Here's the thing. I've been thinking about what really makes me drool, photo-wise. And while -yes, let's just admit it, shall we? - pictures of Hugh Jackman generally do the trick, it's more the qualities especially droolable photos have in common that I was pondering. And one of those qualities is bokeh, which is when the subject stands out in sharp relief against a background that is out-of-focus to the point of being pretty much decorative only (think super shallow depth-of-field, and you'll get the picture)...
like here...
and here (though I would like to see a little PhotoShop unsharp mask and more color saturation applied to this one).
And of course, the awesome Pioneer Woman has some nice bokeh featured in her photo tutorials. She highlights Bakerella whose Wii cupcakes...well, they take the cake (and first prize for allover bokeh numminess).
My desire to achieve the same in my own pictures has led me all over the Web and all over my D80 user's manual. There's one forum for Nikon users in particular that has been especially useful in helping me figure out some of the limitations and upsides of the particular lenses I've been trying to use. All I know is this: I have to grab hold of this information while I'm receptive to it. Being a 90% (in my estimation - I don't do percentages well) right-brained gal, the days when I can process technical details are few and far between. Today just happened to be one of those days when I was all about technical attitude at altitude, so we'll see what I'm able to do to with it.
Oh, and a Facebook Update! Man, that place is scary - in a good way, mostly. It's been only a couple of days, but I've already gotten in touch with three old friends from high school (plus lots of other folks I see/talk to regularly). And I can totally see how it can become addictive.Follow @nicole_mcinnes
Whoa! "bokeh" and "snarky" That's two words I learned from reading your blog. Two words that I actually remember at this moment in time. Thank you. I especially like the way the word was changed to suggest the proper pronunciation to us unwashed Americans.
ReplyDeleteIs there a word for the sudden realization that one can't keep up with the rate of change? Let's keep our eyes and ears open. It seems only yesterday that I was suggesting to my daughter that "among" might be a better choice than "between."