C&C on bokeh!!

[MxG]

this was the first time using 35mm 1.8.

would this be to much bokeh or just find.

 

[o hey tyler]

I think what you should be asking is "is the depth of field too shallow."

 

[peter27]

The background blur looks okay, but that bar through her head - OUCH!

 

[DanielLewis76]

I like the DOF but the Bokeh doesn't look creamy. It probably down to the light though.

 

[KmH]

As mentioned you are asking about depth-of-field (DoF).
No the DoF is not to shallow. I agree the bar behind her head isn't helping. The light source is to high for my taste, and for me she is to close to the left edge of the image frame making the image feel unbalanced.
In your profile, it would help if you chose an edit preference - My Photos Are OK to Edit or My Photos Are NOT OK to Edit.
The bar can be edited out of the image.

Bokeh is not adjustable, and is an inherent property determined by lens construction.
While many use the terms DoF and bokeh interchangeably, they are not the same thing.
Bokeh is judged in degrees of smoothness, or creaminess. Smooth and creamy bokeh is preferable to donut shaped, or jaring and jitterey, bokeh.

The only way you can change bokeh is by using a different make/model of lens, while DoF is adjusted by controlling lens focal length, point of focus distance, lens aperture, subject distance, and background distance.

Some lenses deliver notoriously ugly bokeh - catadioptric mirror lenses (donut shaped boken), and inexpensive prime lenses that have a minimum number of aperture blades (jaring and jitterey, bokeh).
Lenses with only 5 straight, sharp edged aperture blades usually produce less pleasing bokeh than lenses that have 9 curved, round edged aperture blades. The more aperture blades a lens has, the closer to round the lens aperture can be.
As a general rule, lenses having more aperture blades cost more.

Setting up the camera and lens so there is a shallow DoF helps to separate a subject from a background. The technique is known as 'selective focus'.
Using selective focus in photography - Bing
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

 

[runnah]

I think what you should be asking is "is the depth of field too shallow."

Your bokeh is broken!

 

[vintagesnaps]

I'm wondering if what you're asking is about depth of field or about space (maybe too much background in the image) - there seems to be more space to the right of her than needed (but I agree the bar behind her making for a distraction). The bokeh is more about the quality of the out of focus background, which I think depends more on the lens and the light etc. how pleasing it is.

I think it helps to think about the background when you're taking a picture before you release the shutter; if you could have taken a step or two to the left you might have gotten her from a different vantage point with a nice background (without the bar behind her), had a little less space to the right, and kept her arm and all of her the elbow in the picture so she isn't quite so cropped off. It's a lovely picture of her and a fun moment.

 

[emdiemci]

This bokeh business confuses me. I always thought that was pretty much the DOF effect.

 

[The_Traveler]

This bokeh business confuses me. I always thought that was pretty much the DOF effect.

No,
Bokeh is the quality of the OOF objects.
If you are confused about a term, web search is your friend. Bokeh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Patrice]

This bokeh business confuses me. I always thought that was pretty much the DOF effect.

If you return to the op's image you will notice how the depth of field is shallow enough to blur the background, however a look at the background itself reveals how the lens actually renders that background blur. Notice how some of the out of focus circular objects sort of look like onion slices? Not an example of nicest bokeh.

 

[unpopular]

Bokeh is such a silly idea. Whoever coined it had to find and appropriate a Japanese word that vaguely fits to validate it.

 

[Patrice]

Bokeh is such a silly idea. Whoever coined it had to find and appropriate a Japanese word that vaguely fits to validate it.

What do you suggest instead.

 

[MxG]

Thanks every one for the help. Guess I need to read up more on DoF.

And I change my setting to ok to edit image. If any one would like to give it a try on taking that bar out.

 

[unpopular]

Bokeh is such a silly idea. Whoever coined it had to find and appropriate a Japanese word that vaguely fits to validate it.

What do you suggest instead.

Spherical aberration?

My point is that bokeh is such a floozy subject, it's so subjective. You can ask things like 'is the OOF region in this lens distracting?' but I think people get all tied up on this mystical "bokeh", I certainly felt like it was something more significant than it was when I first heard it.