I shot a corporate annual conference dinner the other evening, then posted the images on-line for the attendees to download. We used flash at the start of the event. In an attempt to capture the feel of the evening I switched to my Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 IF-D and shot wide open at f/1.4 in the dimly lit rooms.
I love the lens for it’s sharpness and speed. It works amazingly well with the high ISO capabilities of the D700 which I had set to ISO 1000.
Nearly all of the feedback I have received were on the photographs with the heaviest bohek.
“Bokeh (derived from Japanese, a noun boke 暈け, meaning “blurred or fuzzy”) is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field.”
I like the bokeh too but the comments got me to thinking about why. I will hazard a guess that it most closely mimics the human eye’s ability to sharply focus and isolate upon a single subject within a busy field of view.
Pay attention to your vision the next time your gaze is fixed on just about anything. Notice the ‘bokeh’ effect of the background when concentrating on your morning coffee cup; the sharpness of the person across the room while all else seems to disappear.
Let me know.
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Strobist shooting on location: Don't miss the targets of opportunity
Makeup by Marie-Térese MM#1317488
As a people/model photographer I spend time looking for locations with an interesting background, lighting or feel. Once I have the opportunity to shoot at the location I work through in my head where and how within the location I will setup or design the scene to get the image I want. A lot of it depends on the person’s looks, wants and vision of the session. I am always open to ideas and really enjoy the collaborative process when working with talented people or a least someone who knows what they want to portray in the portrait. Always with the goal of getting the shoe box picture.
There are basically three types of pictures; there are setup or designed shots, candid shots but many times a third type of ‘design’ comes into play for me and I see a ‘target of opportunity’ shot I hadn’t planned or noticed when I scouted the location. In the this image of model Lady Dori Belle, by the way if you get a chance to work with her – jump on it, she’s a class act. We were shooting in a large motorcycle warehouse as we were walking from one side of the warehouse to the other I noticed the light from the skylight.
I placed Susan into the shaft of sunlight screaming brightly through the roof onto the warehouse floor. I had a single Nikon SB-900 Speedlight on an 8′ Cheetah stand with 40″ Wescott white shoot-through umbrella. I used the sun to back light her by changing her position until I had the light where I wanted it and used the SB900 to fill the harsh shadow. An unplanned shot for sure, a target of opportunity you bet – but impossible to pass up when noticed.
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