finding bokeh

This is a lovely example of a photographic effect called bokeh. The image above, from JW Creations, has a Creative Commons copyright, intended to be shared with attribution.

Bokeh (from the Japanese word boke, meaning blur or haze) refers to a range of deliberate artistic effects created by non-sharp focus areas of a photo composition. The photo I chose to show here is perhaps unusual in that it is entirely bokeh, essentially rendering it an abstract photo, and not the more typical partial areas of bokeh with the photo's subject (such as a person, pet, object, etc.) in sharp focus. It should also be noted that areas of bokeh do not necessarily have to be composed of points of light, like this one, although it is a particularly pleasing effect.

Lately it's been interesting to pay attention to this effect. I noticed some nice passages of it in The Mothman Prophecies.

Bokeh is created in-camera by making use of shallow depth of focus, but it is sometimes-- usually less effectively-- simulated using graphics software.