Secret to Bokeh?

[Loupey]

I don't know if this will confuse the matter more than it will help, but here is an example I shot a while ago with 3 different lenses - a 50mm f/1.8, a 50mm f/1.4, and a 24-70mm f/2.8L (at 50mm) - all stopped down to f/4 and shot from the same distance. Single strobe positioned for extreme side-lighting.

Focus was set at the very tip of the ball point. The first is the uncropped shot followed by the same OOF areas by the 3 different lenses.

[Wild Wassa]

The real secret to bokeh ... is knowing how to pronounce the word.

"A good example of bad bokeh for instance might be that of a mirror lens where the background looks like a bunch of circles, or doughnuts." ... Ballen Photo.

BP, good bokeh is knowing how to caption a shot like that.

'Franky Goes to the Capital Bakery to Buy Fresh Coissants and Donuts.'





Shot with Nikor 500mm f8.0 catadioptic objectives.


Warren.

[Wild Wassa]

Josh D, you mentioned what gear you have, so put this technique aside for another day if you don't have this gear.

This technique is excellent for shooting a limited depth of field of just a few inches which result in a definitive bokeh, when shooting head and shoulder portraits.

An extension tube placed between the camera and a telephoto lens (on a 150mm lens for example) when shooting portraits will shorten the depth of field to just a few inches and still allow usable shutter speed aperture combinations, in bright daylight. Combinations like1/125 sec at f11.0 in daylight, will still give a definitive bokeh.

Warren.