by Ron on December 21, 2009
Least Sandpiper, Seward, Alaska.
Megan from Costa Rica had an ask Ron question about bokeh. Here it is:
Hi Ron, I had a quick question for your Ask Ron series. I was wondering about your opinion of bokeh. I have a basic understanding of the concept from online research, but it seems that some professional photographers absolutely love it, while others barely use it at all. Also seems that subject matter doesn’t necessarily determine who likes it or not; in other words, I see some landscape artists use it all the time, and others never. I’m contemplating buying my first fixed focal lens for my Nikon D60, and am curious what your take is, when and how you decide to “go for bokeh” (ha), etc.
Thanks!
Megan in Costa Rica
For those that aren’t familiar with the term, here is the Wikipedia definition for bokeh: In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.
For me, I often use it for wildlife portraits, and close-up work like flowers – it allows me to isolate the subject from the rest of the scene and effectively “remove” distracting elements. I think the bird portrait above is a good example. Here I am actually laying in the cold water with the front of the lens and camera just barely out of the water in order to throw the background out of focus. If I was just a foot higher off the ground, I could be warm and dry, but the background of mud would come into focus and could be a distraction.
The background is often ignored, but can often make or break an image. As I’m setting up on birds like this, I’m not just watching the birds movement and the direction of the light, but I am constantly evaluating the background. A bright spot, even if it is out of focus will draw your eye right away from the subject and to the background bright spot.
Now I don’t always try to throw the background out of focus, there are times that it can enhance an image, and provide the viewer with a feeling for the habitat and surrounding environment. This photo of a desert bighorn near Moab, Utah is one example that comes to mind.
Now you mention landscape photography, and myself, I chose to maximize depth of field and keep everything in focus. I know some photographers utilize limited depth of field as a personal style, it seems to have gained in popularity in recent years. I encourage you to experiment. A prime lens with a large aperture can be a lot of fun creatively.
Thanks for the question – you live in a beautiful country!
by Ron on December 17, 2009
Pedersen Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.
It has been awhile since I have answered any Ask Ron questions. As a reminder, I will answer any photography question as best I can.
A couple of weeks ago I received this question:
I love how you capture a foreground, middle ground background with such great depth.
Do you typically try to accomplish this with a 24 T/S or the 24 1.4L?
Thanks, Ray
To answer your question, yes I do use Canon’s tilt shift lenses a fair amount. By tilting the plane of focus I am better able to position the depth of field from near to far without sacrificing a lot of shutter speed. I go into more detail in this post on tilt with Canon’s tilt shift lenses. These lenses are especially valuable when you have something really close, say within a couple of feet, and still want to keep distant objects in focus.
But, I don’t use those lenses as much as I should. It is so much easier, faster and lighter to carry one 24-105 then three tilt shift lenses. In these circumstances, I use a small aperture to maximize depth of field – usually around f/16. I then focus about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way into the scene. I also almost always will use a tripod, mirror lock up and the 2 second self timer to minimize any movement as much as possible. This is about as good as it gets without tilt. If something still has to be a bit out of focus I would rather it be distant objects – I believe prominent foreground elements have to be sharp – distant objects like mountains can be more forgiving.
Tomorrow I will answer another recent question on depth of field – this one regarding bokeh.
by Ron on September 11, 2009
Summit Lake, Mount Evans, Colorado.
This lake sits at 12,830 feet – and there is a road to it! In fact, the road continues to the top of Mount Evans in the distance at 14,264 making it the highest paved road in North America. Unfortunately it is closed beyond Summit Lake after the Labor Day weekend.
When I was hiking around, the elevation really wasn’t noticeable – but at one point I realized my battery was going to die, so I ran back to the truck for another one, and wow – that air is thin!
My super model slept in this morning, so you get stuck with a rare photo of me today!
A pond with Mt. Alice in the background, Seward, Alaska.
As part of my Ask Ron series, Phil Cola asked what is my top selling photo in terms of revenue, and what was the location, setup, logistics etc.
It is a great question – I know I’m always fascinated by the annual issue of Photo District News (PDN) in which the major stock agencies share the same information on their most successful image from the prior year. My most successful images draw on some similar parallels that I will touch on below. [click to continue…]
Sentinel Lighthouse, Southeast Alaska.
One of our regular magazine clients contacted us earlier this week looking for photos of the Sentinel Lighthouse – they were unable to find one on our website. So we dug through our old slide files and sure enough found this image which we scanned and sent off. We have thousands of old slides like this that may have some value, but most just sit and take up valuable room in file cabinets. [click to continue…]
A hanging bridge in the rain forest, Arenal, Costa Rica.
Fellow Alaskan Dan Kehlenback is looking to travel to Costa Rica next winter, and asked Ron for recommendations on a general area in Costa Rica for photography. [click to continue…]
Kayaking in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
As part of the ask Ron theme, adventure photographer Ryan Bonneau asks how I handle my camera gear while kayaking. Ryan is going to be spending two months kayaking in Prince William Sound this summer (lucky guy!). He went on to say he has tried storing his gear on deck in a dry bag, as well as in his cockpit in a dry bag, and has never felt comfortable with either system.
Well, unfortunately I don’t have a solution for this one. I do the same thing as Ryan, and have never felt comfortable with those options either. Usually I keep my camera in a dry bag under the bungees on the deck in front of me, kind of like the yellow bag you see in this photo. My camera’s dry bag is red – it is probably sitting on my skirt and just out of sight in this photo. Getting the camera in and out of the bag and stowed away is always a wet, awkward proposition full of risk – I dread hearing that plunking sound of a lens dropping overboard, so far I have been fortunate. I’ve seen this topic come up in photography forums, but have never heard of a better solution.
By the way, the dark area between both bows is a large school of salmon.
I hadn’t seen Ryan’s photography until today – check it out, he has some great stuff. Looks like he just started a blog as well.
Camping in the Chuach National Forest, Alaska.
How do I handle the power needs for my digital camera and file storage on long trips away from electricity? This was an ask Ron question brought up by two fellow blog’en photographer friends of mine Richard Wong and Gary Crabbe. Both guys operate great blogs – blogs I read everyday, so if you have extra time, do check them out. [click to continue…]
A ferris wheel at night, Long Beach, California.
Well I hate to post the same photo twice, especially in the same week, but in response to my ”ask Ron” request, this was the most asked question. More specifically, Dennis Barton wanted to know how many tries it took to capture this image, while Sheri Lyons wondered how the photo came to look like this. [click to continue…]
A ferris wheel at night, Long Beach, California.
I thought I would try a new idea with the blog and create an Ask Ron category. My thinking is that every so often I would answer reader submitted questions and publish the question and my response here on the blog. They can be pretty much anything photography related, from travel destinations, gear, techniques, thoughts and opinions – you get the idea. If there is a photo you have always wondered about, maybe the story behind the image, that would be good too.
If you have a web presence; website, blog, Flickr page, I would be happy to link back in my response. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, that’s cool too.
You can post your questions in this thread, or feel free to email them to me at ronn@arctic.net If you could, put “Ask Ron” in the subject so that I will know it is for the blog and not just someone asking a question.
I will do my best to answer all questions as best I can, but I will have editorial control, so I could decide to ignore a question – heck, it is my blog. 
So if I start posting photos of a wolverine den, chances are slim that I will provide the GPS coordinates. Likewise, asking for the name and number of the photo editor at XYZ magazine probably won’t get a response either, but most stuff will be fair game. So hit me with your Q’s!
Hey, speaking of wolverine. Now that we are heading into spring, I figure it might be a good time to remind everyone that my deal from last year is still on!
