Digital BW, The Print

Jerry,

> Good God Austin, who cares what an out of focus area looks like?

Er, MOST if not ALL fine art photographers, and portrait photographers, and
probably most any decent photographer...except photo journalists, it really
doesn't matter for their type of work.  Some people simply use it, and don't
know that it has a name.

> I only learned
> there actually was such a thing as bokeh about a year ago. Imagine!!! 45
> years as
> a professional photographer and I'd never heard about it.

Well...I don't need to really comment on that, but I'm glad you now at least
know that there is an out of focus area, and it can be rendered differently
given different lenses/designs.

> Ever. Never
> read a single
> word about it, ever.

Well, 30+ years as a photographer, and I've been using it to my advantage,
well, for probably 30 years.

> I guarantee you that 99 percent of the people who
> look at pictures wouldn't know bokeh from a speed bump.

I'll take that bet.  I'm on a Rollei list, Hasselblad list, Contax list and
Leica list...and most of the people on those lists know EXACTLY what it is,
and use it to their advantage.

> I will
> certainly agree that if your'e obsessed with it, it would be important
> to you.

Why does one have to be obsessed with it for it to be important?  I'm not
obsessed with proper framing and exposure, but I get those right most all
the time...and being conscious of bokeh simply gives me more control over my
images, and therefore the quality of my images.

> I know, after finally reading that it existed, that a few
> japanese photgraphers really think its very important. But it isn't to me.

Again, not to sound insulting...but your images probably show that.  Bad
bokeh can certainly ruin an otherwise perfect image, it can also completely
make an image.

> How is it that no one ever wrote about it for the last 45
> years or so?
> How come you've never seen an ad for a camera lens bragging about it's
> great bokeh?

Who said no one ever wrote about it?  The cameras manufacturers simply don't
brag that their exposure metering "works"....it's simply something that is
part and parcel of the "box of tools" of image composition...just like
framing, prospective, etc.

Austin