Shallow Depth of Field in Landscapes

[Sparrow]

Has the use of the bokeh aesthetic got any place in daylight landscape photography?

 

[35photo]

Has the use of the bokeh aesthetic got any place in daylight landscape photography?

To me, yeah why not? Why does everything always have to be in focus in a landscape image...? Use of shallow depth of field in a creative way in any type of image just can enhance things.. Its up to the photographer to find a way to use it..

 

[Lss]

I don't know about bokeh aesthetic, but I often shoot wide open landscapes or details where the landscape background dominates. Much less than stopped down, though.

 

[Black]

Uncanny that you have posted this, Stewart, as, on the way home from work, I was thinking about the very same thing.

To make use of any shallow DOF in landscapes, I suppose there would have to be some fore/middle ground interest. Otherwise, you're going to end up with a bog standard image that arguably may not be as sharp as it would be at a smaller aperture*

I think.

Its something I've been mulling for a while. Admittedly, I am a shallow DOF/bokeh whore, so its inevitable that, if I were to dabble in landscapes, I'd have to at least consider this.

*dependant on speed of selected lens

 

[Highway 61]

It seems that contemporary landscape photography quite focuses on digital and high-res (plus pixel peeping), so : IMO, no.

Yet, I'd like to discover something else...

 

[daveleo]

To me, as a viewer, a shallow DOF image is categorically NOT a "landscape" picture. It's a picture of an isolated subject, while the out of focus areas are simply framing and offering a background for the subject.
Landscape images are categorically huge DOF, so my eye can wander around the entire (in-focus) frame, just as it would had I been at the scene.

 

[Godfrey]

Has the use of the bokeh aesthetic got any place in daylight landscape photography?

If you mean, the aesthetics of using a lens wide open, it depends on both the lens, the scene, and what you're trying to achieve... as always. 🙂

Leica M9 + Summilux 35 v2
ISO 160 @ f/1.4 @ 1/2000​

G

 

[ferider]

Has the use of the bokeh aesthetic got any place in daylight landscape photography?

Wide open type bokeh, for me, very, very rarely. Like this:

35mm, f5.6 type bokeh more often. Like this:

(hard to see in the tiny jpg, but very nice 3D effect when hanging in 14x20 on the wall)

Roland.

 

[OurManInTangier]

I'd disagree with Dave. I think you can shoot shallow using a telephoto and still have enough depth to give enough form, sense of the place and eye-food whilst concentrating the initial focus of the viewers eye to one particular spot of plane.

Whether you as a viewer like or appreciate this is another thing

 

[OurManInTangier]

Yep, just like Roland's second one

 

[Godfrey]

To me, as a viewer, a shallow DOF image is categorically NOT a "landscape" picture. It's a picture of an isolated subject, while the out of focus areas are simply framing and offering a background for the subject.
Landscape images are categorically huge DOF, so my eye can wander around the entire (in-focus) frame, just as it would had I been at the scene.

Hmm. I consider 'landscape' to be a bit broader than that definition.

 

[f16sunshine]

I experiment with the this sometimes.



Canon 50mm f1.2
HP5@100 tmaxdev @4.5min016 by Adnan W, on Flickr

 

[f16sunshine]

Plaubel Makina iis / Anticomar 10cm f2.9 Acros

img002 by Adnan W, on Flickr


img005 by Adnan W, on Flickr

 

[ferider]

That 2nd one is beautiful, Andy.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Landscape to me is something with wideview at some distance. Flowers close up picture above isn't the landscape, IMO.
The tree standing in the field at some distance and taken on LF with wide open aperture and some shifts enabled would be perfect example of landscape bokeh, but I'm still working on it 🙂

 

[OurManInTangier]

Took me a while to find the kind of thing I mean...

[URL=http://s288.photobucket.com/user/OurManInTangiers/media/Stormy_Golf_Course_Abandoned_zps7f8aafcf.jpg.html][/URL]

Bear in mind I'm no landscape photographer 🙂

 

[daveleo]

Well .... after reading on here, I see that mine was kind of a weak reply. I was imagining an image of a {flower, statue, cow, car?} in perfect focus, surrounded by "bokeh" that shows form but very little detail. Some of the landscape examples posted above show me that I was not thinking broadly enough.

 

[pete hogan]

Good question to consider. "Landscape" to me implies a lot of depth, rendered sharp. The American West usually has a lot of light when I shoot, and the limited shutter speeds of my vintage cameras and Tri-X usually means f/11. I use a processor and shoot at box ISO speed. Depth is a result.

Still, it's a useful exercise to look at what others try to do.

 

[f16sunshine]

One more 🙂

Here I like the glow to go along with softness and shallow DOF.
Meyer Trioplan 100mm f2.8 wide open, infinity focus.

HP5@1600 rodinal100 006 by Adnan W, on Flickr

 

[ferider]

Looking for them is an interesting exercise.

Here is one with "front bokeh":

Not sure about that one myself.