Bokeh example ... holiday lights

Okay ... this may be a little extreme, but it will offer a comparison idea for Bokeh at various apertures.

I used an AF 50mm f/1.4 ... and in manual focus (MF), I set if for OOF operation at about four feet from the tree. You will note, using ONLY the aperture change, I close down the aperture, the background begins to become focused. The light "blossoms" narrow very quickly as you reach f/4 and tighten up dramatically. There are no focus ring changes taking place at all, just aperture settings.

It graduates through the following settings:

f/1.4, f/1.7, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, & f/8

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Remember: no zoom lens has an aperture wider than f/2.8


Doing this with your own lens, you will begin to understand how you can turn a normal, mundane shot into an interesting piece of art. You just have to understand what is going on in there and how to set up your lens for the spectacular, but then again ... when it comes to this ... f/4 is not all that spectacular. :D Get a wider lens!

mmmm f/1.4 is very nice! I wish I had the extra 2 stops!

Holy cow. That helps so much to really understand why I want to get into some big aperture primes soon. I didn't realize how big of a difference the 1.7 would be over the 4ish I can get right now. Thanks for the post.

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Originally Posted by laydros

Holy cow. That helps so much to really understand why I want to get into some big aperture primes soon. I didn't realize how big of a difference the 1.7 would be over the 4ish I can get right now. Thanks for the post.

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Well, if you get closer, the lights get bigger ;)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/...7ae628a166.jpg

Look, you have to focus on a subject in there, somehow. You need to have some room ... if I can just get the dog to sit still ... LOL, I'll show ya!

Speaking of cameras ... the temperature is so low here, -6° F actual (-25° F with the wind), I actually lost one of my exposed, perimeter security cameras to it. Rough times ahead, this year. And me without a heat tape! All the neighborhood birds are hiding in the leeward bushes, along the front of the house, avoiding the trees all together, trying to keep warm. You walk out the front door and, suddenly, you feel like you walked into a storm of pigeons downtown.

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Yeah, and my in-laws are volunteering to leave our mild (if not sporadic) winter here in North Carolina to go to Iowa, where the highs won't be above freezing, and the lows will be in the negative teens for next week.

My father was down for the weekend from Delaware, but he grew up in NC. He and I were discussing that we had probably never witnessed even 0 degrees, much less minus teens. We certainly have been in windchills that low, but not base temperature.

Well, I think a lot is missed by the people who live here, that they can put up with extremely low temperatures, unfortunately, these houses and buildings were never designed for SUSTAINED winds and temperatures of this nature. Pipes burst in the walls, in the ground and routine insulation levels are just too low to be effective. I mean cycled-levels ducking below 0° F, once in a while, is doable, but when you go as long as three or four weeks, you get a much higher cost of problems and permanent damage. It becomes time to reevaluate your entire infrastructure level. Make it more like southern and mid-Canadian levels.

People have car "engine block heaters" they have to employ when they go to work, for 8 or more hours, which means supplying A.C. Power to each stall in the parking lot. That's another outlay in energy cost and parking lot infrastructure. It is things like that that just do not exist here, yet, and it does not look like anyone is even considering it.

If "Global Warming" and Greenhouse gases are going to result in another Ice Age ... someone may want to tell the powers that be. :rolleyes: I know, send 'em a picture.

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Could it really come to this?

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by v.fleener @ flickr

My in laws grew up in and lived in Iowa until the late 80s, so they are used to it. However the Thai exchange student going with them is in for quite a shock!

My in laws parents are up there and almost told them not to come because they had so much snow on the ground, and more coming. They too have given me the impression that this is the second straight year with worse than normal winter weather.

As a parallel, here in NC if there is 2 inches of snow, the schools and everything shut down. We don't have snow plows or tire chains or engine block heaters here. Most people don't even own boots that are appropriate for the snow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonSchap

Look, you have to focus on a subject in there, somehow. You need to have some room ... if I can just get the dog to sit still ... LOL, I'll show ya!

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So ... like, here he is ... and it was a struggle! :o

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...up-reduced.jpg

f/1.8 bokeh example

And because it warmed up ... the camera restored itself. Yeah!

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And finally, BEARS WIN 20-17 over Green Bay!

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lol good to hear your cameras are back up. have they ever come in use for anything security wise or just good for peace of mind?