Bokeh — Lens-Artists #194

by Photos by Jez, posted in Challenges

Hi all 😃 My entry for this weeks LAPC set by Sofia: Bokeh.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’d never really come across this term & was generally just happy to have a soft background to provide focus on the true subject. I haven’t always actively sought bokeh & it has been a happy by product of a shot; that was until I got my macro lens & concentrated on this effect more 😁

Gorse macro
Gorse macro

I’ve had a lot of fun playing with my macro lens & one of the side benefits is I tend to shoot with a wide aperture to reduce the depth of field & this brings about bokeh.

One of my favourite types of macro shot is rain drops or dew on grass. The oat grass is like nature’s chandelier with plenty of light for the lens to catch in the background.

Occasionally I’m able to catch some bokeh when out shoooting with my zoom lens, this can be from a gorse sprig in the woods, to capturing nature with a soft background.

Which can sometimes include spiders & their webs. I don’t know if these are strictly bokeh pics, but to me, the blurred background highlights the intricacy of the webs.

I sometimes take pics of bouquets in my back yard, using a hedge as a back drop. This tends to be during the winter & the brown leaf backdrop contrasts well with the bright flowers.

This next bit is more of a question; many of you will know that I am a fan of lensball photography & Lensy features in many of my posts. Is it still a form of bokeh if I have a sharp image in Lensy & the background is blurred? The last four shots feature the Falkirk Wheel; the first is shot with a wider aperture to blur more of the background, wheras the last three used a narrower aperture to gain a greater depth of field & more of the subject, not just Lensy are in focus.

Published by Photos by Jez

I'm a Royal Navy Veteran from Scotland and love to get out and about with my wife, susantbraithwaite.com, on our Kalkhoff e-bikes. My faithful camera, Snappy, and the ever-present Lensy (lensball) are always along for the ride to capture the beauty of Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. Join me as I share photos from our travels, how Lensy views the world & pretty much anything shiny ✨

29 thoughts on “Bokeh — Lens-Artists #194”

  2. Wonderful, Jez, and of course the lensy images must be bokeh if the background is blurred – at least I think so too! You are indeed a droplet and dew man – love all your shots!

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  4. Very beautiful Jez. You know I’m a sucker for the lens ball. IMHO, the images where the background behind is is blurred are definitely bokeh. The ones where the background is also clear aren’t really but are still wonderful. All of your images this week are stunning.

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  9. Wonderful post, Jez! I discovered bokeh when I use my zoom lens quite by accident, then started to use the lens to create those pleasing backgrounds.
    Your use of Lensy is what inspired me to acquire a lens ball for my own experiments. Thanks for that. Your macro shots are now encouraging me to purchase a macro lens.
    I have to ask… how did you ever get Lensy to balance on that metal rail? Is the top wider than it looks?

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  10. Wonderful post, sweetie! I was going to list my favourite pictures, but I hit five and I wasn’t even close to mentioning them all. As galleries go, this one is at the top of my list. 💖 😍 🤩

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  13. I had the same experience with my macro. I can get bokeh effect with the telephoto but the macro has taken it to a different level. Your macros are stunning. Regarding lensball photography and bokeh, I think would consider your firsts shot as having bokeh, the ones where you can see the Falkirk Wheel less so, simply because although the background is out-of-focus, it still is too visible – hope it makes sense, I’m struggling to find a way to explain it… 🙂

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  14. Excellent, I am trying so hard to take photos and look at you tube videos but still having no success. I really admire this gallery, all very beautiful

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Great to hear your thoughts 😃