An understated photo for a stated day. I’ve taken versions and versions of this photograph for years. I remember the first time I saw bokeh. Bokeh: aesthetic quality of light rendered out of focus.

It was after a rain at Tschida. A big rain. I was still young enough to run around and do shenanigans in the rain. A dare to run here or there in the downpour. All the adults waited out the storm in the trailer and all the stupid kids sat on the deck daring each other to do this and that. Freezing toes, dripping hair, it was all for the glory and thrill of running around in a thunderstorm. After, the sun came out and I remember walking around behind the trailers with my camera photographing clouds. I saw the yuccas blooming and dripping and I got down to photograph them and there it was. These little dancing circles all over the viewfinder. I was enchanted, so many images of wet grasses and plants. These were some of the first images that made me feel like an artist because you can’t see this quite the same with just your eye. I thought I’d found something no one else had ever seen or knew.

But alas, it already existed and I was one of many who fell in love with bokeh the moment we met. It’s a nice boat to be in; good company here. I love a shallow depth of field. It’s my preferred aperture.

Until we meet again broken bokeh…