Dred242's photostream  

About me,

I've enjoyed taking (making) photographs since I was a kid growing up on the far South Side of Chicago. My first camera was a plastic mail-order toy camera that actually took real photos on 120 film. I moved on to various Vivitar 110 pocket cameras until I finally received my first real camera....the Pentax K1000. I used the Pentax K1000 through both grade school and high school. My collection of cameras grew to include the Minolta X-570, X-700, and the Minolta Maxxum 400si along with a host of lenses and other accessories. I studied black & white photography at the South Side Community Art Center on the South Side of Chicago as well as a brief stint studying photography at Columbia College Chicago.

I had abandoned photography for several years until picking it up again just before the start of the digital craze back in 2002. I swapped out all my analog gear for digital gear and never looked back. My first digital camera was the Kodak DC3200 which I absolutely loved. It was a simple 1.3MP digital camera that took crappy photos but what a wonderful introduction to instant gratification. I went through a host of point-n-shoot digital cameras until I finally went semi-pro with the Pentax K10D.

Recently I've taken a liking to shooting with my iPhone 3Gs; it's not so much the camera but all of it's awesome image editing apps coupled with the always-on internet connection. I've been taking photos with camera phones for a few years starting with the Sanyo PM8300, Motorola e815, and the LG Voyager. I've also been posting my camera phone photos on the internet going all the way back to the old TextAmerica.com days, Blogger (pre-Google), and a few poorly self-designed WordPress blogs. Back then I kept both my camera phone and a point-n-shoot camera in my pocket to capture photographs throughout my day, But the days of packing several devices are over! I've made a push recently to post more iPhone photos online now that I can shoot, edit, process, and post photos to the internet on-the-fly from the iPhone itself. Dozens of photographic opportunities appear throughout my day as would for any photographer with a thirst to shoot and I love taking photos. Most spontaneous photographic opportunities occur when my DSLR is packed away at home but with my iPhone and all of it's apps, I'm able to satisfy the urge and need to take a photo anytime I want. That "keep shooting" mentality is always floating around in my head and keeps me in some-what good practice when it comes to spotting and capturing something of photographic interest as well as repetition which is key to quick timing, interesting framing & composition, and most important...confidence.

My Gear:

--Cameras--

Canon PowerShot S-500 (Digital)
Canon Canonet QL-17 GIII (35mm Film Rangefinder)
iPhone 4s (Mobile Photography)
Konica C35 Automatic (hibird Black & Silver 35mm Film Rangefinder)
Konica C35 Automatic (Silver 35mm Film Rangefinder))
Konica Big Mini BM302 (35mm Film Point-n-Shoot))
Kodak DC3200 (Digital)
Kodak Signet 35 (35mm Film Rangefinder)
Minolta Hi-Matic C (35mm Film Zone Focus)
Minolta Hi-Matic G2 (35mm Film Zone Focus)
Minolta Maxxum 400si (35mm Film SLR)
Yashica Electro 35 GT (35mm Film Rangefinder)
Yashica Electro 35 (35mm Film Rangefinder)
Yashica ME-1 (35mm Film Zone Focus)
Olympus XA (35mm Film Rangefinder)
Olympus Pen EE2 (35mm Film Zone Focus)
Olympus Pen FT (35mm Film Rangefinder)
Olympus Trip 35 (35mm Zone Focus)
Olympus 35 SP (35mm Film Rangefinder)
Ricoh 500G (35mm Film Rangefinder)
Rollei 35 (35mm Film)
Panasonic Lumix GF2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
Polaroid 360 Automatic Land
Polaroid 100 Automatic Land
Polaroid SX-70 Auto Land Alpha SE
Polaroid SX-70 Auto Land Camera
Polaroid SX-70 Autofocus Model 2
Polaroid One Step
Polaroid 600 Business Edition 2
Polaroid OneStep CloseUp
Polaroid Pronto! RF (Rangefinder)
Polaroid Spectra Qps
Bronica ETRSi (Medium Format 120mm Film)
Pentax K10D (DSLR)
Pentax K1000 (35mm Film)
Pentax Auto 110 (Worlds Smallest 35mm Film SLR)
Holga 120 GN (Medium Format 120mm Film Zone Focus)
Mini Diana Petite Noire (35mm Film Zone Focus)
Vivitar 110 (110mm Film Point-n-Shoot))
Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim (35mm Film Point-n-Shoot))
Vivitar Focus Free 2011 (35mm Film Point-n-Shoot))
Sprocket Rocket (35mm Film Zone Focus)
Kiev 4AM (35mm Film Rangefinder)
Mamiya U (35mm Film Zone Focus)

---Other Gear---

Pentax SMCP FA 50mm f/1.4 PRIME AF
Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 Pancake PRIME Limited
Pentax SMC DA 18mm-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF
Pentax SMC F 35-70mm f/3.5 Zoom
Zenzanon PE 75mm f2.8
Sigma/Quantary 28mm f/2.8 PRIME
Sigma/Quantary 28mm-90mm f/3.5 AF/Macro
Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 PRIME Pancake Micro 4/3
Pentax AF540FGZ Flash
Pentax AF360FGZ Flash
Nikon SB-28 Flash
Nikon SB-28DX Flash
Sekonic Twinmate L-208 (Light Meter)
Sekonic L-VI (Light Meter)
Sekonic L-358 Flash Master (Light Meter)
Calumet 10ft light stand
Calumet 8ft mini light stand
Photoflex shoot-through 45in Umbrella
Photogenic silver reflective 45in Umbrella
Photogenic Eclipse 60" Neutral White Convertable Umbrella
Vanguard MT-23 63.75in Tripod
Velbon DF-40 57in Tripod
Calumet CK7104 5-Section 63.25in Monopod
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Adobe Photoshop Elements
Pentax Remote Assistant 3....Learn More!


About my website:

December 11, 2007

Bokeh: (from the Japanese boke, or blur)

Bokeh is a photographic term that addresses the out-of-focus or blurring of an image in whole or in part as a direct result of the lens on the camera. In portrait photography, blur (or bokeh) reduces surrounding distractions allowing the eye to focus on the main subject. Different lens types can create a wide range in the amounts of bokeh thus producing different visual qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds. Notice in portrait photography blur or bokeh reduces surrounding distractions allowing your eye to focus on the main subject.

Funny, I failed to realize that I've been doing it all along.....bokeh, that is. I've become a big fan of bokeh images and photos surfacing all over flickr and the rest of the Internet. It's not new, but I've just become very aware of how many people are shooting this kind of photo. Over the past 7-8 years, I used photoshop and other image editing applications to create larger amounts of blur (bokeh) in my photos. The photos were shot with my trusty point-n-shoot camera, the Canon S-500 Digital ELPH. The Canon S-500 can take decent portraits but it lack the fast / wide aperture to achieve the amount of blur I truly wanted....enter post processing and Photoshop.

I'm now shooting with a Pentax K10D along with lenses that will create wonderful amounts of bokeh right out of the camera. I may have found my calling....after all these years. To celebrate my new found joy, BokehImage.com will serve as a collection of bokeh images as photographed by me. I'm not a professional photographer, just a guy with a camera...and a vision. The majority of these images will contain very little post processing, but only done to further enhance the visual quality of the image.

Thank You
Dred242
www.BokehImage.com

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