Shallow Depth of Field and Bokeh

Anyone who knows me knows I heart the bokeh. Big time. And not just because it comes in handy when I'm writing a poem and want something to rhyme with mocha. (Besides polka.)

Ree Drummond AKA The Pioneer Woman, has another contest this week on her photography blog. She is asking for shallow depth-of-field photos which demonstrate something called bokeh. Bokeh is a Japanese word for haze or blur. It's that lovely, blurry, out-of-focus background you get behind a subject in sharp focus in the foreground. Well, there's aperture, focus length, foreground distance and background distance which all come into play but for the sake of this discussion, "blurry background" will do.

Apparently there is "good" and "bad" bokeh. Fie, I say. Just like chocolate, all bokeh is good bokeh.

(Hang on. White chocolate would be the bad bokeh in this scenario. I hate white chocolate.)

Because Bush Babe asked, I thought I'd share some of my shallow DOF photos. I ended up submitting the middle one below. It could be a lot sharper (okay, I just spell-checked this post, and I had originally typed "I could be a lot sharper" which is up for debate) but I didn't have my tripod, and the bug was buzzing about like crazy. Did I mention it was also windy? And hot. It was really hot and windy. Sharp was not an option that afternoon. Also, photography is not for wussies.

Pretty painterly background in this one and the colours contrast nicely.

This one is not as blurred, so I cut it, but I still like it. That's one crazy plant, no?

This is the one I used:
A closer shot of the bee and the flower, but the bokeh is only meh:

I love this one, but I thought it might be too ordinary. Also some like the white blurs in the background which suggest other blossoms, and others find them distracting. I guess that constitutes bad (white chocolate) bokeh:


Check out BB's blog to see her entry. Her photo of a rusty spur is beautiful, as is the woman who sent it to her halfway across the world.

Mushroom Soup

I'd post a photo but my family ate all of it, then tipped the pot on its side and licked that clean, too. You don't really have to measure this soup all that carefully. Just use a whack of butter, an onion or two and a bunch of mushrooms, splashes of wine and cream and broth if it needs to be thickened or diluted...let your judgment and taste buds be your guide. The 35% cream makes the difference between ordinary and heroically good and it doesn't take much. Here's the basic recipe.

Mushroom Soup

1/2 stick butter (4 TBSP)
1 onion, chopped (Vidalia is my favourite)
2 packages (1 lb) mushrooms, chopped fine
1 tsp dried thyme (or more to taste) or 1 tbsp fresh
sploosh of dry white wine (about 1/2 cup)
3 cups chicken broth
4 TBSP flour mixed with a bit of cold water to make a slurry
1 cup of heavy cream (or milk, although may I say "blech")
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter in a heavy saucepan. Add chopped onion, mushrooms and thyme. Try not to faint from the heavenly aroma and at this point, expect shouts from all quarters of your house along the lines of, "Hey, what are you making?!" Stir and cook the mixture for about 5 minutes or so, then add wine, and broth. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes, then add flour and cook for another 2 minutes to thicken. Reduce heat, add cream and salt and pepper to taste. Eat with homemade bread.

Or oatmeal scones. I'll post that one next.

Silly videos and a question

I love the high fives they give each other at the end of their performance. No clue at all....

How cute is this kid? (Beware: this song has a tendency to become a brain worm.)

So, here is my question. A member of my local camera club, I'll call him 'Richard' (for that is his name) revealed that he'd done a search on my blog for all my recipes. Now, I've hardly put any up, since I didn't think people cared about such things. I love to cook all manner of things from cakes and breads, vegetarian and meat-based main meals, pretty much soup to nuts. Okay, maybe not nuts. No, hang on. I do have a recipe for spicy roasted pecans with maple syrup.

So my question is: hands up how many would be interested in me posting recipes on a regular basis?

(And Richard, I know how to make vegetable samosas with coriander chutney. You know the one I'm talking about.)

So?

Who's for it?

Who doesn't care one way or the other?

Do you walk to work or bring a lunch?

How Canadians Spend the Winter

Someone who lives in a temperate region of the great U.S. of A. once asked me how we Canadians spend our time during the long, cold winters. I thought this might help to explain. (I have those chairs, btw. Canadian Tire. Foldable. Just throw 'em in your trunk and haul 'em down to the park for watching fireworks on July 1st. Just sayin', eh.)

Scum, a few loose screws and ingenuity

For years, I'm talkin' years people, a leaky pipe underneath the aptly named Hell Gate Bridge has been causing a major disruption on a busy sidewalk in Astoria, Queens. In summer, the entire width of the sidewalk, more than a hundred square feet, is covered with a stinking cesspool. In winter it's even worse as an icy scum-rink stretches to the curb. It even has a name.

The Astoria Scum River.

Despite numerous complaints, the city has lounged on its bloated duff and done nothing to fix the problem. That is, until a guy named Jason Eppink decided to tackle the problem. Taking matters (and a hammer) into his own hands, he gathered bits and pieces of recycled materials like a discarded work bench and used screws, then he got to work. On December 30th, 2009, he built a bridge spanning seven whole feet across this frozen sludgsicle, finally offering safe passage to the innocent wayfarers of Astoria.

He called it The Astoria Scum River Bridge.

On January 25, 2010, city council was finally shamed into fixing the problem.

Jason says of himself, "my work crosses the line between art, activism and pranks."

If you want to read more and see photos of the Bridge Over The River Slime, go to Jason's post HERE and another article and followup at NO OOZE IS GOOD NEWS.

Hip, hip to the power of One!

Pringle of Scotland

A brilliantly funny animated short by David Shrigley and narrated with understated elegance by Glaswegian Bridget McCann, this little gem celebrates the 195 year history of the Pringle of Scotland company. It was created for Milan Fashion Week and shows some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into making Pringle jumpers and cardigans.

Does anyone else own a Pringle jumper besides me?

Beverage alert. The dancing goat killed me, and the ending sent me into hysterics.

Reflections

Bush Babe challenged her readers to find some "reflections in your world" so of course, not being able to resist a challenge, I went off to rummage about in my files to look. Here's what I came up with.

A leaf in my garden...
The bumper on our boat...
The local pond in the fall...

The ferry mirror, on the way to the cottage...

A duck in Sackville's Waterfowl park...

Two ducks near my house one very foggy morning...


My husband gassing up the car. Well, it's one way he gasses up the car...

Don't forget, I have to choose 3 photos for my camera club, so if you haven't weighed in on my WINTER theme entries, please have a look at the post below this one and leave a comment.