When I first saw the bokeh effect, I was in love. Bokeh means quality of the blur in the background of your photos. I have a love for good aperture (AV) use. It frankly, is my favorite setting on my DSLR. When I first saw it, I thought I’d try it. I used the stock lens that came with my camera. It didn’t work. I searched, and searched to find out what I was doing wrong. I found out you need a aperture lens. Since I love aperture so much, I put that on my Christmas list. Then begged my husband to buy it early so I could take an awesome picture for our christmas card this year. (see below)
How take to a picture with a bokeh effect
You will need an aperture lens.
you can find it here. Put your camera on the av setting (looks like f/1.8 on my DSLR) with an aperture at or less than 2.
Cut your shape out
I traced my lens onto a piece of paper; it can be cardboard or construction paper. What ever you have on hand, as long as it’s a dark color and blocks light. Cut out the circle. then cut out your shape. An exacto knife or maybe one of those circuts would come in handy for this. The circle, or pens marks on your circle, do not matter if they are messy, you won’t see them in your pictures. The size and detail of your shape will. You only have to do this if you want the blur of the light in the background a certain shape. Tuck the paper or shape into the lens.
you don’t want to allow any extra light pass through the outside of the lens. Now when you focus or unfocus, you’ll have to adjust the shape so it’s not upside down.
Find your light source
I used christmas lights. I’ve seen nice effects used on city skylines. If you are using a subject in front, you will want the lights in the background farther away. If you are not using a subject, and the bokeh is the purpose. You’ll want to manually unfocus your camera to your liking.
Snap your photo
it does not have to be in a dark room. you may have trouble with your camera focusing on a subject if it is too dark. If you don’t have a subject, it can be dark.
Get Creative!
Make it yours. Let me know if you have any questions of comments, and I would love to see your photos. Check out my other post 7 tips to take better portraits and don’t forget to follow me on pinterest or Facebook so you do not miss a post in the future.
I’m still learning my DSL. This is some great tips. I can’t wait to try it.
I loved your idea on using DSLR in more effective ways and the pictures look so nice and rich. I would definitely try these tips soon.
Ahh how cute! I didnt know what a Bokeh was before reading your post! So this is Bokeh!😊 I have seen on pictures but never took notuce of it as I thought they were ordinary light reflection. How cool!
Awesome tips! I’m still a beginning photographer and can’t wait to try this out this holiday season.
This is so cool! I absolutely want to try this, especially with my Christmas tree this year!
Very cool! I’ve always wondered how that effect was done.
This is such a great idea! I am so trying this!
Belle | One Awesome Momma
Excellent tips for anyone at home wanting a professional look !
Thanks for the post, I don’t have a DSLR camera yet, perhaps I will try it once I get one.