“Bokeh”

Published on January 13, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed
This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Photography tips

In photography, “bokeh” is the “blur”, or “the aesthetic quality of the blur” in the out-of-focus areas of an image. The term comes from the Japanese language and means “blur” or “haze”.

An aesthetic background makes your subject stand-out and  makes your image all the more appealing. Three things that can help you create bokeh :

  • use a telephoto lens or a macro lens
  • open up the lens (use a low f-stop – f5.6 or less)
  • get as close to your subject as possible – the depth of field is reduced the closer you are to your subject
  • make sure the background is as far behind your subject as possible

Here I used a 60 mm macro lens and was no more than 20 cm from the subject. The background was a good 5 metres behind the subject. The aperture was set at f 5.6.

Click here to see some more examples

Noirmoutiers – Les Marais Salants

Published on January 2, 2012 in Sketches. Closed Tags: .
This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Sketches

This sketch was done using HB and 2B pencils from a watercolour painting. You have to look a lot closer when drawing than when taking photographs – you are obliged to notice differences in tone.

“To learn how to take great pictures, take art, painting and composition classes. Avoid “photography” classes, as they usually only consider technique, and rarely the fundamental artistic aspects of how to design an image and ultimately what we’re trying to create.”
source: Ken Rockwell

View over part of the Alhambra from the Palacio de Generalife

Published on December 24, 2011 in Experimental and Spain. Closed Tags: .
This entry is part 33 of 33 in the series Favourite shots

View over the al-Hamra from the Jannat al-Arif

I took 3 shots at different exposures with my Canon G9 – combined them and got the above result. This is actually closer to what your eyes see than any single shot can be. The dynamic range of a digital camera is 5 stops – the dynamic range of the image is about 7 stops (the human eye is about 9).

The Alhambra seen from the Palacio de Generalife

Published on December 20, 2011 in Experimental and Spain. Closed Tags: .
This entry is part 32 of 33 in the series Favourite shots

Another place at another time but reminiscent of “Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry” particularly of the Chateau of Saumur scene.

The Alhambra (from al-Hamra – “the red one”) seen from the Palacio de Generalife.

The Palacio de Generalife seen from the Alhambra

Published on December 20, 2011 in Experimental and Spain. Closed Tags: .

Autumn colours at the Jannat al-‘Arif