I'm so taken with this image and the way there is an apparent play between motion (of the water) and stillness (in the bird and bracken). The bokeh adds a vibrancy, with tones that hold the image together - I particularly like the brownish-red earth tone that echoes the colours of the dipper. You must have had perfect conditions and it demonstrates that patience and perseverance really does pay off! Very well done.
A fantastic composition with ideal placement of the mantises against the lightest of the bokeh circles, as well as the most vibrant slice of colour - the parts that our eye is most drawn to. Rendering the subjects almost in silhouette makes the bokeh an essential part of the success of this image. There's slight evidence of grain to the left, where I'd be tempted to either darken the shadows or de-noise, to give it a really professional finish. Congratulations!
You don't get a much more bokeh-filled image than this! The Scilla has been chosen and angled through your lens to maximise the focal plane. In addition, the flower placement is against an area without lots of bokeh circles, meaning it sits comfortably in a space that allows it a natural frame. I would love to know what else you held near the lens to create the flurry of lights - cleverly executed. Having a cool-toned subject against the warmth of this background offers us complementary blues and oranges, so pleasing to the eye. Very well done!
This is a masterful way to meet the 'bokeh' brief, not just with the (very well harnessed) circle of light from the sun, but also in the way the lens has rendered the out-of-focus surrounding stems. The framing is superb, but also the warmth of the eye-catching sunlight is complemented and balanced by the cool tones of the butterfly and stem, and of the outer colours. The play between sharp focus and soft creates an evocative atmosphere that I've really enjoyed, and for this reason - amongst an extremely strong field - it's a well-deserved winner.
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So evocative of the woodland floor, where the bokeh highlights are held back beautifully by the echoes of bracken. It means that the softness obtained in the background allows your subject to shine. Finding a fungi set that allowed you to keep so much of the focal plane sharp has made this a very successful image. Really pleasing, gently warm tones throughout, and a joy to look at. Congratulations!
The monochrome treatment of this image has served to highlight the bokeh sparkles from the water, where the differing sizes give the image a sense of depth and distance. Your low shooting angle has really paid off with the mirroring - fabulous timing too, with the water trail from the beak. It's more unusual to see an image meeting the 'Bokeh' brief while retaining an element of movement and action, so very well done!
This is a hugely atmospheric image, and a fantastic reward for your perseverance and forward planning. The reflected light on the egret's face, and the rim light on the feathers, draws you right in to the subject amongst all of the action of the bokeh sparkles. I enjoy the echoing ribbons of colour, with horizontal blue and orange tones; the use of a longer focal length has brought beautiful separation to the scene and made for a highly successful bokeh effect. Really well done!
Such a beautifully framed portrait, where the bokeh serves to centre your eye on the subject. Lovely separation between your dog and the woodland, with the falling leaf a nice and dynamic nod to the time of year and the context of the setting. This macro lens does a super job for portraiture, and the sharpness v bokeh you've achieved is testament to that. An image to be proud of!
What a wonderful capture, not just of the hare looking right at you, but all of the bokeh light through the grass. It helps to make it feel so vibrant and full of life. I really like the spray caught in the light too, your low angle capturing that early morning sidelight so well. An image to be proud of, well done!
I adore the colours that have been rendered so beautifully softly in the background through the use of a long lens, so that all the attention rests on the bird. The angle of the heron, echoing the hint of the landscape on the right-hand side of the photograph, makes it a really pleasing composition. Shooting from a low angle has allowed for a lovely bokeh effect along the top of the background reeds, and mirrored in the shallows below, offering an ideal natural frame for the image. Congratulations!
Brief
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This lovely Japanese word often warrants a definition to kick things off. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh">Wikipedia page</a> describes Bokeh as ‘the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in out-of-focus parts of an image’ and also as ‘the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light’. This is certainly then an invitation to explore shallow depth of field, and ideally in a scenario where the backdrop has some brightness and light that your lens can work its bokeh magic on. Those points of light will be smudged together, and might create attractive circles that add a fantastical quality. Different lenses work differently, and so you can see this as a good way to get to know yours better. Any subject is fair game for this contest.
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I think that it's often difficult to get the essence of bluebells into a photograph, but this finds a happy medium that's neither too zoomed-in nor so wide that we can't see the intricacies of the flowers. The bokeh here is the magic ingredient, offering hints of Spring warmth and of the continuation of the flowers across the woodland floor. It's what makes the image so successfully evocative - beautifully done!
This is such an original take on the bokeh theme - where the symmetry of the architecture, and the way you've placed everything in the frame, completely draws us in. I'm glad that you kept this as a colour image, since the small hint of yellow amongst all of the cool tones is really the hook that brings your eye right to the centre of the photograph. The sharp focus on something relatively close the the lens has made for a bokeh effect that essentially cradles the subject for the viewer. A very successful image!
An expertly executed macro, where the focal plane has managed to include so many of the droplets in sharp focus. I particularly enjoy the very tiny points of light from the other side of the seedhead; as well as the hugely soft bokeh of the background. I only wish there could have been more room in the Top 10, but amongst some extremely high-quality images, this was another stand-out. Well done!
This is an exquisite colour-play, using the tones to your advantage so the the fungus grabs all the attention. The misty moonlight quality of the bokeh adds a mysterious air, and we can't quite see the context - other than the hint of a seedling. It's a highly successful use of light and sharp focus, so that your gaze can't help but be drawn to the mushroom's gill ridges in all their detail. I really like the nighttime feel of this image - an original take, and extremely well executed. Well done!
There is so much to be commended in this image - capturing the seedhead and droplets so sharply, the apparent balancing act, the pleasing tones. The placement of the seedhead, leaning towards the centre from the left-third, seems to follow the bokeh highlights upwards, allowing our eye to do the same. A hugely successful way to meet the 'Bokeh' brief, very well done!
