question on bokeh

[briandee]

Originally Posted by ecate78

Hello!

I am new to dps and photography, can anyone explain me what's a "bokeh"! Thanks a lot!

bokeh is the word referring to the use of a large aperture to make the background or foreground of a picture out of focus or 'blurry' .......... see above pictures

[vandergus]

Originally Posted by briandee

bokeh is the word referring to the use of a large aperture to make the background or foreground of a picture out of focus or 'blurry' .......... see above pictures

Not really the use of large aperture but the blurred background itself.

Literally translated, it just means blur, so it can simply refer to the out of focus areas in a photograph. Most people, however, use the word the refer to the quality of the out of focus areas. Hence you will here many people say that a photograph has "bad bokeh".

It is also a frequently misused term.

[PhilDellPhoto]

Good bokeh, bad bokeh, they could be the same thing depending on what the photographer is going for.
Once you get your first 50mm prime and start playing with 1.8 or 1.4, you will start appreciating those odd shaped light bubbles in the background of movies. They are beautiful, mystical, and in my opinion make pictures much better than an infinite depth of field. Maybe not with landscape photography, but all else, great use of bokeh makes your pix look intentional, even if they're not.