#swirling bokeh

[moaan]

Sasanqua by Katsuaki Shoda Via Flickr: Leica M (typ240) + Summarit 50mm f/1.5

[motherfuckingcat]

[gbiechele]

Pinwheel

Minolta MC Rokkor-PG 58mm f/1.2 Sony A7

[trishbarrett]

Some leaves.

Lente Helios 44m-4 de 58mm.

[rismadpermadi]

Title: Swirling yellow background and dark orange gradient with glowing circles suitable for abstract backgrounds, digital designs, social media, and vibrant presentations. Great for modern visual projects.

[comatosebunny09]

misunderstanding | sylus

summary: it was all because the shopkeep got a little handsy. a little too comfortable, purring his name like that. he shrugged her off; did you not see that part? genre(s): romance, angst warning(s): alcohol, drunk reader, self-esteem issues, insecurities, language, short and sweet notes: inspired by that one scene from fifty shades of grey.

Imagine calling Sylus while you’re drunk off your ass.

When you’ve thrown back one too many long islands, and while your friends are all inside, shacked up with their significant others and happy. You toddle outside for some fresh air and a break from your own head.

His voice breaks through the static, all heavy with sleep. But he answers so quickly because you’ve been giving him the cold shoulder. Been brief with your texts, ignoring his phone calls, and going out of your way to avoid running into him. He’s given you your space—minus Mephisto perched outside your window each night, watching you like a hawk.

“Hello?” Sylus husks, bed sheets rustling in the background as he maneuvers himself to sit up.

Somewhere far off, you feel bad for waking him. He already sleeps like shit. But you have liquid encouragement on your side, so you shove that guilt down, down, down in favor of poking the proverbial bear.

Your words are all blurred together, and you can barely keep your eyes open as you prop yourself up on a safety bollard, holding your phone to your ear with two hands.

“Why don’t you like me?”

“I—What?”

You swallow thick. Feel the world swirling and your body teetering, but you press on.

“Why don’t you like me, Sylus? Am I not your type? Is it ‘cause I’m not rich? Not skinny?”

He laughs, all incredulous on the other end. You imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose in the stillness of his bedroom, disbelieving of the shit spilling from your mouth. And so early in the evening, too.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Me. I mean, am I annoying?  I kinda am. I talk a lot. But that lady—the one from before. That shopkeeper chick. She was really hot. Like, supermodel hot.”

Your name comes out in an exasperated sigh. “That’s what this is about?”

You confirmed his suspicions. Why you’ve been playing keep-away. Ever since you accompanied him a few weeks back to gather some intel from a verified source, you’ve been acting distant. All because the shopkeep got a little handsy. A little too comfortable, purring his name like that. He shrugged her off. Wordlessly put her in her place. Did you not see that part?

Sylus doesn’t know whether to laugh or scream.

“No, no, wait. Lemme finish. She seemed more your type. Like the kinda chick you’d be into, ya know? You two’d be like Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

He groans, and this time, you picture him hanging his head low. His long fingers splayed over his face in exhaustion.

“Where are you? Have you been drinking?”

“Mind your business,” you say around a hiccup.

And you’re catching yourself on the bollard, giggling stupidly at how pathetic you must look. Trying to catch your footing like a baby fawn.

“Only had one or two. Maybe three or six. I’m a big girl. A big, un-pretty girl, according to Mr. Sylus.”

A car honks in the distance. You barely stir from it, eyes shuttering as your head falls onto your arm roosted on the bollard.

“Where are you?” Sylus prods again.

There’s a little more urgency this time. A little more concern lurking beneath the tenor of his voice, and the sleep’s almost completely vanished from it.

“Out.”

You burn hot. Sway as the alcohol thickens in your veins. Something of a smile twitches your lips. For a second, you’re convinced he actually gives a shit about you.

“Sweetie, please. I don’t have the patience to entertain your mind games today. And stop putting words into my mouth. Not once have I ever referred to you as ‘un-pretty.’”

You snort. Stumble away from the bollard to lean against a brick wall. It’s cold and raw against your bare back. The world’s a pretty bokeh of light around. Maybe you did have a little too much to drink.

His voice drops an octave. Skates between sincerity and something dulcet; doting.

“You’re anything but. You’re gorgeous. Breathtaking. Incredibly resourceful and infuriatingly kind. You’re tough. And you don’t talk too much. In fact, I wish you would spend more time talking about yourself.”

Your lips crook with a smile. Your eyes begin to water. Your cheeks are warmer now, and you’re not sure if it’s from the alcohol or the words spuming so effortlessly from the other end of your phone.

You hear fabric rustling. Hear his mattress creaking and things being jostled about in the background. Drawers. Clothes. Shoes clicking against marbled tiles.

“Tell me where you are,” he asserts. “I’m coming to get you.”

“No, no, no!”

You wave your hand dismissively like he can see. You feel bad enough having dragged him down with you. Having dredged up your insecurities and projected them onto him like that. No reason to make him leave the sanctity of his bed to entertain your foolishness.

“It’s cool, Syl. I’ll catch a cab.”

“I’m not asking,” he clips in a tone that leaves no room for argument.

You swallow, suddenly feeling cold sobriety creep in. Metal jangles through the static. Keys. Car keys. A door shuts, followed by an engine stuttering and drawing a breath in. He taps a few buttons on his console. Releases a sigh.

“I’m on my way. Stay where you are. Don’t go running off with any strangers, alright, sweetheart?”

Something warm spills into your tummy. You slide down the wall onto your ass, holding your head in your hands with your phone propped to your ear using your shoulder.

“Sylus, really. You don’t have to do that. I’ll be good—”

“I want to,” he insists. Already peeling out of his driveway and zooming through the streets of the N109 Zone. “Stay on the line. Don’t hang up. I’ll be there soon. Promise.”

You sigh at your own stupidity. At your own pitifulness. Making him come play knight in shining armor like that. All because you couldn’t hold your liquor. Your tongue. Though, you can’t stifle the tiny ping of hope resounding in your head.

“Okay. I’ll wait. But can we get ice cream when you get here?”

He chuckles, the sound of it brassy yet comforting through the drunken slurry of your brain.

“Sure, sweetheart. Whatever you want.”

masterlist

[ninadove]

A Loveyblanc moodboard, inspired by @asukiess’ time marches back! 💖🤍

Alt text below the cut:

The pictures, which follow a baby plue, pastel pink and white colour palette, “swirl” around the central quote.

Top right: the moon, destroyed by Chat Blanc.

Top left: a white kitten (sourced from Unsplash).

Center left: a pile of pastel hair ribbons (sourced from Canva).

Bottom left: the remains of the Eiffel Tower.

Bottom right: a wedding veil (sourced from Canva).

Center right: rose petals cascading towards the central quote (sourced from Canva).

Centre: bokeh hearts fading into the white background (sourced from Canva).

Quote: “But you and me, I think we could have a lot of fun together!” — from the fic itself!

[fn205]

AI Generated with AlbedoBase XL. I don't have all the settings written down and it took multiple runs with different seeds and stuff to get this as opposed to messy garbage, but I figured I'd share the prompts at least as a starting point for anyone else. Prompts below:

Positive prompt: "high-angle view, medical stock photograph, busty beautiful thicc persian voluptuous plus-size model under anesthesia, sedation dentistry. two women, telugu nurse standing behind sleeping cute female patient, indian clothing. black plastic oxygen mask over patient's nose. extremely high quality RAW photograph, detailed background, intricate, Exquisite details and textures, gentle lighting, bokeh, sharp focus, film grain. uniform lighting. thin tubes."

Negative prompt: "bad image, ugly, cartoon, painting, illustration, toothbrush, skirt, leggings, smile, white skin, european, asian, skinny. makeup, fake, doll, glamorous. old, wrinkled. shiny, neon. brush strokes. pale skin. gloves. goggles, swimcap, swimsuit, bikini, sfw. eye contact. blue:0.2. darkness. harsh lighting. 3d render, ugly, harsh, distorted, plastic, blur, swirl, shiny, anime, flat, skinny, wrinkle, pale, standing, teeth, man, muscles, pregnant, glasses, goggles, thin, doll, hourglass, lipstick, upside down, sideways, child, childish, girl, boy, elderly. cartoon, comic. thin, skinny, glamorous, makeup, student. surgical mask, covid mask, cloth mask, wrinkles. goggles, visor, glasses. vent, fan. posterized, bright colors, high saturation. fake, artificial."

[talkingtothetallman]

Swirls, adapters, film, and other stuff

Hi-ho! It's been awhile. Life has been busy to say the least! Christmas is here in the cold whirlwind that is December, and with it the icy windshields, low-hanging frigid mist, and the blasting of both the car heater and Christmas songs. But enough about what's been happening in life, let's talk about my newest hobby.

Vintage Lenses. Oh yeah, the good stuff.

Years ago in July of 2019, I purchased a Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 from a swap meet for $10-15. I looked up what it would take to use on my Sony a7iii, and turns out it was a little metal adapter that cost about the same. Pretty simple!

So that's where it started! I didn't really pursue anything else beyond it since, after all, they didn't have autofocus and weren't as convenient (or sharp) as modern glass. Just a fun little exploration into using old tech on the new stuff!

But a few months later, I watched a video about an infamous Russian lens, the Helios 44-2. Based on the Carl Zeiss Biotar lens design that they stole from the Germans during WWII, the Russians began pumping out their own version of the Biotar, the Helios 44 series, with the most recognizable one of the line being the aforementioned 44-2. Its signature? Producing a swirly effect to the bokeh (out of focus part of the image). And so being curious, I picked one up for under $50. And that swirl effect... yeah, it's pretty cool!

But still again, I didn't really pursue anything else beyond it. They were cool, no doubt about it, just not something that totally piqued my interest.

Flash forward nearly five years later, and it's safe to say that my interest has be piqued! I now have acquired eight lenses to my collection, and yes I most am certainly shopping of more, how nice you to ask!

Okay, so I know it’s not a lot at the moment. But that’s okay, because at the end of the day, they are just buckets of fun. Cliché as it may sound if you are a photographer like me, but having a more tactile experience while doing photography is really cool and rewarding. It isn't better, and it isn't somehow an elitist claim per say, but it’s still indeed pretty rad and adds an extra element to your photography, causing (or enabling, depending on how you want to look at it) you to slow down and take more time to make your images.

Speaking of taking more time, let's talk about good ol' 35mm film. For awhile now, I've had a hankering to at least try shooting a roll of film. It isn't a thing that a lot of my generation has experience with as digicams, point-and-shoots, and now smartphones, have been the photography experience for 95% of people my age. Nonetheless, film photography had this sense of mystery behind it, keeping your photos tucked away from you, often times for weeks, without you knowing how perfect that shot actually looks.... or more likely how you actually messed up and will be kicking yourself over it for the next few weeks! So naturally, when I had the opportunity to purchase a Minolta SRT-201 and a few lenses for $30 from a local on OfferUp, I went out and bought my first roll of film; some Kodak Portra 400, regarded by film enthusiasts as one of the great film stocks for about every kind of photography.

The next few weeks consisted of me filling up that roll and sending it off to Gelatin Labs in New Jersey to get developed and scanned into TIFFs for any further editing on my part. Not gonna lie, I was nervous for how they were going to turn out, especially since I was exposing the film based on a light meter app from iPhone (the one on the camera isn't functioning at the moment; would like to get it fixed). But they turned out beautiful! Aaaaaaand now I want to shoot more film lol

But yeah, this year has been a journey in terms of my photography career/passion! A lot of highlights (no pun intended) that I'm excited to reflect on as the weeks wind down in this year. My photo-a-day-lets-me-use-my-camera-okay?! challenge is going strong, and I've only missed a few days total this year. I'm looking forward to pouring over those photos, sharing them with you, and taking what learned this year into next year!

[piotrtymcio]

Kwiat

Panasonic DMC-GF2, Helios 44M-4

[EN] My internet went down, so today’s post is even later than usual. Due to the outage. Here’s a flower shot with a GF2 and a vintage Helios lens. The effect turned out pretty nice—slightly swirling bokeh and warm tones. I really like this experiment I dared to try.

[PL] Internet mi wysiadł więc dziś jeszcze później niż zwykle. Z powodu awarii. Kwiat zrobiony GF2 i wintydżowym heliosem. W sumie całkiem fajny efekt. Lekko wirujący bokeh. Ciepłe barwy. Podoba mi się ten eksperyment który popełniłem.

[moaan]

Sasanqua by Katsuaki Shoda Via Flickr: Leica M (typ240) + Summarit 50mm f/1.5

[motherfuckingcat]

[henriediosa]

✨ dancing lights and prestidigitation ✨ fantine meets the faerie dragons!

we found a secret house (just like in The Phantom of the Opera!) with a secret garden (just like in The Secret Garden!) and fantine met some new fae friends and started a dance party! (just like in... pretty much every musical tbh)

fantine has a running bit of comparing everything to musical theatre — even calling all architectural details "set design", all items "props", and all fashion "costumes" — bc that's faer point of reference for everything, having grown up in a commune dedicated specifically to musical theatre (and spying, but that's lore for another post)

image description in alt text and under the cut!

this illustration was first posted on ko-fi! thank you to my ko-fi supporters, the minamahal: all my love to ate emily, ate rachel, and jo. you can leave a tip or become a recurring supporter at ko-fi.com/henriediosa.

id: a digital illustration in a bright, sketchy style, of fantine in a garden casting sparkles into the air while two baby faerie dragons swirl above faer. the picture is drawn from above, looking down. the garden has a stone floor and rows of long wooden planter boxes. fantine is a fairy with brown hair up in pigtails, wearing a red half-cape and a green dress. faer arms are outstretched and fae is smiling wide. the faerie dragons are bright red with little white spikes down their spines and butterfly wings in yellow and orange. their dancing lights are warm, soft circles of bokeh, while fantine's sparkles are shaped like four-pointed stars and are cyan, magenta, and yellow. id ends.

[imgtoxai385]

Dynamic Footballer Silhouette

Illustrate a dynamic, stylised footballer mid-kick—silhouette style with a sleek, reflective red kit and subtle gold energy trails swirling around his boots, knee, and the spinning ball. Place him centre-frame on a pristine pitch inside a packed, neutral-themed stadium at night. • Background: large modern arena, floodlights blazing, 90 000+ fans captured as blurred, high-energy colour blocks—no team crests, banners, or flags; crowd visuals remain generic and logo-free. • Atmosphere: opening-whistle euphoria—confetti cannons firing, sparks and pyros near the players’ tunnel, faint blue haze from pre-match fireworks. • Lighting: crisp stadium spotlights cast dramatic rim-light on the player; warm golden particle glows from his kinetic motion interact with cooler white stadium beams. • Composition: low-angle hero shot (slight tilt up) emphasising the player’s leap; preserve the original gold swooshes and motion streaks, extending them across the turf toward the roaring stands. • Colour & Style: keep the graphic look—dark silhouette with red highlights—while the neutral stadium background remains semi-realistic yet painterly, blending seamlessly without any club insignia. Render in 16:9, ultra-high 4K resolution, with a shallow depth-of-field that keeps player and ball tack-sharp while the ecstatic crowd and stadium lights form a vibrant, logo-free bokeh backdrop.

[imgtoxai360]

Duckling in Tulip

A stunning digital painting depicts a fluffy baby duckling nestled peacefully within the velvety petals of a luminous pink tulip, rendered in a photo-realism style infused with fantasy. The duckling, with impossibly soft down feathers glistening with dewdrops, has closed eyes and a gentle smile, its tiny form bathed in a warm, orange glow emanating from the tulip’s core. Surrounding this serene scene is a dreamy bokeh background of swirling teal, purple, and orange hues, while the tulip petals appear semi-translucent, allowing a soft light to filter through and illuminate the duckling from within. Delicate water droplets cling to the feathers and petals, catching the light and creating a magical, enchanting atmosphere.

[imgtoxai119]

Dynamic Footballer Silhouette

Illustrate a dynamic, stylised footballer mid-kick—silhouette style with a sleek, reflective red kit and subtle gold energy trails swirling around his boots, knee, and the spinning ball. Place him centre-frame on a pristine pitch inside a packed, neutral-themed stadium at night. • Background: large modern arena, floodlights blazing, 90 000+ fans captured as blurred, high-energy colour blocks—no team crests, banners, or flags; crowd visuals remain generic and logo-free. • Atmosphere: opening-whistle euphoria—confetti cannons firing, sparks and pyros near the players’ tunnel, faint blue haze from pre-match fireworks. • Lighting: crisp stadium spotlights cast dramatic rim-light on the player; warm golden particle glows from his kinetic motion interact with cooler white stadium beams. • Composition: low-angle hero shot (slight tilt up) emphasising the player’s leap; preserve the original gold swooshes and motion streaks, extending them across the turf toward the roaring stands. • Colour & Style: keep the graphic look—dark silhouette with red highlights—while the neutral stadium background remains semi-realistic yet painterly, blending seamlessly without any club insignia. Render in 16:9, ultra-high 4K resolution, with a shallow depth-of-field that keeps player and ball tack-sharp while the ecstatic crowd and stadium lights form a vibrant, logo-free bokeh backdrop.