Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/01/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> > Quite simply I have never related to the effect, as it's put forward by some > very good shooters here. I'm always looking at the content factor / moment > with never a thought about the effect of bohek, as bokeh happens just like > breathing, in particular when shooting primarily wide open. > > Sure I use foreground to frame and do that kind of thing any number of > times, but I use it as a framing factor to enhance the scene and not because > of the bokeh factor. I also, without thought, know if I'm working with a 180 > wide open and shooting people at close range, the bkgrd will be a mush of > colour or greys in B&W > > The question is, when you were shooting this photo or similar, do you have > the thought in mind of how the bokeh factor will look for the lens you're > using? As in a specific thought, "the bokeh will look great for this xyz > lens" ? And if all of a sudden you think, "Oops, I better change to the XXX > lens for a better bokeh." > > Maybe I'm wrong on this whole bokeh question simply because I can't get past > the thought that while I'm shooting an assignment that I'd be thinking about > the bokeh effect rather than concentrating on the precise moment for the > "perfect picture." > > Or am I seriously missing something? Over to you my friend. My question after 4 decades of professional shooting 2 of them in Washington D.C., shooting side by side with many of those folks mentioned by Sal, is there really any discernible difference between any 180mm lens wide open focused at 7 feet rendering of the OOF background? This question applies to any focal length used in a like manner. I too, as Ted, Sal and other pros am always open to learn from others but in my experience I see no difference in this characteristic of a Leica optic and any other top quality optic. And sure would not decide on this idea how, from where, or at what point to focus any given picture. There are other differences in the optics that led to my complete switch to Leica optics. An agency that represented my work had an entrance that opened to the editing space below and certain images at that distance appeared different, more vibrant, cleaner color, and something different. It wasn't film, lab or anything else except the optics( I discovered some of these images were mine created with my M equipment so after much angst I parted wonderful Nikon stuff for Leica R stuff. This change had nothing to do with OOF background plain of (out of) focus. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html