Bokeh

215/365

When I first started really paying attention to photography I began to notice the details of a picture. I noticed how some pictures had everything in focus and some pictures had the foreground in focus but the background were all blurry….

I wondered about that.  Now I understand Depth of Field (DOF). When you want a blurred background or {bokeh} you are looking for a shallow DOF – like in the picture above.

But when you are shooting landscapes or group pictures or any picture where you want to include all the details then you want a deep/wide DOF.

This is achieved with your aperture or F-stop the lower your number the shallower your DOF. So an aperture setting of 1.4 is going to give you some really nice soft {bokeh} in the background – which really highlights what you have focused on in the foreground. I love this technique! Especially when shooting individual portraits!

But then sometimes you need to include the background to make the picture more interesting. That is when you raise your aperture up to give you a greater DOF eliminating any {bokeh}.

That is why photographers need to invest in great lenses.  Each lens has a range and if you lens aperture is from 3.5 to 5.6 then you will be very limited in your DOF.

This Humbles Me

216/365

Learning something new is always a humbling experience for me – and I’m guessing for anyone. I actually enjoy the process of learning something new. I don’t mind being humbled by something I clearly don’t know/understand.  😉

But it is way more fun to be good at something. 😎

Yesterday I planned a date night with my man.  I was excited because I had planned a paddle board outing neither of us had ever tried it but I had been longing to do it for years! I have watched many, many people paddle board by me and it looks so easy!  😛  How hard can it be? I know how to stand up and I know how to paddle.

Wrong.

I have learned a few things

1. When learning to paddle board do not choose to do it in a river with a strong current and wind

2. Don’t even think about doing it in the ocean! (How on earth?) actually I hope to one day…

3. There is MUCH more to it than simply standing up…like trying to get your legs to stop shaking….

4. Next time (yes, there will be a next time) we will go to a lake on a perfectly calm day and then I’m certain I will be a pro!

I did succeed in standing up! There is no photographic evidence because I had the camera and there was no way I was capable of standing, balancing, paddling and taking a selfie…

It was only after I successf_ully lowered myself down to me knees I was able to hand the camera (water proof camera) over and at that point I was just happy to be kneeling.

Of course my man had a much easier time of it.  He was the first to stand up, he paddled around like a pro and managed to make turning look easy – while I couldn’t turn to save my life (which was in jeopardy as I was headed into the current)

So we gave it a go and after a bit we decided to switch to kayaks 😎

There will be a next time paddle board – I swear it!

Try something new! It gets your blood pumping!

-S

Next – A game, Repetitive