Tag Archives: bokeh heads

December 10 2014

Posted by Brendan Ó Sé on

Just discovered this is my 250th blog post. Wow! Thanks to all who come and read my musings and look at my photos.

Coming to an end with photographs from my October trip to Copenhagen. Without doubt, for me, this has produced some of my most favourite photography. I was very lucky with the sunlight and also having a bicycle allowed me to get out and about and see much more of the city than I could ever have managed if I had only been walking.

The iPhone image is one I really love. When I approached from the rear of this statue I knew exactly what it reminded me of – my bokeh heads. How cool! It is in fact a statue of Atlas with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Poor Atlas – reminds me of myself at times. This image has been brought to you by Snapseed.

We carry it with us

We carry it with us

And as we near the end of Copenhagen images how appropriate there should be one of a cyclist. What a wonderful city Copenhagen is! Being a bike enthusiast Copenhagen for me is heaven.

This image is brought to you by Lightroom.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen

October 27 2014

Posted by Brendan Ó Sé on

It is funny how after a few days of posting photographs that are fully in focus to Flickr, that I get restless and need to blur things up. It’s a bit like playing Abba songs and singing along to them and realising it is a little embarrassing and then trying to be cool all over again by putting on some punk rock. So here comes The Dead Kennedys!

The funny things is that I was not able to find a wall in Copenhagen; a wall with a single colour to provide a backdrop for pedestrians passing. The image today is greatly processed from the original to arrive at the bare remains. Working on it last night, I gave it the title “The Weight of Other People”. And from that title came a poem, which is not fully finished yet. The guy below is solitary, isolated from others in the scene, but he carries their weight. In life, surround yourself with positive people. Cut ties with those who drag you down. Not the easiest thing to achieve.

The Weight of Other People

 

I took a number of photographs like this iPhone image with the DSLR while in Copenhagen. They are just so much fun to do. Head west, head late in the evening on a sunny day. Find a zebra crossing and wait until the pedestrians come. The rest takes care of itself.

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The swell and rest of heaving hope

 

September 1 2014

Posted by Brendan Ó Sé on

My little girl went back to school today. She is in first class now and with each year that passes (this is her third year in primary school) they seem to add kilos on to her schoolbag. Why are kids’ schoolbags so heavy? She nearly topples over when she puts it on her back.

But you are not here to read about the struggles my little girl has with her schoolbag. Are you? I don’t know. Leave me a comment below to let me know why you are here.

The two photographs I am posting to Flickr today follow on in the style of many others I have posted before. The DSLR one is a heavily processed image to reduce the character to nothing more than a bubble head (bokeh head – honestly, what should I call these) and the swell of his chest. It is a playful, fun image the result of much sliding in Lightroom. This one  did not elicit a positive response when I showed my wife last night and she usually is a good judge of these things, but I like it. Hope you do too.

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A holiday from myself

This iPhone image was taken in Dublin a few weeks back. I saw this guy, not dressed for summer, approaching. Now, I am no Bruce Gilden and the very thought of hoisting a camera and a flash to photograph someone is too confrontational for my liking. I find it easier and less intrusive to have the iPhone at chest height level and get as close as I can to the subject and then release. It allows for a more natural, candid result. I think the flash-in-face style is an intervention by the photographer; an unnecessary one. Of course, there are some excellent results achieved by those who practise this style, but for me, it is not natural. It is too manufactured and confrontational. But in saying that some of the results these guys get can be spectacular. They always make me think that a shot just after the flash and snap would be interesting, as this one would be a less non-instigated reaction.

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A man for all seasons

August 29 2014

Posted by Brendan Ó Sé on

I got to say how great it was for my little girl to get all the comments and birthday wishes on her photo yesterday. She absolutely loved it! Thanks to all.

Today’s post takes us back from Korea and lands us in Dublin, but the reality is that the photograph could be anywhere. I imagine these types of photographs are the ones I am most recognised for. It is an ongoing thing and I am never fully satisfied with them, which is probably why I still seek these out and still post them on Flickr. In saying that, the one today I particularly like. Working on it last night a few words came as I processed it. You can see a collection of other photographs like this here. 

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The effort I put into forgetting – and the ease you find in reminding – makes me think we are not best suited

A colour splash for the iPhone image. Again taken in Dublin a few weeks back. How could I resist not shooting a few frames with this delightful backdrop. Standing in the middle of the pedestrian street with the iPhone up and snapping, this tall and skinny individual (tall and skinny people make for the best images of people in motion) walked into the frame. I saturated it up in Snapseed.

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August

Posted by Brendan Ó Sé on

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas. We had a great, family day yesterday, full of fun and happiness.

After the little break, it is time to get back to my end-of-year-review and arrive at August, which was a very good month. There is a number of shots that I really love, which makes it hard to pick a single favourite. I love “The Unbeckoned” a shot I took in Luxembourg in April, but processed in August. This shot was shortlisted in The Irish Times Amateur Photographer of the Year competition. It is an image that has been very popular with my Flickr contacts and one of the best in the series of bokeh heads. Then there is the shot of Mayne’s bar in Cork that I took on a night out taking photos in Cork city centre. This was taken on the first of many trips out around Cork shooting. I like the movement of the girl in the frame and the tone of the image. Another I really like is the first in a short series of blurred out buildings facing on to the River Lee. But the shot which is the one I am choosing for August is the one I printed large and have hanging in my hall – “Irresistible Urges to Dance“. I like its melancholy and the possibility of breaking free from it.

Thanks again to all for the kind comments and feedback. Hope you are having a great Christmas.

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August

Undressed heads

Posted by Brendan Ó Sé on

Bokeh heads, bubble heads, belisha beacon heads, so many names have been given to the series of blurred photographs of people passing on the street with their heads transformed into spheres. I like to call them undressed heads.

Choosing a personal favourites could not go by without one from this series. The one I chose is from a short trip to Luxembourg city in early spring. The old town there is very beautiful and in parts has a fairytale charm. There are wide pedestrians streets flanked with old-stone buildings, which I imagine date back centuries. Here we have three figures approaching, a couple to the rear and an individual a little in front of them. I like the depth this distance provides the image. The processing is with Lightroom to undress the heads, then for the textures I used Snapseed.

So, there you have a week of my personal favourites. Thanks to all for coming to see them. I would love to hear some feedback in the comments as to which was/is your own personal favourite.

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The Unbeckoned