Chicflat Loc: Tulsa, Ok,

1. Is this Bokeh?

2. If the large, spent blossom is the intended focus, is this poor composition?

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CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Without getting into an argument about what 'bokeh' is, let's take as a given that 'Bokeh' occurs for those parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. That would be the flat brown of this image beyond any of the tree / branches in this image. For this image, we'll say 'no'.

Regarding composition, I'd suggest trimming some of the top of the image to better position the spent blossom. It looks like a square crop would work be better. Take enough off the top (and maybe some from the bottom) so the spent blossom falls on the new middle horizontal across the resulting image.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Usually bokeh is discussed as the quality of the out of focus area, and by extension, how that impacts the subject and overall composition. Some lenses are known for having "good" bokeh. For a few extreme examples, see kymarto's topic: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-609910-1.html

This article discusses the "quality" aspect.

Regarding composition, there's a vertical orientation I like. I cropped to just above the curved branch that goes from left to right, and took a little off the left and the bottom. That puts your subject in one of the rule of thirds intersection points, though my primary interest was the curves of the background branches and making the overall composition slightly less busy.

Since you put this in PP Forum, is there anything about your processing you would like to share or ask? The last time you visited was right after I had to leave for a couple of months, but I'm back Hope to see you around more often!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Bokeh is open to interpretation. It's a Japanese word and in its widest sense it refers to any out of focus areas in a shot. However, in Japan a stricter interpretation is that it refers to out of focus specular highlights. In between those definitions it can refer to any softened highlights and softened areas. Going by the most common interpretation, most of your background isn't soft enough to be referred to as bokeh.

Composition is also open to interpretation. So expect opinions on the subject rather than definitive answers. I would say the large blossom isn't prominent enough to warrant the title of main subject. Cropping would make it more prominent, as would subduing the rest of the shot with a mixture of reduced saturation, sharpness and lowered highlights.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Excellent pp advice IMO, thanks R.G.!
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IDguy Loc: Idaho

Might try rotating clockwise 180 and see if you like.

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

I was about to say the same r.e. rotate 180° but also mirror the image over Horizontal axis. We read left to right, just seems more natural. (so the branches are coming from lower left)

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Is this what you're suggesting?

Chicflat, let me know if you want the demo removed.

Linda
section manager

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IDguy Loc: Idaho

I was suggesting a flip horizontal from this but I like this better than original. Go with what feels best for you.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

You and OnDSnap have offered additional ideas for composition not mentioned by Chg_Canon or myself earlier. Good stuff! I'm looking forward to hearing from our OP.

Thanks much.

Chicflat Loc: Tulsa, Ok,

For all your insight thanks to each, specifically for CHG_CANON, Linda, and R.G., thanks; I think I've got the Bokeh. Since I got back late in the post because of the holiday, I am an answering by topic .

Chicflat Loc: Tulsa, Ok,

To the question of the composition. I like this flip. I wasn't sure about the crop. I can see a square cut, but my question then would be: does the image get too buy with the dark elements? Would I then have to clean up/ remove some of the background to maintain/strengthen the focus on the spent blossom? The last question would seem to apply to any crop.

One aspect of thi8s image that drew me were the lines of the branches and the swirling of the darker, unfocused darks in the shot. DSnap, I like your flip. It seems to me that it covers a stronger emphasis to the vertical branches so that they give the shot a better balance, but still keep the overall pattern of the darks. It may also seems to allow the light on the blossom to gain greater impact. Thank you every one for your help

guardineer

You beat me to it IDguy. That was the first thing I did.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

1. Is this Bokeh?

Bokeh is defined as the quality of the out-of-focus area of a photograph with the general interest being the specular highlights. So the question isn't "is it bokeh?", but rather "is it nice bokeh or not". I would venture to say that if you asked 100 people this question, you'll likely get 100 different answers. In this image, I feel the bokeh isn't especially pleasing. The background is especially busy and still to sharp with not enough defocus to isolate/emphasize the subject. A more out-of-focus'ed background would help. You can improve it, some, in PP if this image is important to you.

2. If the large, spent blossom is the intended focus, is this poor composition?

Again, composition is very subjective, so I can just give you another opinion for you to consider.

The background is too busy and sharp to make it easy for my eyes to easily find the subject. I would modify this image by cropping the image and blurring+darkening the background.

Cropping helps the small blossom become more prominent in the image. Blurring further isolates the blossom from the background. Darkening increases the contrast between the blossom and the background. Darkening also helps de-emphasize the busy background.

I did a little PP on your image to illustrate my description above. You can get different bokeh effects by playing around with different types of blurring, but will probably never be as good as what some lenses produce in-camera. As a final touch, I added a light vignette, for no outer reason other than I like them.

Hope this helps you with your final image.

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