(If you are unfamiliar with this continuing series, please see this post first)

There’s a particular kind of photograph I have always wanted to make focusing on the importance of bokeh. I’m sure many of you are familiar with it, it’s the kind of shot that is completely out-of-focus, and the picture is of strands of small lights strung up along someplace like a fresco dining area. A few things have always prevented me from doing this. 1. Phones/P&S’s that I used to have with me couldn’t throw the background out-of-focus enough to get good bokeh. 2. The shots usually look best when taken at night to emphasize the balls of light—taking a picture at night with a P&S was never really an option anyway. 3. In my hometown, there aren’t any restaurants with this particular decor to shoot!

During my photowalk in the city a couple of days ago to get some great shots for the Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS review, I came across such a restaurant. They were closed (oddly, being a Friday night and all), but the light strands were still on and bright. The motivation for this shot also stemmed from one of the first few assignments I have for my photography class, to capture a scene completely out of focus. At first glance, I was pretty disappointed:

Straight out of camera, no wonder this shot didn’t make it into the final review. It’s just a bunch of boring strands with a crushed-dark background!

However! I remember seeing much more detail in the background when I captured the shot. Knowing the awesome dynamic range of the Sony NEX-7, I wondered how much I could push the exposure to bring out the shadows and darks in Lightroom 4. Much to my surprise, with exposure/white balance/saturation adjustments later, I realized I had captured a photograph that combined both circular and angular geometry with multiple splashes of color!

Contrasting Geometry
35mm, ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/15

Now that’s more like it. I need to remember to not be so hasty in dismissing my shots! It’s easy to forget how well Lightroom 4 can save an exposure—when shooting in RAW, you truly can “shoot first, expose later” to a certain extent. 🙂

That’s all for this quick post guys and gals. Thanks for dropping by!