It's beginning to look a lot like...bokeh?

[Geaux]

you probably could have just told me instead lol

It would have been a lot more typing than that post and this one I'm typing right now.

 

[boomersgot3]

I love Bokeh! I almost always shoot at 2.0 to 2.8.... LOVE IT!

 

[OrionsByte]

what in the world is Bokeh?

The most overused word on this forum, that's what it is. Though in this context it's actually used quite properly.

 

[KmH]

what in the world is Bokeh?

Yes, the term was used correctly in this thread.
Bokeh is a totally subjective measure of the look a blurred background has.

Compare the look of a blurred background made by Canon's inexpensive 50 mm f/1.8 and Nikon's AF 85 mm f/1.4.

The term is often used incorrectly and as a 'buzz' word when someone is talking about depth-of-field (DOF), but wants to sound cool, or to sound like they know what they are talking about.

Many say it means 'blur' in Japanese, but that is an oversimplification of what the word means to a native Japanese speaker

 

[robb01]

This was just seeing what my nifty fifty could do. How would I go about making it "more pleasing".

 

[Emilymarie]

This was just seeing what my nifty fifty could do. How would I go about making it "more pleasing".

Try it again without flash, the chair, and the green thing.

 

[phiya]

hexagons don't have seven sizes.

Actually hexagons have an unlimited amount of sizes

 

[KmH]

This was just seeing what my nifty fifty could do. How would I go about making it "more pleasing".

Bokeh is all about the lens, not the DOF.

Use a lens that has more and rounder aperture blades that are also designed to produce a round aperture opening at all f-stops.

Nikon's best lens for bokeh is the AF NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4D IF. It is nicknamed "The Cream Machine" because of the very soft, smooth, very pleasing bokeh it delivers. It doesn't have a focus motor in it, but it has 9 blades that have rounded edges, and the blades are shaped to make a nice round aperture opening.

 

[phiya]

It's bokeh, but not necessarily pleasing bokeh because of the hexagonal shape.

The hexagonal shape is a function of the number and shape of the lens aperture blades in the lens that was used.

Not all of the EXIF data survived the run through CS2.

hexagons don't have seven sizes.

hexagons come in all sizes but they have six sides if thats what you meant.

aww crap, shoulda red the rest of the thread, you beat me to it.

 

[Dominantly]

Needs more round.