What an amazing challenge!
I’d been reading about the bokeh effect in photography. I loved the fuzziness and blurriness I’d been seeing on some photography websites I follow — and then I was really discouraged when I discovered you need special bokeh lenses to produce it. Well, I’ve got a digital point and shoot, which is what I really like and can afford and can handle, so goodbye, bokeh effect —
But I still found myself shooting out-of-focus on purpose, as fuzzy and blurry as I could, just for fun. Mostly the results got tossed, but not always. Sometimes I liked them, weird as it seemed to me. And now I get a chance to share them with you! To begin, there are the gingko leaves I couldn’t quite get to focus really sharply:
and then the flat-out blurs I moved on to:
and here:
and then I threw caution to the wind! I could see these as failed photos, but I don’t — to me they’re my very own bokeh, even if they’re not:
A View From The Woods 
good attitude 🙂 To each his own bokeh! Or whatever…
A toast to whatever!
They’re like accidental paintings!
That’s a really NEAT way to think about them!
some of those would make a great backdrop to a photo collage – or a collage of words!
i am a gingko fan! thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks, Kris.
The ginkos are beautiful — and interesting.
Makes you question just how many glasses of wine you had last night! Great set for the prompt!
😉
Blurred, clear, bokeh or not, Mother Nature always gives up a beautiful display to see through the camera’s lens.
You’re right, she’s a very generous Lady!
Ginkgo biloba is my very favourite tree so I think this is wonderful 🙂
This post has really brought out the gingko fans! Do you eat the nuts also?
I asked my photographer friend Peter (http://peterbryenton.typepad.com/) about bokeh and point and shoots and here’s what he said. Maybe it will help:
If your point and shoot camera has a shooting mode called Aperture Priority (Symbol ‘A’) then it will be possible to shoot “wide open”. This means that the aperture is set to its maximum opening, letting as much light in through the largest diameter of “pupil” inside the lens. This results in photographs where only one plane is sharply focussed. Everything in front of and behind this singularity will be blurred, which creates that bokeh effect you may have in mind. Think about looking at the world without your reading glasses or distance glasses to understand why.
Your friend certainly explains things clearly! I do have an adjustable camera with an Aperture Priority. I’ve fiddled with that in trying for bokeh effects. It’s probably how I managed these. But I’m not completely mistress of the camera, it still seems to have a mind of its own, and won’t open as max as I think it should. But with this encouragement, I’ll keep trying.
the intention of unfocussed image has kept on increasing
Mine certainly has. Has this been your experience too, Amar? It makes a nice change from careful focus all the time! And turns up unexpected images.
I think your third photo is prettty bokeh-esque. Christine would be very proud. 🙂
The Queen of Bokeh! But Christine also manages these wonderful points of light in the bokeh blur — I just love her photos.