charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

I have never heard this word spoken, always written. I always say it is my head as bouquet like in a bouquet of flowers. Is this correct?

Chuck

raypep

Yes

AndyT Loc: Hampstead, New Hampshire

It depends on who you talk to. I've always pronounced it bo-kah, and I'm comfortable saying it that way.

Jagnut07 Loc: South Carolina

Bo Kay will work for me.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Chuck, pronunciation aside, this might put things into perspective for many.

https://fujixweekly.com/2018/12/16/why-bokeh-is-overrated/
--Bob

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

Thanks Ray

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

Thanks Andy

Chuck

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

Thanks Jagnut07

Chuck

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

Thanks Bob, I know what it is but not the proper proper pronunciation for sure. Interesting article though even thought the author did not tell us how to say bokeh

Chuck

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I didn't doubt that you knew what it is. My point was how overrated it is.
--Bob

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I've never pronounced, nor heard it pronounced bo-kay.
Sounds too much like bouquet.

The primary pronunciation listed in the dictionary is boh-kuh, which is what I've always heard, and use.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

It's derived from Japanese...and I believe it's Bo Kay.
I don't think it's over-rated at all. It can make or break a great photo! IMHO.

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I have a problem- I was born, raised and early-educated in Brooklyn. I, to this day, do not pronounce many English words correctly. It took me years to realize that the alphabet includes the letter "R" and that "th" is not pronounced as "D"! I have to take elocution lessons. I still need to work on my English pronunciation so as for Japanese- FORGETABOUTIT.

I sat through a year of "OPTICS" class and never heard the term "BOKEH". We discussed terms like Depth of Field, Circles of Confusion, and all lens abberations- enough to cause a student to develop mental abberations. It turned out that I actually liked certain aberrations for ethereal effects.

"Bokeh" is just a new buzzword for folks to become preoccupied with. So, you get folks spending big bucks on an f/.95 a lens so they can make a portrait and have the subject's ears become part of the "bokeh"! Or, they buy a certain one because they like the shape of the diaphragm blades for, what else? BOKEH!

All kidding aside, of course, background management is an important part of many kinds of photography and understanding and controlling the depth of field is part of that skill set. There are many other factors that influence the appearance of an out-of-focus background. The relative volume of light, the direction of lighht, various interferences and colour content and reflectance of the background. It seems, however, that so many photograhers shoot portraits, flowers and wildlife as if the subject is standing in front of a mass of obnoxious, super colourful party balloons. The "Bokeh" becomes a distraction!

My Brooklyneses interpretation is words like "blobs, fuzz, rhythms, bubblers smooth, sharp, fog, wash, and many other combinations, concoctions, and permutations of the aforementioned slang.

Attached - The results of Spherical Abberation combined with a shallow depth of field. The lens- A Rodenstock Imagon ought H/Stops- looks like a drain strainer from a sink with multiple adjustable apertures. ISO 100, H/6.3 Electronic flash. Gold Xmas tinsel in the background

Bokah? Who knows!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

So what was it called before "bokeh" came along?
Seems like a convenient single word descriptor to me.