One of my early posts on Still Life With walked through my workflow of taking food shots in my studio (ie, my kitchen). Well, I recently realized how much a seemingly small change has made to my overall workflow. That change was starting to shoot tethered to my laptop, and it’s had numerous impacts on the steps I follow.

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Bokeh is a Japanese term used to describe the quality of a background blur. Is it smooth or is it harsh? Do the colors and light blend together in silky, natural combination? Or are there wiry bits that look artificial?

I’ve always loved photos that had extremely narrow depth of field (DOF), and marry a sharply focused subject with a creamy soft backdrop. It simplifies the photo and makes it both pleasing and understandable. Looking back through my photos, especially my food photos, a great number of them are shot with an aperture of 3.5 to 1.4.

However, I had never heard of bokeh or given much thought to how the blur looked until someone left a comment on one of my flickr photos inviting me to the Bokeh: Smooth and Silky group on Flickr. Now I am hooked and have started to look at my photos in a new light.
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