Bokeh is one of the things that made me fall in love with photography when I was 13 years old, now I'm 47. I noticed it in pictures and wanted to find out what causes it, so I started investigating in books from the library and before I knew it, I learned a lot of other stuff related to this fantastic activity, photography. Thank you so much, Tony, for you enthusiasm and your 1st class work.
Nicely explained and presented Tony! I've noticed that many TV shows deliberately chase the bokeh blobs in night-time compositions, but close their lenses a little, presumably to achieve the desired depth of field. The result are visible blobs BUT with the geometric aperture blade shape which I personally don't like - some TV lenses also seem to have basic non-rounded aperture blade systems which accentuates the effect. Since I personally prefer the perfectly rounded shape, it can often be better to choose a lens which delivers the DOF you desire at its maximum aperture. So if you like to shoot at f2.8 for a certain DOF but want round blobs, then go for an f2.8 lens as it will be operating at is maximum aperture without the blades getting in the way. As such, lenses with smaller apertures can sometime be more desirable than those with larger apertures - and obviously smaller and cheaper too. PS - Rugby balls are a similar shape to your American footballs. PPS - concentric onion ring patterns within bokeh blobs are often caused by aspherical elements, although I see them a lot less nowadays, so the grinding process is getting better and better.
Hey Tony last video i commented somewhat negatively as vid was nothing but an advert. this video is wonderfully educational fun and interesting so thankyou so much i always love your work and dedication to all of us and i definately want to offer praise when due. Awesome work and thankyou, Merry Christmas
My wife once complained why the backgrounds in the pictures I took were always blurred. She couldn't even remember where the pictures were taken. It was then I realized bokeh is something that only photographers care about.
There's a Japanes photographer who travelled the world with his wife and took photos at every landmark with the background blurred... e.g. You could vaguely make out the Eiffel Tower... lol
I don't care how bokeh is pronounced, to me it's about understanding depth of field, what you want in focus and out of focus, esp in Close up and macro photography. Understanding the mechanics of depth of field and the relationship between low lens apertures and your lens is crucial. However, this video was simple and easy to follow and one of the best I've seen, thanks Tony, best wishes to both of you, looking forward to a new year of content. Regards Rob (UK).
Bokeh has been my goal for a while now The widest aperture lens is f/ 3.5 15-45mm and a 55-200 mm f/4. I do a lot of outside photography and you have helped me understand more about it. I am a beginner on a very low budget. But I am still having fun with it
Yeah I only figured that out while making this video.... The shape is always the radius of two circles, which might be different sizes depending on the sizes of the front and rear openings. The front opening always creates the outside edge of the bokeh ball.
@@TonyAndChelsea It also depends on the aperture setting. Wide open, only the front and rear openings determine the edges of the bokeh balls. When the diaphragm is stopped down one stop, the shape of the bokeh near the middle of the photo is aperture-shaped (as you show at 5:00), while near the edges of the frame the front and rear openings may still create cat-eye shapes. A few stops down from wide open, and all of the bokeh balls are now aperture-shaped.
This is why this channel is "THE" top photography channel on youtube. Excellent information and very detailed, thanks so much Tony. Stay safe both and have a better 2021
I think bokeh is under-appreciated. It's great to know that it doesn't matter to "most" people, but it's also great to appreciate the fine details of your craft and understand what works best for you!
Correct. In Spanish, it is easy to write/pronounce since under the vast majority of instances, few exceptions, the vowels are pronounced one way. In English, the letter “O” can be pronounced different ways just as the rest of the vowels, sometimes mute. Also, Japanese has different concepts that do not necessarily translate to other languages/concepts. Take “Kodo”, roughly translates “soul of motion”, just as a river or current of air flows. It is a conceptual approach to the design of Mazdas’ CX-5 vehicle and others. So this video making a big deal of “bokeh” is pedantic.
As an amateur photographer I appreciate the fact that you explain things so that those of us who are new to the field can understand. Thank you so much! Also just purchased your book stunning digital photography can’t wait to read it.
Thanks. As a retired engineer, I really enjoyed your technical explanation of how bokeh is generated. Never given much thought to bokeh before. Only thought of it as "blurring" of the background at lower f-stops. Hopefully, I won't start missing the plot of movies as I study bokeh in the future.
Very informative. It’s the most I’ve heard on bokeh, had no idea 1979 was the year of bokeh. Also, I’ve always thought it was pronounce bok-hey. 😃 Bokeh is ok for certain shots, but I’ve seen it overdone too many times. Was really nice to see the different bokeh styles.
Owning a Petzval with customizable aperture blades I can tell you that you have to place your subjects in front of lights in order to get that effect, and for the most part you just don't do that at weddings. But it is a neat effect if you can find a way to make it happen that doesn't screw with the autofocus.
@@swistedfilms I worked with a guy that did it in the late 70s. He (we) only had all manual equipment. It wasn't difficult at all. I set up the lights in the background. They were used in the picture to announce the engagement and/or the wedding invitation. I don't remember him doing it in the actual wedding.
I found an example of natural bokeh which is in shadows. Especially trees, I’m not talking about cameras either; you can see it with your naked eye if a trees shadow is at the right distance so that it appears out of focus and the highlights are shaped as bokeh balls. Just something I found interesting.
That's classical. - pros worry about bokeh - hobbyists worry about correct pronunciation of "bokeh" 🙂 No I'm wrong. - hobbyists worry about bokeh and its pronunciation. - pros know that their customers simply don't care.
Very enlightening technical explanation, thank you! By the way, I'm Japanese and don't get why bokeh isn't simply called "blur" in English. In Japanese, 'boke' isn't a magical word, and outside photography we regularly use it to describe "senility," "forgetfulness," "blurriness," a certain state of mental fogginess. Your grandpa "bokeru" means his old age makes his memory and thoughts blurry, in other words, he loses his sharpness. So yes, it makes sense to use the same term in photography and visual arts. "You boke!" is even used as an insult. Just to round up my pedantry: Tony pronounces 'boke' right at the 6:05 mark ("...sacrificing bokeh unless you..."). Both syllables 'bo' and 'ke' are short. 'Bo' is as short as in "bottle" and 'ke' sounds like in 'cat' or 'Kelly.' If you're unsure on how to pronounce it, just say 'blur.'
The term "bokeh" sounds more professional and I love that they adopted this word in photography since most photographic gadgets originated in Japan anyway. They should apply more Japanese words that are easier for non-Japanese speakers to pronounce!😁 I actually heard another person mention it fr one of my portraitures so I was surprised that he applied the word correctly for the blurry effects. I didn't know back then that the photography world had adopted this word already.
very interesting and funny!. The photography world has really taken to this "new" word to describe blur. However in most instances, when people use the word bokeh in photography, they typically refer to the lovely round balls as Tony has shown in this video. As opposed to motion blur, light trail blur or not so nice slightly missed focus blur, as well as diffused hazy blur, glowy blur (such as Photoshop can create) defocused etc. I really love the big round bokeh, but also quite like the chaotic weird shaped or swirly blur you can get using Lensbaby lenses. Lots and lots of different types of blur, but we tend to think of "bokeh" as the classic roundish ones. It's just an acquired fashion to now use the term, having said that, it can really help to pinpoint a particular "type" of blur in photography.
Thank you. This is a good, educational, and interesting video. I now know how to look at bokeh, and a bit more about how to set my lens to get the bokeh I want.
Vesica piscis was what came to mind. I’ve always wondered why we didn’t learn that one in school. Unrelated but kind of- around the age of 20 DMT “came to me” (it felt like a coming of age, plz don’t judge) and in the brief moment I spend on it, I watched a tree blur and a geometric pattern of circles fit perfectly over it. I’m certain these shapes are sacred and involved in secret sciences.
True but technically that describes the 3 dimensional shape whereas this is a 2 dimensional shape. Sorry, but what's a comment about bokeh without someone else making an overly pedantic correction right?
Nicely done! Back in the day we just called it "the round blurry bits" We just knew the cheap lenses couldn't blur or blurred weirdly and expensive lenses did it like your fave movie. Try a mirror lens for weird bokeh. Hope you are Livin' la vida bokeh, Tony! :)
In the 1980’s I remember photographers comparing star bursts, you could even get filters to create them at wide apertures. Then in the 1990’s it was lens flares. Now its all about the bokeh balls. Good video, thanks for explaining.
Tony, I think you need a bokeh intervention, lol! Thanks for this explanation. I always wondered why some bokeh was football shaped, once you explained it I was like "well, duh!" Made perfect sense.
Now that I know about this (in more detail) I'll have to go out and shoot some pictures of a beer barrel. Yea, because everyone likes the Beer Barrel Bokeh. : - )
First, let me say I have wondered about it and thank you for a real explanation of its cause. I always give you credit on the technical side, you are one of the few photographers who understand what it means to press that button. Personally, I don't understand who would should care about it. There is something called photoshop which will give you any background you desire.
I like pentagonal and hexagonal bokeh. It may be a vintage thing, but I find it more true to the artform. It's an artefact of artists tools. It's the fingerprint of the lens. You may want busy or special shaped bokeh.
I loved this video, explained it very clearly and I love how you quickly demonstrated the concepts on-camera! This is absolutely my favorite camera youtube video of this year. Or that's what I'd like to say, but chelsea made the camera company dating video, which is the camera youtube video of the decade. But this is still a great video, so thank you!
for 13 mins, i learned so much. thanks. i searched for 'anatomy of bokeh effect' and i got your website. anyway, you never mention the color reflection. i see some bokeh effects with various colors. i can speculate how the color reflections happen but i need an expert's view. also, i found out that painting bokeh effect means the painter is copying an image to paint from a photograph since a painter cannot see bokeh effect in real world, this is my experience. a painter's focus is on the subject and just decides how the background will compliment the subject. a painter cannot shift the focus for obvious reasons. thanks again.
My comment on correct pronunciation of "bokeh" was featured! I'M SO FAMOUS!!! :D This video was actually really helpful on why bokeh balls are football shaped. Thanks for making this video! :)
Tossed me back to film days of the 1970s. A company sold a filter attachment with cut outs like the heart ❤️ shape Tony demo’d. Just holes in plastic to place in front.
My memory has faded with age but I seem to remember in a video class in 1977 (ancient history) that this effect was called the “circle of confusion”. Apparently, we hadn’t consulted with the Japanese at that point. In fairness, I’m 67 and could be thinking of an effect when shooting toward the sun. Don’t forget we were using tube cameras at the time. Back to the vlog: excellent!
Bokeh is also important in outdoor sports, too. I like my Fuji lenses, but the zooms have too busy/nervous backgrounds that draw attention away from the subjects. It is particularly bad with trees and brush on a sunny day.
Thank you Tony and Chelsea for another interesting video. Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas/Holiday and New Year. Thank you again for all that you have done this year!
I like the so called "bad" bokeh. I think it looks neat when it's a hexagon shape. And I also don't think it really takes that much away from the subject because like you said, most people don't really care about it when viewing the photos/videos.
At first I was like "Wow, it's cool how the bokeh balls growing while the subject moves further from the camera". But later the unpredictable focus adjustments made the bokeh pulsation quite distracting. I guess ideally the autofocus should have been switched off then the movement is done. The out of focus hands were so jarring it's hard to describe. It just reminds that the fast lenses can give really neat effects, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong.
focus/refocus speed should be adjusted to a slower setting to reduce this pulsating, he probably had the camera tracking his face(auto af/track) since he was moving back & forth
@@AshleyPaul It's possible he does but he was using a different lens in order to demonstrate the effect. He usually uses a 24MM lens. Here he was using an 85MM lens which likely has a different motor that isn't ideal for video due to the noise. There probably was only so much he could do about the noise in post and it's likely it won't happen in the next video.
As always you very balanced - thanks a lot for this exact right balance of simplicity and healthy logic 👍😎 One more aspect of bokeh probably more interesting is how sharp DOF zone graduately becomes bokeh becouse at moderate f values it makes picture to represent original 3d scene volume better in 2d picture, even light plays here a top role bokeh also adds to volume felling for viewer. some lenses have distinct bluring of each next tree in ally for example and some have only two condition - sharp in dof or similarly blurred (different amount of blur but single character) - so backdrop and subject only feeling, no graduate volume of scene
The technical term for American Football ball 2:40 would be a Prolate Spheroid. Or a Spheroid in more vague terms. In Spain and France and most of Europe, what you call (American) Football ball shape would be mostly named a Rugby ball shape (as football is what Americans call Soccer). I would personally call the non circular shape an Oval
Poor assistant Justin having to dig through reams of negative RU-vid comments to find bokeh pronunciation criticism. Looking forward to trying that heart-shaped bokeh trick!
The sound isn't bad. And I really like the explanation of the pronunciation because it's debated quite often. I think it's ok to pronounce it the way you want. It's not a big deal. But I like knowing the actual history.
Actually, very nice video, Tony. You really explained things very well. Just one thing (of course ;)): Bokeh is not just about bokeh balls, it is about the quality of all of the out-of-focus blur. You mentioned roll-off at some point, for me that is what it really is about., i.e., the transition from the focused, sharp area to the out-of-focus area, and ideally both in front of the in-focus area and at the back of the in-focus area. If you then dive into optics you'll find that with "normal" optics you can only have smooth transitions either from the foreground, or towards the background, but not both, due to the way the images travel through a lens (in a way, like the example you gave at the beginning with the paper roll; just that you either get a strong edge, or smooth transition). It is really only with modern lenses that both may become quite good. Examples are, from Canon, the EF 50L F/1.2, the 135L, the RF 50L and the RF 85L, or Olynpus the 25 Pro and 45 Pro :). And yes, I am a Canon and Olympus shooter. In addition, the Canon TS-Es do very well here, and in their case, all of them, and at any aperture, from the old TS-E 24L TS-E 45, TS-E 90 to the latest L incarnations, from 17 to 135 mm. This is probably due to the fact that they tend to be derivatives of symmetrical lenses with extremely large image circles, so no mechanical vignetting as shown by the paper roll example at the beginning of the video. Anyway, I could go on for hours on the subject, but will leave it at this for now :). Kindest regards, Wim
Bokeh Schmokeh..I need sharp as diamonds results for catalogue Native American Jewelry in super close-up . I love Your videos and I love all kinds of Bokeh. Great teacher ! Thank you.
Wow, thank you for this! I never really understood why it happened, and now I want to try making some custom-shaped bokeh balls with cardboard like the hearts in your example!
What you said about the photography community is so true. I get hateful comments all the time anything from my finger nils being too LONG which they really seem to HATE and also I talk way to FAST or way to SLOW Oh and don’t even get me on the ISO VS I S O people haha At the end of the day I love the photography community but damn we have a few real toxic people here.
Glad you're sticking with it. So many amazing creators simply stop making videos because of the toxicity. The entire community suffers for the acts of a few trolls.
Thanks for some great informative videos throughout this year. a lot of tips and tricks, and a load of info. Thanks for the effort You two put into this, I'm very grateful. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. My best wishes for the time ahead of us. Stay safe as always.
My perspective on this was like, when I saw straight edges caused by aperture blades, I immediately thought, OK, this is not shot with a cellphone. It's a professional camera because it has aperture blades!
I knew the most of these, but it's always good to have some additional information, it was fun and helpful and, YES, I do care and like the bokeh in high end movies, sometimes I do watch again and again some "schnitt" :) in movies, because of those cool bokeh :) My fav lens for bokeh effect is the good old Nikon 135mm DC f/2, use it on my good old Nikon D600 :). BTW, I adore bokeh, Keep up the great job Northrups!!!
Bokeh can be used in various ways and areas that one specializes in, especially with the subject. Bokeh can be interpreted in various ways. I used to eliminate blurred photos. After learning about Bokeh, I embrace the blur. Next time you get blurred photos, take another look...
Hey Tony, just go watch Fimaker IQ 's video for the subect "why are anamorphic bokeh oval" .its recent. THATS nerdy on a whole different level.i think you got wrong the part about anamorphical lenses.cheers!
I noticed Bokeh after learning photography from you. But as much as I liked it, I never got hyperfocused on it. It's nice, but it's not something I ever strived for. However learning more about it was definitely interesting, thanks Tony!
Not to put too fine a point on things, lens design history in this area is actually rather interesting. During a technology exchange between Germany and Japan back in the 1930's the German shared what they knew (which was quite a lot, actually) about the effects of spherical aberration in the out of focus areas. The Japanese, and Nikon in particular, _loved_ the painterly qualities of under-corrected spherical aberrations behind the point of focus (stronger in the middle and softer around the edges of a "bokeh ball"). The 1,000 and one nights series that Nikon has on their lens histories talk a bit about this. So it should come as no surprise that Nikon's 10,5cm and the evolving 105mm P designs rely heavily on this specific optic correction and remain highly regarded, even if people aren't aware of the design criteria that deliberately led to this wonderful optical implementation. Regarding your comments on cinema and the effect of out of focus rendition, consider the case of the TV series "Downton Abbey." The scenes shot with the fixed focal length Cooke Panchros render the backgrounds smooth and buttery. I find them gorgeous as they lend, for me, a sense of quiet, rich calm to a scene. By comparison, you can tell when the film makers switched to a zoom lens (I think it was also Cooke, but I'm not sure). The out of focus rendition is more "soap bubble" and I experience this as jarring, "nervous", and somewhat difficult to look at after watching the fixed focal length shots. Enough of this. I'm sure you already know all this. Keep up the great work!!!
