[Leica] WAS: Bokeh'm somebody, naw nuke it! ;-)

["Ted Grant" <tedgrant@home.com>]

someone wrote:
>>> I shouldn't make light of bokeh. There's probably something to it. It's
just
> > not important to me. I don't want to be concerned with things like out
of
> > focus rendering when I look at an image. I didn't notice it when I
didn't
> > know a word for it. Now that I know the word, I still don't notice
it.<<<

Hi Crew,
Gee I don't feel lonely any longer, now I have a photo companion who feels
as I do.

In all my years of being a photojournalist I had always thought the most
important part of a photograph was the "in focus" part!  :-)

Then one day some time ago "bokeh" appeared on the screen (look in the
archives at least two-three years ago) and created sensational discussions
for some weeks. Pro and con, but without question, one heck of a wild chat
up, there were days I thought some might come to "bokeh blows" over the
subject. Fortunately none beat physically on one another, but it was rumored
a few computer screens suffered major melt down. ;-)

To my surprise, I'm not surprised too often by things photographic, I was
amazed how many people look at the out of focus back part of their pictures
as an intrigal part of whether the photograph looks good or not.  It must be
true as the front in focus part was a lousy photograph at best! ;-) ;-)

However, it was..."oooooooohhhhh, this lens has beautiful bokeh, that lens
has terrible bokeh etc etc"  and it was days before many of us figured out
what the hell they were talking about.

So with great trepidation I examined many of my published photographs over
the years and found, yep some had a different look to the background, that
part was true. Did it make the picture any better? Did it get published more
often due to the "bokeh look?" Not that I could find.

Questions, questions questions, doubt, doubt, doubt! How could I have missed
such a major part of the photograph? I was thinking I had failed as a
photographer, my goodness it was a terrible dilemma. Had I been wrong lo
these many years because I hadn't created a nice out of focus look?
Something so pretty everyone oooooohhhhhhed & aaaaaaaaaaawing over bohek and
the main part of the picture was all for not?

So crew as I had done for years, I flushed it from my mind and went on
taking pictures with the important aspect being the "in focus front part and
the out of focus back part, just the out of focus back part!" ;-)

So before any of you who've just learned this bohek word and effect for the
first time don't sweat it, forget it, go take your pictures with the
innocents of yesterday, have fun without the bokeh dilemma! :-) :-)

It don't mean nuthin' anyway! ;-)
ted

Ted Grant Photography Limited
www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant