At 01:35 PM 08/02/2001, you wrote:
> > While I
> >personally think dialogue about bokeh is a waste of time
>
>Without getting into a "dialogue about bokeh," (wink) would you mind
>saying a little about why you feel this way? There are many opinions
>about it, obviously, and yours is one that I respect.
Probably that my background with 35mm shooting was news/sports/journalism.
I chose lenses to buy and use based on focal length, max aperture, and
price. If I was covering a lot of outdoor sports (football, soccer, etc)
and needed a 300mm, for example I simply needed a 300mm. Whether it had
good bokeh didn't mean a fig to me. Did it have the coverage I needed?
Could I live with the f/4.5 or did I need the faster f/2.8, and if so could
I afford one?
I recall covering a visit from Pres Bush (the older one) to a venue in New
Jersey. I was covering the event for the local school band which had been
invited to play. (The shame of it was that when they did, the Pres thanked
them from his podium, so there was never a moment when he and they were
anywhere near each other. To get a shot of the band & pres in the same
frame I switched to a 28mm. Recall they keep the press corralled in the
rear of the room).
Anyway, I had my 300/4.5 and all around me were the new guys from the
papers and the AP with their 300/2.8 toys (paid for by the company, unlike
mine). The room was well lit and we were all on tripods at f/4.5 with Tri-X
anyway. None of us CARED about bokeh -- we cared about getting the Pres
with a decent expression, looking vaguely our way, and whether we should
have dragged along the 400mm lenses considering the layout.
Bokeh? Get the shot, get the film to the lab, make the editor happy, don't
rile the secret service (DON'T rile the secret service!), avoid indigestion
from the dreck they feed the news corral and beat the traffic home. THAT
paid the rent. Bokeh is for "artists". I'm a photographer.
(Remind me to tell you the story of covering the ticker-tape parade for the
Iran hostages up Wall Street back when Reagen was Pres someday. You want
bokeh, and I want not to freeze to death and to find a bathroom!!!)
<<MY OPINION, not my employer's>>
hp
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