Originally posted by The Kurly One Great info so far. Now when I see a photo with circles of colour in the background all of similiar size, is that good or bad Bokeh?
I know these may seem like dumb questions, but for one to appreciate the art, one must understand the artist! or at the very least the connoisseur or critic!
We're talking about the out of focus areas here. Most of the time, this part of the image is meant to at least not to distract from the subject. If possible it should enhance the subject in some way. You would have it in focus if it was part of the subject.
I took this photo recently, and it's not a spectacular image, but I think the best thing about it is the out of focus background, which happens to be a color that complements the rest of the photo.
I can't claim I expected or planned this effect. The lens was a 500mm mirror lens, which everyone will tell you has horrible bokeh. It helps that the background in this case is maybe 250 feet away and the bird is maybe 20 feet away.
If you look through some of the threads mentioned above, you can see some good examples. I would not immediately worry about replacing all your lenses with ones that cost 10x as much to acquire the best bokeh. Just look at images to see what adds to the subject and what takes away from it.