Thread #4497599
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Shallow dof is extremely abused in photography but especially in videography and basically the ultimate youtube/netflix lazy trash signifier at this point. In 2026 we're deepfocusmaxxing.
Reject bokehslop.
Retvrn to composition.
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>>4497601
Showing you my photos and videos will contribute nothing to my point. I fell for the shallow dof meme in the past, perhaps I'm overcorrecting now, it doesn't really matter. In early cinema from the 1890s to 1910s shallow depth of field was impossible. Slow film, slow lenses around f/4-f/8, weak lighting forced everything into sharp deep focus. No choice, no creamy blur to mask bad framing. Lumiere, Melies, everyone staged in depth or used tricks like forced perspective in Princess Nicotine because they couldn't soften backgrounds.
Shallow DoF only became easy later with faster stocks and lights, but stayed rare until the 2008 5D Mk II let every amateur blast f/1.4 and pretend it was cinematic. Now it's the laziest crutch going: can't compose, can't block, just drown the mess in bokeh and call it filmic. Right now it mostly acts like a crutch for people too incompetent to guide the eye properly. It's a technique that should be used sparingly with specific intention behind it, like step printing or extreme angle shots.
Anamorphics did the same. Born as a 1950s trick to fight TV with wide squeezed frames, their flares, oval bokeh and stretched shallow look turned into today's overpriced fetish. Beginners chase both as shortcuts instead of learning real craft.
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>>4497599
based the trial (1962) directed by orson welles based on the franz kafka novel of the same name starring anthony perkins (most known for his role as norman bates in alfred hitchcocks psycho (1969)) as josef k enjoyer
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>>4497603
How's the first year of your BA in Film Studies going, anon?
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Okay aphantasiabros, here's an example. Exhibit A, this is good photography
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Exhibit B, this sucks
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>>4497603
>Shallow DoF only became easy later with faster stocks and lights, but stayed rare until the 2008 5D Mk II let every amateur blast f/1.4 and pretend it was cinematic
Anon, film era lenses will happily make blurry backgrounds. Not sure why you think it's something new. Picrel is a Helios 44-2 (approx 1960s) not even wide open.
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>>4497614
This is a good composition, bokeh or not. Very dramatic and atmospheric, and it gives equal weight to the people and their surrounding environment.
>>4497615
This is a boring composition, bokeh or not. It could easily be a portrait shot of anyone and it would only tell as much as their outfit allowed.
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>>4497631
Vintage bokeh can be neat, even in small amounts. Bokeh also takes on a neat quality when it's grainy like yours.
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>>4497631
wtf why did it rotate. Anyway, another example this time with I think an Industar 50 (f3.5)
>>4497601
Part of the problem with posting photos on here to make arguments is that it will simply be misappropriated as a chance to make a personal attack rather than actually engage in discussion. Ansel Adams could rise from the grave to post here and you'd still get somebody piping up about how acktually it's a terrible photo and he should self deport to the ocean immediately with zero constructive feedback.
>>4497634
I like to do a mix, I've never been a "I need an f0.95 creamy bokeh ultra fast lens" type though. It's not bad or good imo, just another tool you can use. I only shoot film though so my experience may not apply super well to digital.
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>>4497603
Shallow focus has been a heavily used tool for many great movies throughout history though. For example its used in like every other scene in "The Passion of Joan of Arc" and even in movies like "All Quiet on the Western Front".
This isn't a great shot, but the point isn't for every shot to be screenshot art you can frame on your wall, the point is to serve the scene. The scene needed to focus on a single character during a monologue.
>>4497632
This anon doesn't understand this.
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>>4497638
From Passion of Joan of Arc.
Both of these films also used deep focus, before you accuse me of being dishonest.
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>>4497603
>but stayed rare until the 2008 5D Mk II let every amateur blast f/1.4 and pretend it was cinematic
Sorry, are we talking about video or stills here? I don't see what difference the 5D Mark II makes for stills over previous cameras.
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>>4497638
Yeah I agree with OP tho, and your point is why YouTubers and Reddit photographers fucking suck — they completely miss the point that bokeh can be used as a compositional tool and/or a narrative tool.
Instead they’re constantly shooting wide open, with photos that have no narrative or story, no composition beyond center placement and MAYBE rule of thirds, but with perfect focus and sharpness, and jerk off because it still looks sharp at 400% zoom and has SNOY in the metadata.
I’ve been looking through some of Saul Leiter‘s work lately and it’s honestly quite a lesson to observe how soft his focus is.
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Janny mad over " meme balls" that he deleted my post and banned me.
>>4497707
This sounds like boomer think, get with the times everyone wants bokeh balls.
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>>4497707
I think that the people trying to do photography like they're shooting a movie are playing a fools game. The inverse, however, shooting video like you're taking photos is what makes good video. In my opinion this is an example of that.
I wanted to find an example for a different point, but I just ended up seeing pic related and really liking it. I do think a modern photography would throw this away though.
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RETVRN
Sugar thread coming soon with lots of f/8 and be there goodness.
Almost every pan shot I've done of someone going Mach Jesus across the salt is done at f/16 or even lower
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>>4497707
>bokeh
Cool, I didn't know this was an actual genre. Bokeh was how I started out with photography a decade ago. Love the abstract textures and moods it creates.
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>>4497599
This is just naive thinking
One is not inherently better than the other
Especially for cinematography
You want to use both extremes when appropriate to communicate something
Spamming one or the other is just bad
You have a tool box, use the right ones at the right time. Don't always reach for a hammer or a screwdriver out of some weird autistic principle.
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>>4497599
Borkah
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Do you save your balls /p/? Whats the best way to individually print BALLS?
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>>4498910
Typical Jannie shenagins, I'm using a proxy as to not preform captcha humiliation rites. Must got a banned IP.