Episode

Bokeh - Photography is Nothing with Zach Dobson & Courtney McCracken

Podcast
Photography is Nothing
Published
Dec 4, 2025
Duration seconds
2213
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/photography-is-nothing/episodes/Bokeh---Photography-is-Nothing-with-Zach-Dobson--Courtney-McCracken-e3brrrf
Audio
https://anchor.fm/s/fd036364/podcast/play/112110895/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-4%2F413712706-44100-2-720a78dee95e9.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/photography-is-nothing-7391177/episodes/bokeh-photography-is-nothing-with-zach-dobson-courtney-mccracken
Markdown
/podcast/photography-is-nothing-7391177/bokeh-photography-is-nothing-with-zach-dobson-courtney-mccracken.md

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Summary

Episode 15 - Photographers love to talk about bokeh. So let's get into it. We talk about the origins of the word and just how recently this came into the photography lexicon. Also, more important to us than how it works from a technical standpoint is how it's used in photos to direct a viewer's eye or tell a story. “Photography is nothing–it's life that interests me.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson Index 0:00 - We’re in a new location 1:43 - Today’s topic: Bokeh! 2:14 - Etymology of the word “bokeh” 2:31 - The first time “bokeh” appeared in western media 3:41 - “How do you get that background blur?” 4:19 - What is bokeh? How do you use it? 7:56 - Bokeh happens a lot in low light 8:26 - Photographing holiday lights with lots of bokeh 10:02 - Getting maximum bokeh photographing holiday lights 14:48 - Big foreground bokeh 17:57 - Using bokeh to direct people’s eyes 22:04 - Why street photographers don’t use bokeh much 23:21 - How Gueorgui Pinkhassov uses bokeh 34:37 - Bokeh is great for capturing the vibes of a place Find Zach Website: https://zachdobson.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachdobsonphoto/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zachdobsonphoto Threads: https://www.threads.com/@zachdobsonphoto Find Courtney Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneymccracken_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@happy_life_lessons Threads: https://www.threads.com/@courtneymccracken_ About the Podcast Photography is Nothing with Zach Dobson and Courtney McCracken is a weekly conversation about photography and all its impact. Each week Zach and Courtney discuss their latest adventures, life lessons, and anything else that sounds interesting. Photography is Nothing invites you into the conversations they were already having as a married couple running a photography and media company i…