docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

god i love these terms: bokeh.........back in the old days we just said
blurry background wide open lens.....bokeh does sound more exotic.

Roger Hicks Loc: Aquitaine

Well, in all fairness, bokeh is the quality of the out of focus image. To quote the late Geoofrey Crawley 'good bokeh (preservation of subject shape in out of focus planes)' [Amateur Photographer, 8 August 2009, page 74]. An awful lot of nonsense is talked about bokeh, and indeed, there are people for whom the bokeh tail seems to wag the photographic dog, but equally, it's not a completely useless concept:

From the end of the piece on my site ( http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/bokeh.html ) about bokeh:

"Bokeh is one of those things like grey cards and the Zone System in that while it is very useful in its place, it attracts fanatics and people who think they know a great deal more about photography than they do. Many are inclined to attribute everything good in photography to their pet hobby horse, much like those who believe in gurus. Don't be intimidated by bokeh, and don't overrate it if it's not important to you. If it is important to you, then the very best of luck to you, but remember that others may not share your opinion of its importance. "

Cheers,

R.

EdAnderson Loc: Hanover, PA

Certainly the creative use of shallow depth of field can make some photographs more appealing. What about those images where everything is in sharp focus and the image pops? Over the course of 20 years, I shot for a lot of clients who demanded eye-catching images and crystal clarity. As was stated earlier in the thread, the 'look' is the result of study and practice, repeated ad nauseum.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

One thing not mentioned, I believe, is you need honest critique. It has to come from someone who is not in your family, not a friend, and who does not give damn if your precious feelings are hurt.

Lots of practice is good, but only if it is accompanied with the ability see errors and correct them - and we often do not see our own errors.

I have been entering print competitions for over 8 years and I sure was not happy to hear what some of the judges had to say - but after I got over my ego being bruised, i tried to take the comments to heart and integrate whatever I learned.
It has paid off in spades.

The person doing the critique needs to have some background and experience in the type of images being critiqued.

It is tough on a forum like this to get that type of feedback because everyone confuses honesty with being mean. But good critique will emphasize what is done well and what sucks. It will also include how to correct what sucks. On most forums, there is too much "Cute kids" critique and not enough about lousy focus, busy backgrounds, terrible lighting, blown highlights, unflattering poses - and that is all in one photo. :-)

I have seen plenty of images here that folks asked to be C&C'd but to do that honestly would not go over well here.

So to all the other stuff, add critique by someone who does not love you.

nyweb2001

Lol !! Good response !!! Don't ask for critique if you're overly sensitive !

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

I have cause a stir with one or two posters by giving them honest feedback on their pictures. Turns out some that ask for C&C aren't looking for critique, they want the same feedback their family and friends give them.

Saying this, when I do give C&C I point out the postive as well as what needs to be worked on.

KimParks Loc: Kenosha, WI

I agree a bad shot is a bad shot. Never fails why do people insist on trying to make a picture with someone with a constipated look on their face work. It doesn't work it's just a bad shot...move along to a different pic. I take on average 50 pictures and only will like 5 par for the course, but I do not pick the constipated look either.

crudasill Loc: Texas

I DO think you know! I have Photoshop, but it seems more than that. I don't use it, but guess I need to figure out how!! lol Thank you!

crudasill Loc: Texas

I think I'm going to post some photos with beautiful, bokeh, that I took...along with a professional photo. Then maybe show how, while my, captures are good, it's still missing something. It may be as simple as posed vs random. Doesn't seem so, but when I think about it, It's always in a , "photo shoot". Well, most.

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

Yes post one or two of your own images and we should be able to give you some pointers on what you need to do to move to the next level.

pmmagnum

Cindy a lot of the wow is in the post production, the second picture had vignette to it, and it dosen't come out of the camera like that, you should try lightroom, you can get that wow your looking for. I hope this helps.........Pete

Bilal Loc: Henderson, Nevada

There are a lot of "looks". Some Photographers always use a tripod. However, lighting, focus, background, and trial & error work best for me. Trial & error ie. lots of pictures is bound to get you what you are looking for.

Mickey88 Loc: Central Florida

thetre are a lot of pieces to the puzzle, good composition, good exposure, using depth of field properly.

and one thing that is often overlooked or disdained on this board, good post processing to make photos pop, on another board I often heard photographers talk about increasing the blacks, I couldn't figure out how to do that with my software so I continued without it, In August I bought lightroom to work on a wedding I shot, there was a slider for blacks, so I simply increaed the blacks by about 10, WOW, the photos were starting to pop, I've been reworking photos from the past ten years, a few minor tweaks with lightroom and some photos that I was happy with before, not make me say WOW...

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

I agree. The feeling that somehow post processing is cheating is not just on this forum. I can assure you however, that on the any professional forum the images are heavily processed in most cases. As to the "look," here is one of mine - the straight from the camera image and then what I delivered.
The guy's wife loved my interpretation of her husband. It is not photojournalism!
Photography has changed - especially in the portrait and fine art area. Even landscape and nature stuff is heavily processed now - and I LOVE the look.

This is one light and a reflector.

OOC


Delivered

Roger Hicks Loc: Aquitaine

Dear Cliff,

Even though I have a very low tolerance for B+W conversions -- I'm still firmly wedded to film and wet printing for B+W -- I have to admit that is a VERY fine portrait. What output medium (ink jet, laser-written halide, etc.) did you use for the print you delivered? And what size did they order?

Cheers,

R.