Bokeh

A subject only the photo-geek and the Japanese may understand. Here we are not talking about the sharpness of the subject, but the blurring of the background. How highlight under the out of focus situation is maintained, whether it is soft circle, or uglily rendered irregular pattern. A len is said to have good Bokeh can command a much higher price.

What is the theory of how Bokeh is rendered. It is of three main elements: the shape of the aperture. Is the aperture shape like a pentagon, hexagon, xx-gon etc; of course, the more perfectly the aperture resembles a circle, the better chance. Second is the correction of the the len design, the better the correction, the better the Bokeh. Lastly is the material of glass used. It is less likely plastic lens can render good bokeh. Good bokeh is always a result of a combination of three, however, there is no rigid formula, therefore sometimes we have to trust others' comment on certain len.

If we use a larger aperture i.e. F 2.0, the background will be more blur, if we use a smaller aperture, the background will be clearer.

Ok, no more theory.

A picture taken at Cameron Highland, Malaysia. Yes, it is very colonial and the mood is there. This is the backyard of the hotel, nicely layout table, with background of the hotel. I actually took two pictures, first one with a 35mm @ f2.0, however, I did not like the result because the background was too blur, therefore I stopped down to F 5.6, therefore achieved the result I want. The subject matter is sharp, but the background was not so blur that is beyond recognition.

similarly, we can use the blur background to tell a story, you can see the hood of Santa Claus, but can you also see the lighting of the christmas tree.

When we take picture, please do not only focus on the subject, pay some attention to the background, use the background to tell a better story.

The picture was taken deliberately to show Bokeh. I hope by now you know what Bokeh means. The colour is very weak, so I converted it into monochrome. It is slightly more interesting.

So for those who are curious which cameras were used, here are some information to feed your thirst. First picture, Leica M9, with 35mm Summicron Second picture, Sony NEX3, with Leica 50mm summicron (effective focal length 75mm). Last picture Leica CL with Voigtlander 40mm at F 1.4.

Use you camera properly, everyone can get good result.