Weekly Competition #349 : Bokeh Competition
| Title | Weekly Competition #349 : Bokeh |
|---|---|
| Judge | aliengrove | Closing Date | 23/03/2014 | Opting Out | If you'd like to enter but not keen on creating and judging the following competition you have the option to opt out. If you're selected as the winning photo simply create a report saying that you'd like Admin to take over and we'll do the rest. |
| Description | |
I hardly ever take shots at wide apertures, unless I have to in low-light. However, bokeh is something I keep meaning to experiment more with, so for this weeks competition, I am looking for inspiration, with examples of images where bokeh is used either as an essential part of the composition, to isolate a subject from the background, or even abstract examples, where it actually is the whole image. Just in case there's anyone who is not the familiar with the term, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image. Images can be shot at any time, but must be on Pentax cameras, including the GR, WG 4, or Samsung-branded Pentax clones. |
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Winning Photograph
Competition Entries
Photographs uploaded to the Weekly Competition #349 : Bokeh competition.
Posted 24/03/2014 - 08:59
Link
Thanks everyone for all the entries, there's some fantastic images this week, and I've really enjoyed looking at lots of wonderful shots using bokeh. I'll have to go and try more myself now!
It's been difficult to judge, with a lot of images showing graet use of bokeh as an essential (or some cases complete) part of the image. The result is quite a lot of HC's,. As always, judging a photo comp is very subjective, as are the comments I've made on each image.
Gulls by kh1234567890
The use of bokeh makes the gulls stand out from the background, and the gulls are well captured, especially the one looking at the camera. It's a shame that this gull is flying out of the right-hand side of the frame, if that group were on the left of the shot flying into the frame, I think it would have improved the shot dramatically.
Heart Bokeh by Cardiff Gareth.
A very seasonal image, this, I could imagine it on a Christmas card. Very nice use of bokeh, it makes the three buttons (if that is what they) are pop out of the frame. My only criticism is the image looks a tad over-saturated, but it works very well.
Aliums by paulb531
A lovely sharp flower head surrounded by by other flowers out of focus, and some lovely oof greens. Just the sort of image I was expecting to see in the comp. However, the composition doesn't really work for me. The in focus flower is too central imo, and the cut-off flower on the right bugs me a bit too.
Goggle eyes by David Storm
Great use of selective focus here, those eyes really pop out of the frame. The diagonal line of the plant, the beautiful smooth bokeh and the detail of the eyes and head make this an excellent macro image.
Magyan tribesman by billyspad.
This is a really good portrait, with lost of detail. Depth of field has been used well to isolate the face from the background, but I still find the background a bit distracting, epsecially the oof cyan lump coming out of his right ear. I think de-saturating this bit would improve the image. While a good image, it doesn't really say anything about the use of bokeh to me, as the face fills so much of the frame.
A touch of class by tyronet2000
The silver lady and the grille of the Rolls stand out well from the background, and the figure in the background wearing the hat gives the image a period feel. It's partly due to this that I feel the image would work better in mono, which would also get rid of the slightly distracting red bit on the guy on the rights shirt. The white balance looks a tad yellow to me too.
Geraniums by walkeja
A nice simple study of flowers, and good use of bokeh to get rid of what looks like it may have been a distracting background. I like the composition. The image lacks a bit of punch, due to the flat light. I'd have been tempted to run it through Topaz or something similar to make it a bit more vibrant. Nice enough image though.
Bee on thistle by JAK
Another great macro shot, I love the sharpness of the pollen both on the flower and the bee. The composition looks a bit tight to me, and I'd perhaps prefer a bit more of the green part of the thistle in the image, but great use of DOF, with lovely bokeh and sharp in all the right places, though the bees head appears slightly oof.
Hoar frost by CMW
An imaginative image, concentrating on the single plant with the mountains and lake out of focus. Good composition and use of boken to bring attention to the plant rather than the secnery. I like it, but the white balance looks a bit odd to me.
Spring at last by Papa_Lazarou
A lovely colourful image of what is pehaps a rather cliché subject. The bokeh looks quite busy and a bit strange, I'd be interested to know what lens was used. In this image, though, the uneven bokeh lends a painterly feel to the image that I really like. The image could perhaps do with a touch more vibrance. The only (slight) niggle I have is the straight line in the top left which is a bit distracting as it pulls my eye towards it.
Smile! By michaelblue
This looks more like a zoom-burst made in Photoshop than a shot using bokeh to me. However, I guess the zoom-burst itself does create bokeh. On a slightly crazy image like this, personally, I'd be tempted to use some crazy processing to match, exaggerating the saturation.
Alium by AndrewA
Lovely colour, and a lot of areas out of focus, in fact imo perhaps too much for this particular image. There is only one tiny part of the flower in focus, a stamen, and it's a bit isolated towards the top right of the image. I think if this was a bit more towards the middle the image would work better. I also wonder if a square crop would look better, losing the left hand side of the image?
Peek a boo puffin by JudithAnn
I was sure this one of your images after seeing the lovely puffin shots you've posted previously. It's a lovely image, making great use of bokeh, though I feel it could do with a crop to lose the dead white sky, which adds nothing to the image. Personally, I'd crop out the sky and also a bit off the right hand side to balance the image. It might be the down-sizing the forum does on images, but the puffin doesn't look quite as sharp as it could to me.
Reflections by gabby
An interesting and graphic image, though I can't see any evidence of bokeh...the only thing I can see in the image is some very sharp trees and some equally sharp reflections. I don't see that the large area of white on the left hand side adds anything to the image either. I think if you cropped that out you'd be left with a stunning image, which reminds of a stylised Japanese painting. A lovely image, but not one that fits the brief of this competition.
In the land of grey and pink by simonarron
I'm not a great fan of colour-popping, but it works well here, with the sharp flower being and all the out of focus areas desaturated. This is one of those images I would expect to see on sale in Ikea. A nicely worked image, in spite of the slightly cliched treatment..
Lavender bee by Hullman
Another great macro shot, seeing a lot of these in this comp, which is no surprise considering the subject. Lovely smooth bokeh, and I really like the colours. The area of maximum sharpness looks to me like it's just behind the bees head, and I wish I could see a bit more detail on the head. A very nice image though.
Serenade by davidtrout
Good use of bokeh to bring the performer out from that very busy and slightlysickly looking background. A well-executed image, capturing the passion of the singer really well. My only minor criticism is that I find her head a bit too close to the top of the frame. I really like the oof head in the background mirroring the singer.
Purity in red by johnriley.
A simple and very effective image. The area of bokeh being dark helps make the flower stand out, and the three bright colours making up the flower make it a very attractive image. I think the flower head positioned more centrally in the frame, with less space above, would have improved it still further.
Sunlit teasel by geordie01
The back-light on this works really well, making the teasel glow and really stand out from the oof background. I find the highlights on the right hand side a bit distracting, and perhaps the image would benefit form cropping a little from the bottom? It could perhaps have also have done with tad more space on the left, but I'm nitpicking here. A very well photographed image.
Colourful bokeh by Jim-w
The bokeh certainly is colourful! A really nice photograph. I'm not very keen on that large dark space bottom left, cropping some of the left hand side of the image away would get rid of some of that and also bring the flower onto a third. It would result in a non-standard crop, however; though, personally, that would not bother me. A square crop would perhaps work too.
Tree city by Ken 2390
It certainly does look like a city. The image is very dark, it could do with some brightening and a bit more contrast. I think it would also look better if you cropped away the darker area at the bottom of the frame. The one brighter area in the background could also be cloned out quite easily. An interesting image, though in need of a bit more work to bring out it's full potential.
Sparkling by Coker
I was expecting a few more abstract images, in fact there's only three, this being one of them. I like the idea, but to me the sunlight looks more like marks on a piece of glass, especially in the lower right hand corner, and the composition and subject matter don't really grab me.
GOBLET by Darlene
For me, the bokeh is by far the most interesting part of the image in this photograph. The goblet, while a nice piece of art in it's own right, for me gets in the way of the best part of the image. I think if the goblet had taken up less of the image, the image would have worked better. I've been considering the DA 35mm, and this image might make me buy one.
Sun in the Cut by Lifespicer.
I'm trying hard to find something to like in this photograph, and struggling. The light on the winding gear is very flat, it would be better waiting for it to get some sun, assuming it ever does. I think a square crop, removing part of the top and bottom of the image, would improve it. I think if you'd filled more of the frame with the gear and ratchet mechanism you'd have had a nore interesting and graphic image.
Only the bokeh by drofmit
An interesting abstract, and I quite like it. I think cropping off the top from just above the brighter highlights would improve the composition. I have to say though that the original, in focus, image on flickr is a much better image.
Striped marigold by GlynM
It looks perty successful to me...perhaps the centre of the flwer could be slightly sgarper, but the image suits the slighly soft look. I don't know if you could have got a bit more detail out of the yellow petals, I always find bright yellows very diffictult to get detail out of. The composition, colour and creamy smooth bokeh all work to make a very pleasing image. I wondered if the WB looked a tad yellow, but I suspect it's the preponderance of yellow in the image creating that impression.
Heart of Bokeh by puggy
Another image where the whole image is bokeh, and this one works very well. Simple, colourful and effective. There's a greenish blob towards the left bottom corner that spoils it slightly; it could probably be cloned out quite easily.
Rust by tobybarker
I took a similar image of barbed wire myself a while back. That rusty barb looks decidedly nasty. The image is a bit dark, and, personally, I would have removed that out of focus vertical stem before shooting. The subject suits the panoramic crop, though I think the barb itself would look better positioned on a third.
Crab by mochibo
I took some similar images of crabs on a recent visit to Oman. On my own shots, and this one, I find the specular highlights on the water a bit distracting, as they are so bright. The IQ of this shot looks good enough to me to crop it quite severely, losing that large white highlight at the top, and a bit off the left hand side, which would also move the crab closer to being on a third. The focus on the crab is perfect.
Golden chain by mowser.
As you point out, the colour of the flowers does look lovely against the blue of the sky. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of sky in the picture. I also findd the chain of flowers a bit central, too. I'd perhaps increase the contrast on the whole image too, to make the flowers stand out more.
Large mushroom by Noelcmn
Nice use of bokeh to isolate the subject from the background. I think the mushroom might look more dramatic with the focus on the closer edges rather that the peak. As it is, my eye is drawn to the sharp blades of grass below the mushroom rather than the mushroom itself. I think this might have worked better using a wider lens and getting in closer, enabling a bit more depth of field to make the whole mushroom sharp.
Websworth by Perspiacador
I like the top left corner, but there's too much oot of focus web in the image imo. Like the previous shot, I feel this could have benefited form being taken with a wider lens from a bit closer; a smaller aperture would also have allowed more of the web to be in focus while keeping the bokeh of the background.
Broomfield Park by nclark
I really like this, using an interesting background, out of focus, to give context to the main subject, which only takes up a small part of the frame. Perhaps too small: I think a slightly lower viewpoint showing more of the plant, would have made it an even better image. The bright light on the red flowers against the darker oof background works really well.
Thanks everyone who entered for making this a well-subscribed and interesting competition!
After much deliberation, here are the results.
First place: Goggle eyes by davidstorm.
Second place: Striped Marigold by GlynM
Third place: Colourful bokeh by Jim-w
Highly Commended:
Papa_Lazarou
davidtrout
johnriley
simonarron
nclark
cardiff-gareth
It's been difficult to judge, with a lot of images showing graet use of bokeh as an essential (or some cases complete) part of the image. The result is quite a lot of HC's,. As always, judging a photo comp is very subjective, as are the comments I've made on each image.
Gulls by kh1234567890
The use of bokeh makes the gulls stand out from the background, and the gulls are well captured, especially the one looking at the camera. It's a shame that this gull is flying out of the right-hand side of the frame, if that group were on the left of the shot flying into the frame, I think it would have improved the shot dramatically.
Heart Bokeh by Cardiff Gareth.
A very seasonal image, this, I could imagine it on a Christmas card. Very nice use of bokeh, it makes the three buttons (if that is what they) are pop out of the frame. My only criticism is the image looks a tad over-saturated, but it works very well.
Aliums by paulb531
A lovely sharp flower head surrounded by by other flowers out of focus, and some lovely oof greens. Just the sort of image I was expecting to see in the comp. However, the composition doesn't really work for me. The in focus flower is too central imo, and the cut-off flower on the right bugs me a bit too.
Goggle eyes by David Storm
Great use of selective focus here, those eyes really pop out of the frame. The diagonal line of the plant, the beautiful smooth bokeh and the detail of the eyes and head make this an excellent macro image.
Magyan tribesman by billyspad.
This is a really good portrait, with lost of detail. Depth of field has been used well to isolate the face from the background, but I still find the background a bit distracting, epsecially the oof cyan lump coming out of his right ear. I think de-saturating this bit would improve the image. While a good image, it doesn't really say anything about the use of bokeh to me, as the face fills so much of the frame.
A touch of class by tyronet2000
The silver lady and the grille of the Rolls stand out well from the background, and the figure in the background wearing the hat gives the image a period feel. It's partly due to this that I feel the image would work better in mono, which would also get rid of the slightly distracting red bit on the guy on the rights shirt. The white balance looks a tad yellow to me too.
Geraniums by walkeja
A nice simple study of flowers, and good use of bokeh to get rid of what looks like it may have been a distracting background. I like the composition. The image lacks a bit of punch, due to the flat light. I'd have been tempted to run it through Topaz or something similar to make it a bit more vibrant. Nice enough image though.
Bee on thistle by JAK
Another great macro shot, I love the sharpness of the pollen both on the flower and the bee. The composition looks a bit tight to me, and I'd perhaps prefer a bit more of the green part of the thistle in the image, but great use of DOF, with lovely bokeh and sharp in all the right places, though the bees head appears slightly oof.
Hoar frost by CMW
An imaginative image, concentrating on the single plant with the mountains and lake out of focus. Good composition and use of boken to bring attention to the plant rather than the secnery. I like it, but the white balance looks a bit odd to me.
Spring at last by Papa_Lazarou
A lovely colourful image of what is pehaps a rather cliché subject. The bokeh looks quite busy and a bit strange, I'd be interested to know what lens was used. In this image, though, the uneven bokeh lends a painterly feel to the image that I really like. The image could perhaps do with a touch more vibrance. The only (slight) niggle I have is the straight line in the top left which is a bit distracting as it pulls my eye towards it.
Smile! By michaelblue
This looks more like a zoom-burst made in Photoshop than a shot using bokeh to me. However, I guess the zoom-burst itself does create bokeh. On a slightly crazy image like this, personally, I'd be tempted to use some crazy processing to match, exaggerating the saturation.
Alium by AndrewA
Lovely colour, and a lot of areas out of focus, in fact imo perhaps too much for this particular image. There is only one tiny part of the flower in focus, a stamen, and it's a bit isolated towards the top right of the image. I think if this was a bit more towards the middle the image would work better. I also wonder if a square crop would look better, losing the left hand side of the image?
Peek a boo puffin by JudithAnn
I was sure this one of your images after seeing the lovely puffin shots you've posted previously. It's a lovely image, making great use of bokeh, though I feel it could do with a crop to lose the dead white sky, which adds nothing to the image. Personally, I'd crop out the sky and also a bit off the right hand side to balance the image. It might be the down-sizing the forum does on images, but the puffin doesn't look quite as sharp as it could to me.
Reflections by gabby
An interesting and graphic image, though I can't see any evidence of bokeh...the only thing I can see in the image is some very sharp trees and some equally sharp reflections. I don't see that the large area of white on the left hand side adds anything to the image either. I think if you cropped that out you'd be left with a stunning image, which reminds of a stylised Japanese painting. A lovely image, but not one that fits the brief of this competition.
In the land of grey and pink by simonarron
I'm not a great fan of colour-popping, but it works well here, with the sharp flower being and all the out of focus areas desaturated. This is one of those images I would expect to see on sale in Ikea. A nicely worked image, in spite of the slightly cliched treatment..
Lavender bee by Hullman
Another great macro shot, seeing a lot of these in this comp, which is no surprise considering the subject. Lovely smooth bokeh, and I really like the colours. The area of maximum sharpness looks to me like it's just behind the bees head, and I wish I could see a bit more detail on the head. A very nice image though.
Serenade by davidtrout
Good use of bokeh to bring the performer out from that very busy and slightlysickly looking background. A well-executed image, capturing the passion of the singer really well. My only minor criticism is that I find her head a bit too close to the top of the frame. I really like the oof head in the background mirroring the singer.
Purity in red by johnriley.
A simple and very effective image. The area of bokeh being dark helps make the flower stand out, and the three bright colours making up the flower make it a very attractive image. I think the flower head positioned more centrally in the frame, with less space above, would have improved it still further.
Sunlit teasel by geordie01
The back-light on this works really well, making the teasel glow and really stand out from the oof background. I find the highlights on the right hand side a bit distracting, and perhaps the image would benefit form cropping a little from the bottom? It could perhaps have also have done with tad more space on the left, but I'm nitpicking here. A very well photographed image.
Colourful bokeh by Jim-w
The bokeh certainly is colourful! A really nice photograph. I'm not very keen on that large dark space bottom left, cropping some of the left hand side of the image away would get rid of some of that and also bring the flower onto a third. It would result in a non-standard crop, however; though, personally, that would not bother me. A square crop would perhaps work too.
Tree city by Ken 2390
It certainly does look like a city. The image is very dark, it could do with some brightening and a bit more contrast. I think it would also look better if you cropped away the darker area at the bottom of the frame. The one brighter area in the background could also be cloned out quite easily. An interesting image, though in need of a bit more work to bring out it's full potential.
Sparkling by Coker
I was expecting a few more abstract images, in fact there's only three, this being one of them. I like the idea, but to me the sunlight looks more like marks on a piece of glass, especially in the lower right hand corner, and the composition and subject matter don't really grab me.
GOBLET by Darlene
For me, the bokeh is by far the most interesting part of the image in this photograph. The goblet, while a nice piece of art in it's own right, for me gets in the way of the best part of the image. I think if the goblet had taken up less of the image, the image would have worked better. I've been considering the DA 35mm, and this image might make me buy one.
Sun in the Cut by Lifespicer.
I'm trying hard to find something to like in this photograph, and struggling. The light on the winding gear is very flat, it would be better waiting for it to get some sun, assuming it ever does. I think a square crop, removing part of the top and bottom of the image, would improve it. I think if you'd filled more of the frame with the gear and ratchet mechanism you'd have had a nore interesting and graphic image.
Only the bokeh by drofmit
An interesting abstract, and I quite like it. I think cropping off the top from just above the brighter highlights would improve the composition. I have to say though that the original, in focus, image on flickr is a much better image.
Striped marigold by GlynM
It looks perty successful to me...perhaps the centre of the flwer could be slightly sgarper, but the image suits the slighly soft look. I don't know if you could have got a bit more detail out of the yellow petals, I always find bright yellows very diffictult to get detail out of. The composition, colour and creamy smooth bokeh all work to make a very pleasing image. I wondered if the WB looked a tad yellow, but I suspect it's the preponderance of yellow in the image creating that impression.
Heart of Bokeh by puggy
Another image where the whole image is bokeh, and this one works very well. Simple, colourful and effective. There's a greenish blob towards the left bottom corner that spoils it slightly; it could probably be cloned out quite easily.
Rust by tobybarker
I took a similar image of barbed wire myself a while back. That rusty barb looks decidedly nasty. The image is a bit dark, and, personally, I would have removed that out of focus vertical stem before shooting. The subject suits the panoramic crop, though I think the barb itself would look better positioned on a third.
Crab by mochibo
I took some similar images of crabs on a recent visit to Oman. On my own shots, and this one, I find the specular highlights on the water a bit distracting, as they are so bright. The IQ of this shot looks good enough to me to crop it quite severely, losing that large white highlight at the top, and a bit off the left hand side, which would also move the crab closer to being on a third. The focus on the crab is perfect.
Golden chain by mowser.
As you point out, the colour of the flowers does look lovely against the blue of the sky. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of sky in the picture. I also findd the chain of flowers a bit central, too. I'd perhaps increase the contrast on the whole image too, to make the flowers stand out more.
Large mushroom by Noelcmn
Nice use of bokeh to isolate the subject from the background. I think the mushroom might look more dramatic with the focus on the closer edges rather that the peak. As it is, my eye is drawn to the sharp blades of grass below the mushroom rather than the mushroom itself. I think this might have worked better using a wider lens and getting in closer, enabling a bit more depth of field to make the whole mushroom sharp.
Websworth by Perspiacador
I like the top left corner, but there's too much oot of focus web in the image imo. Like the previous shot, I feel this could have benefited form being taken with a wider lens from a bit closer; a smaller aperture would also have allowed more of the web to be in focus while keeping the bokeh of the background.
Broomfield Park by nclark
I really like this, using an interesting background, out of focus, to give context to the main subject, which only takes up a small part of the frame. Perhaps too small: I think a slightly lower viewpoint showing more of the plant, would have made it an even better image. The bright light on the red flowers against the darker oof background works really well.
Thanks everyone who entered for making this a well-subscribed and interesting competition!
After much deliberation, here are the results.
First place: Goggle eyes by davidstorm.
Second place: Striped Marigold by GlynM
Third place: Colourful bokeh by Jim-w
Highly Commended:
Papa_Lazarou
davidtrout
johnriley
simonarron
nclark
cardiff-gareth
Posted 24/03/2014 - 09:29
Link
Great winner and great judging
Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -
Posted 24/03/2014 - 10:54
Link
Thanks for the competition subject and your hard work in judging and commenting on the entries Jon. well deserved winner and runners up, and thanks for my inclusion among the HCs.
David
PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout
David
PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout
Posted 24/03/2014 - 11:04
Link
Many thanks Jonathan for a terrific competition. I was impressed with the number of entries it attracted although I felt for the amount of work you would have to put in. A great set of comments and judging.
Thanks of course for the coveted second place , certainly unexpected against so many excellent and well crafted images.
Congratulations to davidstorm for the fantastic and well deserved winning image, my fellow runners up and everyone else for a wonderful collection of pictures.
Glyn
Thanks of course for the coveted second place , certainly unexpected against so many excellent and well crafted images.
Congratulations to davidstorm for the fantastic and well deserved winning image, my fellow runners up and everyone else for a wonderful collection of pictures.
Glyn
Posted 24/03/2014 - 15:05
Link
Good competition, Jonathan - and thanks for the HC. Not so much a judgment this week as a short story, but very thoughtfully done. Compliments to all those at the sharp end - and especially David. A wonderful winning shot.
Posted 24/03/2014 - 18:08
Link
Fantastic winning image, congratulations David. And of course to GlynM and Jim-W and the HC's. Agree, great theme this week, so thanks are in order to Aliengrove for the subject and the usual constructive judging.
Posted 24/03/2014 - 18:47
Link
Sincere thanks to Jon, not only for choosing my image as the winner, but for a great competition theme and excellent judging. I will try to live up to Jon's standards for this week's competition!
Best wishes
David
Best wishes
David
Posted 24/03/2014 - 18:47
Link
A great set of images and very constructive comments. Thanks for the HC!
Nick
Nick
Nick
Posted 24/03/2014 - 19:10
Link
Well done to David for the win, great shot
Congrats to GlynM and HC's and thanks for my podium
Thanks to Jon for the comp and judging
Jim.
Congrats to GlynM and HC's and thanks for my podium
Thanks to Jon for the comp and judging
Jim.
Posted 24/03/2014 - 23:39
Link
Congratulations to the Winner and other places. " I've been considering the DA 35mm, and this image might make me buy one. " You won't be disappointed ...You will love it
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