MICHAEL WEINBERG PHOTOGRAPHY • 570-561-2670 • 215-965-0785
SAMPLE COMMERICAL PHOTO IMAGE
Butterfly Landing with Delicious Background Bokeh
What is a Photographic Backgound Bokeh?
from bobatkins.com
The quality of the blur has come to be known as "bokeh". The origin of the term is from the Japanese word Bokeh and Background Blur which in romaji (english characters) is spelled "boke" ( pronounced bo-keh) and which means "fuzzy", but usually in the sense of "touched in the head" or "senile". It can also be used to describe someone who says stupid things, or makes silly mistakes. However in the world of photography Bokeh has come to be used to refers to the fuzzy or confused nature of out of focus areas in photographs. Are they smooth and uniform or are they some other shape and texture? Smooth, uniform, aesthetically pleasing blur is "good" Bokeh while blur which shows evidence of ugly shape and structure is "bad" Bokeh.
For good Bokeh, ideally points and lines would blur smoothly as they fell out of focus, in the manner, for example, of a smooth Gaussian blurring. However, that's not the way optics work. Blurring does not occur in a smooth Gaussian manner as objects fall out of focus. The lines don't blur smoothly and can interact to give patterns as is shown by the star shaped and square structures that appear where the lines cross. Aesthetically these patterns are less pleasing than a smooth Gaussian blur would be and so would not be classified as examples of good bokeh. In this case chromatic effects are also visible and the color of the blur patterns is different inside and outside focus.
The exact nature of the out of focus pattern depends on a number of things, but mainly on the design of the lens and the manner in which aberrations are controlled in the out of focus image. While all lenses designs attempt to minimize aberrations in the in focus image, different designs will have different levels and types of aberration in the out of focus image and thus yield images with different bokeh. Below are examples (calculated) showing the structure of the image of an infinitely small point (such as the image of a star) under various focus conditions, with and without aberrations. These are what you would see at very high magnifcation of the image (at much higher resolution than any film or digital camera can record). A real image can be though of as being made up of a very large number of such spots. As you can see, even at the microscopic level the blurring is not smooth. The structure in these points is due to the wave nature of light and interference phenomena.
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Random thoughts about the art of photojournalistic wedding photography. Take lots of shots.... lots of candid shots. Regardless of using film or digital understand how to get the correct exposures to get the best, brightest, most colorful results. Working in bright sunlight or in any unusual lighting situation, it is essential to be patient and to find a position to have natural light working for you. Capture the highlights on the faces of both the bride and the groom and the entire wedding party. Be aware of skin and hair and soft shadows that add subtle contrast, making the romantic look. Be careful of harsh shadows and sun - change positions carefully and often to get the light is just the right spot. Illuimination is the key. And don't forget, it is always important to be spontaneous; to have fun and to keep a lively sense of humor.
About shooting family photos and portraits at weddings. Make sure You can see everyone's face; that the shot is well lit, everyone is facing the camera and no-one is doing the bunny ears or doing something foolish. It is assumed that someone has their eyes closed. Ask your audience to "close their eyes and open them when I say pizza" wait an extra count of one before snapping the shutter and hopefully , then they will show their gorgeous and attentive eyes. These are the shots that folks want most for their prints, framed photographs and wedding albums.
Photos on this site are the property of Michael Weinberg Photography of Scranton, Clarks Summit Pennsylvania
and they may not be used without the expressed permission of the owner, Photographer Michael Weinberg.
PA professional photographer/graphic artist since 1989, Michael Weinberg has produced a wide variety of materials, both artistic and technical, for print and web publications, for business, industries and non-profit organizations. Over the years and decades, he has worked hard to sharpen and strengthen my photographic craft and skills, I have formulated several objectives which help to guide me in providing the high quality photography services essential to my clients.
REVEALING HIDDEN BEAUTY
As a PA photographer and artist, his primary goal is to reveal the hidden beauty and special characteristics in all that is captured with the camera’s lens; to find a way to stop time in its tracks, for one incredibly short moment; to provide the viewer a unique perspecitive of nature which surrounds and affects us; to bring out all that is interesting, expressive, colorful, entertaining and beautiful in the complex world around us.
CLEAR, CLEAN, COLORFUL
We have great respect for photographers who specialize in creating awe inspiring special effects, but my technical emphasis is in producing clear, clean and colorful images; to use the advanced technology at my disposal to produce the finest, best composed and best exposed photographs possible; crisply focused features with warm, realistic hues, tones and saturations. In short, Michael Weinberg wants to capture all that is photographed at the best angle and in the best light; he always wants to have, of everything he captures, the best side showing.