Bokeh ......

..... is a term used by photographers to described the blured background in portrait photos. It provides that smooth backdrop, with the main subject of the picture almost standing out in 3D, that makes some people pictures look really good. In order to achive it well you really need a specialised portrait lens, something with a focal lens of around 90 - 100 mm (human eyesight is about 50 mm) with a very small fast maximum aperture of F2.0 or less. I recently started using a Panasonic GF-1 micro four thirds camera and over the summer Olympus (with whom Panasonic stuff is interchangeable) announced the relaease of a 45 mm (micro 4/3's lens are designated with half the focal length of "normal" lenses due to the difference in sensor size - are you keeping up!) with a pretty fast maximum aperture of F1.8. What's more, it is realtively inexpensive. I chased Olympus to find which shops in the Uk would receive the first supplies and placed my order. With a last minute upgrade to next day saturday delivery I must have been one of the frist photographers in the UK to receive one. It looks cheap with it's silver paint straight out of an old airfix kit and feels like plastic (unlike the equally wonderful Panasonic Lumix 20 mm pancake I bought with my inheritence from Auntie Evelyn) but the first images I've had out of it are superb. A wise investment that I think will give much pleasure over time and record nice images of the people I am blessed to have in my life.