Hoot Hoot

[Katie G]

Craig has been hassling me to photo atleast one of the photos I took at the Zoo on the weekend, so here it is. It's a Rufus Owl, named Angus, and he landed very close to me, so I got this shot which I'm rather happy with.

[Glen]

Great detail Katie, I feel like I can tell what colour of mascara is being used

[stubbsy]

Great shot Katie. Craig is right to have pushed you to post this. Now push him to give you a lens with better bokeh than this one.

[Katie G]

thanks guys

what is "bokeh"?

[Alpha_7]

Oooh, she bought me the lens for our Europe.. but for its versatility your aren't going to get the bokeh of the 70-200 or the 80-200 from the 18-200VR

[Geoff]

Katie - friggen unreal. Bokeh is the beautiful and often OOF background that is seen in an image with a shallow DOF (lower number F stop). It often creates little 'lights' which represent the shape of the elements in the glass/lens u are using. It is often the bokeh that really helps 'make' the image, but way of contrast to the usually sharp in focus portion of the image. You've done this brilliantly! That's my description and it's not that good, but this is the Wikipedia one:

Japanese boke (ぼけ), "blur"[1]) is a photographic term referring to out-of-focus (OOF) areas in a photographic image. While this is an aggregate phenomenon and no evidence of formal definition, quantitative, or qualitative framework has been provided, some continue to link this vague, subjectively described quality to various lenses where no obvious consistent link has been demonstrated (see for example [1]). Unfocused background or foreground is both an inevitability in many photographic situations, and a frequently-used artistic device [2], for example as an attempt to reduce distractions, and emphasise the subject.

[Katie G]

Thanks for the explanation Geoff - i didnt even realise that the bridge etc would be in the background until we got home. I was sitting at the back with my mum and Craig had left the D70 with me, the bird handler got it to fly to her right infront of me so i thoguht i should get a photo or Craig might be mad!!!!


so Stubbsy am i meant to aim to get "good Bokeh"???

[Glen]

Katie bokeh is more a function of the lens and using shallow depth of field than aiming to get it. Some lenses are known for it, such as the 85 1.4 or 70-200 other are not such as 500/8 reflex.

[stubbsy]

so Stubbsy am i meant to aim to get "good Bokeh"???

Katie. Pretty much what's already been said. Bokeh is a function of the lens. If you look at this image the bokeh is a little "harsh" - note how the bright lights in the background are kinda like donuts or buttons with well defined edges. Using a lens which rendered this same scene with better bokeh you'd see a smoother, softer background where those bright bits lacked the hard edges and blended more into the background.

All this aside - don't take my comment to mean there's anything wrong with the image - it's a great capture.

[ozimax]

An excellent and unusual photo all round. Very unusual "bokeh", which to my way of thinking is a very subjective topic.

[dawesy]

Nice shot KG...

Focus on the bird is perfect, and the background set's it off nicely and gives a real sense of place.

There's been more talk of bokeh than I think I've ever seen, but why not some more... While it is harsher than many lenses I think it works. Too much softer and you'd lose some of the definition of the bridge etc that make this shot. Of course we'll never know unless you go back, get the bird back into position and shoot it with another lens!!

[johnd]

A great shot Katie. He really is a cool dude of a bird. I thought it was a Black Kite but the popular concensus appears to be a Rufus Owl.

The bird show is really great. I'd recommend it to all.

Cheers
John

[Katie G]

Thanks John

this guy was the Rufus Owl named Angus - he was the only one to fly onto the "junior bird keepers" hand ( they picked a girl out of the audience and the real keeper held her hand and Angus flew over)- he is a baby still but very large.

[Alpha_7]

John - http://www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/content/view.asp?id=1075
Is helpful if you need to idea which bird was which, they were coming thick and fast and seeing it twice but slightly different is also confusing. This guy is definitely Angus the Rufus Owl.

[Cre8tivepixels]

Sharp as a tack......wow.great shot!

[Oscar]

Nice shot Katie. Well done.

Perhaps you should also have Craig get you a D200 along with the 70-200VR - imagine how your shots could look then

Cheers, Mick

[Matt. K]

Peter
Very astute observation re the bokeh. Lenses do matter.