Reub's journey

01 April 2010

Friday My Town Shoot-Out: Bokeh



The idea of the Friday My Town Shoot-Out is to post photos of your local community every Friday. This week's assignment was chosen by the Town Blogger Team.


All photos taken in Corvallis, Oregon.


"Bokeh" is a new word for me ( I love new words!) It describes the effect of a having the subject of a photo in focus, with everything else out of focus (but prettily so). I have been trying to get this effect for weeks now, with limited success; plus it was a challenge to fit this technique into the "my town aspect" of the assignment. Except for the pesky little squirrel above (who was about to raid my bird feeder), everything was shot with a macro setting.


Early last month while we were on a walk near Bald Hill I aimed my camera at a pussy willow.



A few days later the pussy willows began to show some green.




And a week after that they were no longer soft and gray, but in full bloom.




And now their leaves are out and they are adding their green to the spring landscape all around Corvallis.


Well, that was a cool assignment! I'm going to need more practice, though. Just for fun, I'll share a photo taken by a pro at our son's wedding 2 weeks ago. The minute I saw it I thought "awwwwwww," and then: "oh...it's BOKEH!!"

Photo by Brielle McClain

17 comments:

  1. this was a fun topic wasn't it? I like very much the expressions on the newlyweds' faces... so much love.

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  2. That's a lovely series of photos of new life...and then a lovely one of the young couple starting their new life. Loved it!

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  3. Love that shot of the newlywed, simply awesome!

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  4. I may be repeating myself on this post, but "You amaze me, really"! The pussy willow capture is amazing!

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  5. Great shots here. The last photo is so nice too. Happy Easter!

    My Bokeh

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  6. I loved the progression of the pussy willows. Very well done!

    I'm going to need much more practice with this technique as well, just to catch up with you!

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  7. These are all great shots! I've never seen a pussy willow in full flower before! Having never been around them, I thought they just stayed all soft and fuzzy. Learn something new every day; like bokeh!

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  8. Wonderful, Kerry. I love how spring comes so fast when it finally gets here, that you can see it take over from one day to the next.

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  9. Isn't this technique fun. Found some photos and didn't even know I had used the Bokeh idea.
    Love you pussy willows and your sweet son and daughter in law photo.

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  10. Great bokeh...I thought that first photo of pussy willow was some kind of insect!

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  11. Oh, sweet pussy willows and dew drops :) wonderfully presented.

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  12. Just loved the newlyweds hon...lovely shootout!!!

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  13. Oh I love the shots of the Pussy Willow, you did a wonderful job.

    Your son and wife are stunning and so is the photo.

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  14. How long did you wait for the squirrel? The puss willow too is greta Bokeh.

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  15. fantastic the way you have shown the progression on the pussy willow. loved it! squirrel shot is priceless.

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  16. Ooo I like the squirrel picture! =D Nice job

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