Alf Beharie wrote:
The bokeh of that first one is truly dreadfull and very distracting...Which is such a shame because your model is really cute.
Certainly not the sort of photo to include in the admirable blur sample thread!
Don't state your opinion as a fact. Others may (and obviously do, such as Anden) admire such bokeh.
Admirably bokeh does not necessarily imply admirably smooth, but may in fact be the opposite for some people.
AhamB wrote:
Don't state your opinion as a fact. Others may (and obviously do, such as Anden) admire such bokeh.
Admirably bokeh does not imply admirably smooth, but may in fact be the opposite.
Well, I agree with Alf for the most part. But I am happy to say that "to me" the bokeh is distracting and dreadful (my subjective opinion rather than stating as fact). In that image, it does detract from the overall image. I also agree with Aham that admirable bokeh is not necessarily admirably smooth. I think it depends on the image and the intent of the image. In some cases, you might want to make the bokeh the subject (or an integral visual element) in which case you might want it to be more interesting and draw the eye. However, if it is not the subject and you want the viewer to focus on the subject, then I think a less-distracting, smoother more pleasing bokeh is called for. The OOF background should gently support the overall image and subject. You don't want the bokeh to compete with the subject and produce unproductive tension between the subject and background that only serves to give the viewer a headache and unbalance the image.
I'm sure someone will disagree with this, so let me just say that this is my perspective on the issue, not one that I am asserting as fact. ;-)
Lotusm50 wrote:
What are you kidding me? The tattoo is the best part! It's contrast and contradictions make the image.
+1
I also find the bokeh to be 'busy' in my shot above but liked how different it looked. I agree that bokeh isn't just about being smooth. Sometimes seeing redundant 'macro-type' blur shots gets a little boring to me.
Lotusm50 wrote:
Well, I agree with Alf for the most part. But I am happy to say that "to me" the bokeh is distracting and dreadful (my subjective opinion rather than stating as fact). In that image, it does detract from the overall image. I also agree with Aham that admirable bokeh is not necessarily admirably smooth. I think it depends on the image and the intent of the image. In some cases, you might want to make the bokeh the subject (or an integral visual element) in which case you might want it to be more interesting and draw the eye. However, if it is not the subject and you want the viewer to focus on the subject, then I think a less-distracting, smoother more pleasing bokeh is called for. The OOF background should gently support the overall image and subject. You don't want the bokeh to compete with the subject and produce unproductive tension between the subject and background that only serves to give the viewer a headache and unbalance the image.
I'm sure someone will disagree with this, so let me just say that this is my perspective on the issue, not one that I am asserting as fact. ;-)
