Let’s talk about bokeh. I didn’t learn about it in a classroom. It never came up when I was window shopping in Akihabara. For me, understanding came slowly, each time I browsed my favorite photos in Flickr, a website for posting photos and graphics.
Anyone with a Flickr account can take photos of a favorite subject and upload them. Almost every day, I look at these photos. This is how I visit Tokyo these days! Most of the people I follow on Flickr are living in Japan; Flickr is my portal to Japan. Bokeh shots happen to be my favorites.
Bokeh is a word of Japanese origin that in one word expresses the concept of using an out-of-focus ar
ea of an image to help compose the shot. The photographer can use bokeh to contrast, highlight, or offset the main subject of an image. But bokeh itself can be the main subject too. I think of bokeh as lights, but anything can be the bokeh in a shot. And, although bokeh is a Japanese word, people around the world describe their work as bokeh shots.
ea of an image to help compose the shot. The photographer can use bokeh to contrast, highlight, or offset the main subject of an image. But bokeh itself can be the main subject too. I think of bokeh as lights, but anything can be the bokeh in a shot. And, although bokeh is a Japanese word, people around the world describe their work as bokeh shots.
This term comes from the following Japanese word: boke (暈け or ボケ), which means blur” or haze”, or boke-aji (ボケ味), the blur quality.” Here is an excellent explanation of bokeh by a photographer, in more technical terms: “Bokeh characteristics may be quantified by examining the image's circle of confusion. In out-of-focus areas, each point of light becomes an image of the aperture, generally a more or less round disc. Depending how a lens is corrected for spherical aberration, the dis
c may be uniformly illuminated, brighter near the edge, or brighter near the center.” Navigate to the Flickr site and do a search on bokeh. Here are examples of what you will find.
c may be uniformly illuminated, brighter near the edge, or brighter near the center.” Navigate to the Flickr site and do a search on bokeh. Here are examples of what you will find.
Title Photo by: Eloise Claire
Photo of girl by: achew *Bokehmon*
Photo of reindeer by: Hidesax (Hidehiko Sakashita)
Photo of flowers by: mikenpo
Now, I have an assignment for you. Find a photo in Flickr that uses a bokeh element, then comment on it. Challenge! Find a Japanese photographer (such as Hidesax), and comment on the bokeh photo in Japanese.
Note: You will need to sign up for a free Flickr account to do this.
ナイスショット！ ボケがすごい。 (Nice shot! The bokeh is great.)
これはいい写真です。ボケいいですね～。 (This is a good photo. The bokeh is nice, isn't it.)
One of my favorite contacts on Flickr is Sakashita san, known as "Hidesax." He is a skillful photographer and an expert at taking bokeh pictures, in my opinion. He photographed this reindeer decoration....a little while ago! His caption: "Shot taken tonight in Ageo, Saitama."
For years now, I have enjoyed the photos I find in this site, especially the ones taken of Japan. I add my comments all the time, to say nice job, or thank you for uploading this. Usually much thought is put into composing a photo using bokeh.
A nice comment might make the photographer feel pleased to know people like the work they share. I hope everyone reading this will think about sending a such message of appreciation, too. Please try it!
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