Photographing your Bokeh

[Leica 77]

To start with I send this tulip from Amsterdam, to congratulate you, Keith, for setting up this wonderful thread and keeping it afloat.
And for all the enthousiastic bokeh people I met here.

A well known Amsterdam song;
Als de lente komt dan stuur ik jou tulpen uit Amsterdam
Als de lente komt pluk ik voor jou tulpen uit Amsterdam
Als ik wederkom dan breng ik jou tulpen uit Amsterdam
Duizend gele, duizend rooie, wensen jou het allermooiste
Wat m'n mond niet zeggen kan, zeggen tulpen uit Amsterdam

(a try to translate)
When spring arrives I'll send you tulips from Amsterdam
When spring arrives I'll pick for you tulips from Amsterdam
A thousand yellow, thousand red ones wish you the most beautiful
What I cannot say tell tulips from Amsterdam

- One Tulip -

G1 + Isco-Göttingen Berolina Westromat 35/2.8​

Hi Michiel and Keith,
This is such a great tribute to our Mentor Keith who has done a stellar job in "setting up this wonderful thread and keeping it afloat ... " (rain, snow, or shine) for the past 365 days ... BTW, I love the beautiful tulip also taken with your ISCO GOTTINGEN BEROLINA WESTROMAT 35/2.8 glass. The heartfelt song from Amsterdam that you have translated says it all.

 

[woodmancy]

************************************************
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOKEHGRAPHERS !! :clap::clap::clap:
************************************************

It's about 8am here in Toronto and September 7. Thanks for all the kind words and for the enthusiastic support that has made this thread so special. I've learned so much and enjoyed the images and commentaries from all over the world in this past year.
Just recently we passes the 2,500 mark in replies and the 50,000 mark in views

My first contribution is purely abstract, and the type of image that got me thinking about bokehs in the first place. I stumbled on these complex out of focus background structures by accident when taking images of small flowers.

This one is called "Torso". I like the image best in black and white, and gave it this name because I can convince myself that I see a human torso in there.

Once again happy bokeh birthday everyone

Keith

Taken with my favorite bokeh lens - the Pentax 50mm, f1.4

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

As a tribute to my FLAD project, here's a flower bokehgraph I shot in Russia approx 1 month ago, with the G1 and a Micro-Nikkor 105/2.8

Congrats to the topic starter and all the participants !!

C U,
Rafael
​

 

[Leica 77]

G1 + Leica R Summicron 50mm. "Ann".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOKEHGRAPHERS AROUND THE WORLD! :clap::clap::clap: My heartfelt congratulations, once again, to our Mentor and Leader Keith! Because of his tenacious leadership, we have reached the first major milestone -- the 1st Birthday of Bokehgraphy in this wonderful Forum. It has been a truly educational experience and it brought so much joy, excitement, and happiness. Getting to know fellow bokehgraphers has been a real source of inspiration.

The image you see above was the 656th post in this thread. I chose this image for the clean circular bokeh. Among the several favorite bokeh lenses, the Leica R Summicron 50mm lens is certainly one of the top performers (IMHO). Best regards to everyone!

 

[woodmancy]

Leica, I think I would have picked that one too !

It fascinated me at the time, and I judge a good image by the time that your eyes want to keep looking at it. Here I could not take my eyes off it.
I still wonder how you did it :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

Keith

 

[seakayaker]

Good Morning & Happy Birthday!


Grass by the Lake

GF1 with Ernst Leitz GmbH Wetzlar - Elmar 9cm f/4 -- ISO 100 -- f/4 -- 1/800 -- 9cm


Choose this bokehgraph since I love this Seattle neighborhood for walks and quiet time by the lake. (it is in the middle of the city) It was also one of the early bokehgraphs that I had submitted. The thought of creating a photograph with the intent of a large portion being out-of-focus was new to me and I was extremely pleased with this photo. I loved the sharp detail of the grass with circular bokeh throughout the photo combined with the colors of the flowers in the garden, road, and the lake. The photo was taken with one of my early lens acquisitions which also triggered the quest for . . . . . more . . . . .

Busy day at work today after the holiday weekend, hope to have time latter to comment on the great bokehgrahs being submitted today!

Life is Grand!

Dan
~


​

 

[taphapy]

Seakayaker, you are too good! I have the gf1 and can't do what you do...
Thank you for beautiful images.

 

[woodmancy]

Seakayaker, you are too good! I have the gf1 and can't do what you do...
Thank you for beautiful images.

Yes - he is good! and I'm glad he found the thread. We've been seeing him get better and better, but it would take a lot to beat this early one, taken with what I perceive to be one of his favorite bokeh lenses.

I agree with all your comments on this one, Dan - and I love the way that fence in the background gives the subtle grid

Looking forward to number two - you have a big job on your hands :banghead::banghead::banghead:

Keith

 

[woodmancy]

Well, it is Sep 7th here already, so one of my personal bokeh fav's still is ... "FLAME ON"

f0.75/50mm lens

Agree with you here, Klaus. This one is stunning. Is this one of the x-ray lenses?

Keith

 

[Michiel Schierbeek]

----- Bokeh thread birthday choice 1 -----
( The first one was a flower to congratulate )

When I take a photograph spontaneously, often the first one is the best.
So this is of one of the photographs in my first post ( nr 62 ).
I choose this photo because I like the representation of endlesness in the structure.
The whole idea of the ever going flow of things.
In its abstraction this theme has a direct relationship to my sculptural work.
Also it was a revelation for me that it is possible to try to control the out of focus area and use it to the benefit of a photograph.

It was shot with a Schneider-Kreuznach Xenor 50/2.8

- Endless road -

 

[woodmancy]

Michiel

This was always on of my favorites. The idea that you could pull out this amount of abstract detail from a simple bokeh confounded me.

Thats why photography is dear to us - there are so many ways we can use the tools for the artistic vision

Keith

 

[simonclivehughes]

Sony NEX-5 with Voigtlander 90mm f3.5 APO Lanthar.


View attachment 35085


Cheers,

 

[Leica 77]

Olympus E-330 + Kit Lens. "Blue Glass".

Bekeh Thread -- First Anniversary Celebration -- Image #2

For sure, I can certainly relate to what Michiel mentioned, "When I take a photograph spontaneously, often the first one is the best." The above image (No. 197 in this thread) was posted shortly after the creation of this thread in September, 2009. The image shows OOF blue bottles (+ 1 tall stemmed glass) behind translucent ground glass panels. The translucent ground glass served as if it was an externally placed extra-element of the kit lens. Once again, congratulations to all of you, and especially, to our Mentor Keith!

 

[Leica 77]

Michiel
This was always on of my favorites. The idea that you could pull out this amount of abstract detail from a simple bokeh confounded me.
Thats why photography is dear to us - there are so many ways we can use the tools for the artistic vision

Keith

+200. This image is also one of my most favorite bokehgraphs in this entire thread. :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

 

[seakayaker]

. . . . . on the run today . . . . . selection # 2 what will it be . . . . .


I had a few in mind and have gone back and forth but I need to show the Voigtlander Nokton Classic SC 40mm f1.4 some love. It certainly is one of my favorites bokeh lens . . . . . along with a dozen others . . . . . oh my!



Gladioulus

GF1 with Voigtlander Nokton Classic SC 40mm f1.4 -- ISO 100 -- f1.4 -- 1/2000


I love the detail that this lens captures with the colors and soft circular bokeh . . . . .


Need to run to another commitment ~ I'll be back before the 7th is over, at least in my time zone!

Life is Grand!

Dan
~







​

 

[woodmancy]

. . . . . on the run today . . . . . selection # 2 what will it be . . . . .


I had a few in mind and have gone back and forth but I need to show the Voigtlander Nokton Classic SC 40mm f1.4 some love. It certainly is one of my favorites bokeh lens . . . . . along with a dozen others . . . . . oh my!



Gladioulus
Need to run to another commitment ~ I'll be back before the 7th is over, at least in my time zone!

Life is Grand!

Dan
~


​

Dan - thats really good. I like the composition with the flower in the middle, and the colours work so well. Time that you did a book

Keith

 

[woodmancy]

Here is my second one

When Mike Regnier discovered the bokeh thread, his pictures always had an element of "in focus" and his belief is that the viewer needs some sharpness to grapple with the image. His early contributions used the Lensbaby, and this turned me on to tilt adapters.

Here is my dog picture taken with my Pentax 50/1.4 plus Italian Tilt adapter.

I was in Ibiza, just walking around and I came across the guy and his dog. They seemed so at home together. His master wanted to keep an eye on him and gave him a very long lead. I adjusted the tilt to try to get the focus on both of them. I would like a dog like that, but I have to settle with Benny the Bengal

Keith

 

[woodmancy]

Leica

The blue bottles are wonderful and really drew my attention when you posted them initially. The symmetry and composition works very well

I'm glad we are able to at last get our contributors to tell us which of their images they like the best.

Keith

 

[Leica 77]

Olympus E-300 + Carl Zeiss Distagon 18mm T* F4. "Yellow Orchids".

Bokeh Thread -- First Anniversary Celebration -- Image #3

As per an additional rule posted by our Mentor Keith, "if you want to post three - we are easy going here", I wish to post one more which was the 230th post in this wonderful thread. The majority of the preferred bokeh lenses tends to be 40mm or greater in focal length. The above image was taken with an 18mm CZ Distagon. It probably falls under the category of "Bouquet-graphy". The back lit yellow orchids were very special to me so was the comfortable lounging chair in the background with its creamy bokeh. I also love tropical hard wood floors. Best regards and heartfelt congratulations to everyone!

 

[mregnier]

Bokeh Birthday Choice 1

Thanks for starting this thread Keith. It is what got me started posting images to the forum. Before Bokeh, I was just a looker.
This is one of my favorites because it is so different from what I usually do and it got me back into the mode of shooting out of focus which is easy to do with micro 4/3rds and manual focus lenses wide open! Just kidding.

Mike