[JeffJS]

I'm looking for some guidance here. What, in your mind, is Ugly Bokeh? Good Bokeh? other?

Personally, I Like this photo. I'll agree that the bokeh may be busy but is it Ugly?



What about this one?



Is This more to the liking of the general population?



or..



A couple more..





The only thing these photos have in common for the purpose of this thread is that they were all shot wide open and in such a way as to show the bokeh of each lens. I'm not telling which photo was taken with which lens though some of you will be able to tell (don't). All I'll say is the cost range is $12 - $1200.

[wffwii]

I like them all except the first. It's not the bokeh in the first for me, it's the amount of out of focus space, and the semi-recognizable leaves going diagonally at the top left, pulling me away from the sharp part of the image.

I think if you cropped a bit out of it, it would work though.

The last one is my favorite.

[stewh]

A very clever study. I don't like #1 either, the bokeh is busy and more confused than ugly IMHO. I'll be very interested to see the lens list.

[Ash]

Distance between in-focus areas and the OOF areas as well as background detail make a great deal of difference in terms of bokeh.
#1's bokeh is indeed hectic, even unsightly, but it's quite well suited to that particular image. Ugliness is a matter of personal taste for each particular image.
#2 is very smooth - quite pleasant.
#3 has a very large difference between the focal distance of the subject and the distance from the lens to the background, so it's harder to appreciate.
The last couple are similarly pleasing and velvety, the last one also possessing a fine contrast and colour rendition.

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Last edited by Ash; 02-06-2011 at 09:00 PM.

[twitch]

I like the bokeh in all except the first.

[Fontan]

I looove the first one. Zeiss-like bokeh.

[Scottnorwo]

first shot just too much, maybe crop in on subject more. other shots the shallow depth of field works well.

[JeffJS]

You mean like This?



This is the only crop I could get that didn't leave something 'hanging' in the top left to distract.

They aren't really important to the discussion but I'll disclose the lenses later.

[tessfully]

Wow, love your new rendition of # 1... and I like all of these shots... this one and number two are my favourites. Such beautiful colour... I am not much of a flower person, but the wild rose is lovely and I can see it receiving rave reviews. I am also experimenting with this technique and have posted quite a few in the other forum for post your photos, so am interested in the replies. btw, What lens are you using... I can't see it listed above.

Anyway, truly wonderful!

[a a i b]

It's funny; it seems to me there's a difference between bokeh and blur. So your first image certainly has bokeh, but what I'd call nervous bokeh. Not quite unpleasant, but jittery.

Your second image has better bokeh to me. However, the third, forth and fifth are more blur than bokeh to my mind. This assessment is quite apart from pleasantness; they're good pictures, but when I seem them, the word bokeh doesn't spring to mind.

For me, the difference between bokeh and blur is that bokeh will retain some figure to it, whereas blur can just be that, a field without figure. A fine line, admittedly.

Interesting discussion.

[Voytech]

Very cool study Jeff! I actually like the first shot (the original). It makes me think of reflections in the water.

[seacapt]

Jeff , My opinion for whatever it's worth is that this isn't really a fair test because of the varried subjects. First pic which most dislike is a tough subject for a bokeh shot however certain areas show a pretty nice bokeh effect. With your permission I'll do a quick recrop and show you what I mean. As Ash said the depth of the subject makes alot of difference. I have a few lenses both cheap and pricey that are my bokeh babies but in addition to oppening them up framing of the shot can make or break the bokeh quality.

[JeffJS]

Have at it Seacapt.

It later occurred to me that I should have named this thread, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (Bokeh).

a a i b, I see Some detail in every one. Perhaps that is because I know what is actually there.

Tess, I've purposely left out the lens IDs to remove any bias. As I said in the OP, some may be able to tell what lenses some if not all of these were taken with.

I appreciate all the feedback and thank you to everybody for participating in my little study. My intention in posting these as various types and asking what people think is this. I've read a lot of reviews and comments of photos. Most contain comments about Bokeh. To me it all has it's own quality but I've seen that (even here) not everybody agrees about what 'good' bokeh is. For me, the bokeh should add something to the image. If it distracts from the actual focal point as in the first photo, it should in itself, be interesting.

Here are a couple/few more to consider if you care to.







Just to throw another wrench into the works, Does the Bokeh always have to be Behind the focal point? Or does it then just become a blurry part of the photo at that point? Such as..

[Hamilton]

Interesting test...I'm a bokeh novice so I will see where this goes.
I do like the first one on both series.

[seacapt]

Hey Jeff, I misunderstood what you were asking earlier so I'll try again.
First set;
#1) As posted bokeh is extremely distracting , might even say harsh However cropped differently it adds life to a less than exciting subject- see my attempt below.
#2) This bokeh is kind of muddy and boring it niether adds nor detracts from the image.
#3) Sorry but I hate this one. The light spots are big and hexoganal especially on the left side . The rest of the bokeh is just bland.
#4) My favorite in this group. Smooth contrasting color really isolates the subject.
#5)Although this lens is capable of very nice bokeh quality , in this case I find it distracting.
#6) Nice and smooth . If background was a contrasting color the bokeh would be a strong asset to this shot .
Second set:
#1That one goes in the ugly catagory . Very distracting background not out of focus enough.
#2) Again this lens has great bokeh abillity but the orange and purple flower behind the zinia take away from the picture.
#3 not crazy about the angles of the brown branches behind the crabapple but the softness and color of the bokeh are a strong asset .
#4 I really like most of the bokeh area in this. The front and back bokeh frames and isolates the subject and the colors really work. the in focus leaves are a bit distracting. I think if you cropped a little off the top and left side this could be a really cool picture.

Well that's my opinion ... and you know what they say about opinions.I hope this was alittle more like what you were asking for and I hope it was helpful.