http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
Copy/Pasted from my facebook page:
Bokeh is the quality or appearance of the 'blur' in a photo.
It's best described as the shape that lights go, when they're in the background of a photo (out of focus), taken at night. Sometimes they are round, other times a hexagon.
Whatever shape the aperture is, that's what shape the bokeh will be.
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When I first heard of people purchasing their quaint Bokeh sets from photojojo.com, I was somewhat unimpressed. It was similar to the feelings I have towards the Toy Camera Movement. Boring. Simple. Creatively limited.
A cheap effect, where the user has little control, and the image aesthetic is restricted to what the company (might I say, 'the man'?) lets the user create. It all seemed like a bit of a fad to me, until I came across a video on petapixel, showing how bokeh could be harnessed as a story element, as well as an aesthetic. The short film, 'Light Works' is a brilliant piece, short, to the point, and taking the use of bokeh beyond a kitsch, indie-kid market, and putting it in the hands of professional film-makers.
'Light Works' can be seen here:
http://vimeo.com/18158884
Inspired, and armed with a stanley knife, I created my own bokeh in the shape of a lightning bolt. Shot some HD footage. Attempted (and failed) to Twixtor some of the footage.
The size of the shape, has to be tiny, in order for it to work. The lightning bolt is around 10mm long and 5mm wide.
So here's the result of my first attempt. I think I'll try some words down the track, as well as varying light sources.
Bokeh Kits at PhotoJoJo
http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/bokeh-Kit/
Creators of Light Works
http://supernormals.org/
