Questions you'd like answering, regardless of how trivial they may seem

[Accy cyclist]

Why when we see photos is the background blurred, like this one?

If I look at something close up then look at the background, the background isn't blurred, so why is it blurred in photographs?🤔

 

[glasgowcyclist]

You're probably (unwittingly) using a filter or mode on your phone's camera. Check you don't have it set to portrait or food mode, for example.

 

[Alex321]

Why when we see photos is the background blurred, like this one?

View attachment 805225

If I look at something close up then look at the background, the background isn't blurred, so why is it blurred in photographs?🤔

Because the focus on a camera is not all that wide. And a phone camera by default will focus on what is in the centre of the image.

Also, when you look at somethng close, then switch to looking at something far away, the focus opf your eyes changes. The camera focus would as well if you moved it so that what is in the distance is in the centre of the image.

 

[Seevio]

If I look at something close up then look at the background, the background isn't blurred, so why is it blurred in photographs?🤔

I still maintain this thread should be titled, things I can't be arsed to google but still want to know.

Anyway, if you look at something close up you are focusing on it. If you then look at the background, it then becomes the thing you are focusing on and is no longer the background. In the example photo, when you look at the bikes the background is still out of focus but because the background is in your peripheral vision, you don't notice. A photo takes in the whole scene, the bit that's in focus and everything else. The difference it that the focus point is fixed in time and doesn't shift based on what you are looking at.

 

[Seevio]

And now my turn:

Can a ghost and a zombie come from the same person?

 

[AndyRM]

And now my turn:

Can a ghost and a zombie come from the same person?

Yes.

Your reanimated body would be the zombie, and your spirit/soul/whatever would be the ghost. They'd be on different planes of existence but would still be you.

If your ghost possessed your zombie, well then that's a whole other thing, and probably an ecumenical matter.

 

[Seevio]

Bonus points for the Father Ted reference.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I still maintain this thread should be titled, things I can't be arsed to google but still want to know.

Anyway, if you look at something close up you are not focusing on it. If you then look at the background, it then becomes the thing you are focusing on and is no longer the background. In the example photo, when you look at the bikes the background is still out of focus but because the background is in your peripheral vision, you don't notice. A photo takes in the whole scene, the bit that's in focus and everything else. The difference it that the focus point is fixed in time and doesn't shift based on what you are looking at.

Regarding your first sentence, if we simply 'googled' everything we were inquisitive about we would stop taking part in human interaction, albeit it via internet interaction, not face to face as such. I didn't speak to anyone yesterday, apart from my dog who obviously isn't a person. My only human interaction was through such as CC. Just a thought!🧐

 

[matticus]

And now my turn:

Can a ghost and a zombie come from the same person?

This was on reddit yesterday - so you could have googled it! :P

One answer was:
Imagine the ghost watching the zombie stumbling around and drooling, and being really disappointed; "Man, we used to be a lawyer!"

 

[DaveReading]

If I look at something close up then look at the background, the background isn't blurred, so why is it blurred in photographs?🤔

Google "bokeh".

No, it's not rude.

 

[SuperGalactian]

Google "bokeh".

No, it's not rude.

I don’t think that’s the solution here. Bokeh refers to the appearance of the out of focus parts of an image, and is a characteristic of the lens. Bokeh isn’t an explanation for why parts of the image are out of focus in the first place.

I’m willing to bet the OP had/has his phone camera on portrait setting (as someone else has already suggested), which uses a wide aperture and some processing to render the background out of focus.

 

[Domus]

Why has a French Horn got an English name and a Cor Anglais got a French name?

 

[Seevio]

Why has a French Horn got an English name and a Cor Anglais got a French name?

The simple answer is that the French Horn was named by the English and the Cor Anglais was named by the French.

I was going to leave it at that until I wondered what the French call the French Horn. So after a bit of research, I found out that its just called a horn in France. Brilliant. So the next question is why don't we have an English name for the Cor Anglais if the name literally means English Horn? The answer turns out to be that it's not from England. And not a horn. Some think that it is a corruption of the French word "anglé" meaning bent or angled due to the original shape. Regardless of the etymology, the French appeared to have given it a name before we got hold of it. As the English have a long history of not going to the effort of coming up with a name for something if it already has a pronounceable, if foreign, name, the name stuck.

 

[Chris S]

How are bricks cut at an angle to form sloping gables?

 

[Punkawallah]

I think they use a cutter?