural or unused in the real world? Gaining recognition worldwide has widen its usage more. It defers further away from any of your definitions of "artificial language". There is no defense for pronouncing a Japanese word incorrectly.
However, when you argue your incorrect pronunciation of "bokeh" as a dialect, you are arguing over an "artificial language" you invented. There is never a Japanese dialect called "American Japanese" to begin with. Either you pronounce "bokeh" correctly as any Japanese dialects do or you are just speaking your "artificial language".
To be honest, I think people should respect the origin of the words. For example names should be pronounced as they are pronounced where the person is from. For example "Michael" in Germany vs in the U.S.
My point was to point out that grammar and rules are always behind the actual language people use. New words emerge and are constantly loaned from other languages. About 1/3 of English vocabulary is borrowed from French. Some could argue that 1/3 of spoken English is mispronounced French. Of course it is not.
In my opinion, bokeh is a term in (professional) photography English. It is borrowed from Japanese, but it is English, not Japanese (it can ALSO be Japanese). This is why Japanese pronunciation rules do not apply. Generally, it is not English (I think), but professionally it is used all the time.
Sometimes drawing the line is difficult. However, simply waiting 10 years usually solves the problem. I have gotten over it and now life is easier.
@pannumon I agree that languages evolute. Any effort to keep them from changing is futile.
With that being said, there is still not a single invented English pronunciation of "bokeh" that is more popular than the original Japanese pronunciation. It is still too early to endorse any non-Japanese pronunciation of "bokeh" as an English evolution yet.
Really fun video. There are some great ideas I’ll have to try.
One thing, you are making a lot of heads explode. Lots of amazing images with incredible Bokeh shot with an M43 camera!?! That’s against the FF talking points rules. Oh well. In many ways, since they can adapt more lenses and less expensive lenses, they are a better option for this. Can’t wait to try some of these ideas later today.
I've shot a lot with the Lumix S1R as well as other full-frame cameras, and I used a full-frame camera for this shoot (S1R).
That said, I can illustrate almost exactly the same effects using a GX9 that I have here as well. Because bokeh is determined largely by the amount that a specular highlight or light point falls out of focus, and because in general you will have an inherently greater depth of field with a smaller sensor, it can be slightly more difficult to achieve.
Technically it's not sensor size, but rather the shorter focal length lenses that are used. Shorter focal length = greater depth of field, not the perceived 35mm equivalent focal length.
Understanding that distance from your subject is also a factor, shooting closer subjects (macro!) makes bokeh much more achievable with any camera. The closer you are to your subject, the shallower your depth of field will also be.
Bokeh is one thing, sure. If you are bokeh-conscious, you will notice the octagonal, round, or elliptical bokeh spots depending on what lens was used and if it was stopped down or not. Another thing is how the Grand Old Canon f/1.2 EF lenses change character when opened to 1.2. It is not just the bokeh. It seems that there is another world there. Doing portraits full open is a problem if your subject is young and alive. You just shoot away and pray. Another thing is 'expressive photography'. No rules, except your own eye. I really like the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2. The 85mm, less, even though some girls say they want their pictures taken with the glass grapefruit. A lot of personal subjectivisms here. I'd really appreciate it if somebody would have wide-open Leica Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 to show us.
The video is interesting in that it discusses what to do with the "leftovers" of an image. Usually leftovers are not important. Leftovers from a meal are usually given to a dog or tossed in the garbage. Most bokeh created on purpose just distracts from the important part of the image.
Actually, bokeh *created on purpose* is usually *created on purpose* for the express *purpose* of focusing attention (pun intended) ON the important part of the image, rather than busy distracting backgrounds. At least that's how I purposefully use bokeh.
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