Photo How To

The first time I came across a reference to bokeh in a lens review I found it a bit pretentious. Bokeh may sound like a Japanese dessert, but it’s actually the out-of-focus behavior of your lens. The term is said to come from the Japanese word “boke,” which translates as “blur” or, in some cases, “senility.” Confused? It’s understandable.

Now that we’re nearing the end of 2021, it’s natural to reflect on all the exciting innovations we’ve seen over the past year. But the interesting video below is all about tomorrow and beyond, rather than today or the past.

In short, this eye-opening tutorial from portrait/street photographer Manny Ortiz is a visual examination of what could be called “the art of seeing,” Ortiz uses his compelling imagery to illustrate what accomplished photographers see upon arriving upon a scene, as opposed to how non-photographers (or less adept shooters) view the same location.

White balance sounds like one of those concerns that vaporized with the advent of digital photography. In the days when film was king, you had to think about the color quality of light at the drugstore photo counter, long before you made any pics. You could either plan on shooting in the Sun, using a so-called “daylight” emulsion, or snapping your photos indoors, with a “T” or “tungsten” film stock.

We often hear people complain that there’s nothing interesting to photograph where they live. Well, one of our writers lives in the most densely populated state in America (New Jersey). Here are some of the images he captured during a two-hour period one Friday morning without traveling more than 15 miles from home. And to prove that good photos exist everywhere—if we just look—he used only one camera and one lens.

What’s normal? Not asking about your weird uncle Walter who puts mayonnaise on his French fries—and his spaghetti. When photography went digital, understanding focal lengths became much more difficult. Let’s unravel a few of the mysteries so that we can make better educated decisions about lenses.