According to Wikipedia, Bokeh is defined as: " The blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light." In more understandable terms, Bokeh is basically little, pretty balls created by out of focus lights. It is also prevalent in photographs with a shallow depth of field.
The reason I decided to relate this post to the upcoming Christmas holiday, is because Bokeh is a great addition to any holiday picture, and can be created by lights on a Christmas tree. It also can be made into fun little shapes which I will teach you how to make in a bit. First, a few examples of some Bokeh photography....
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| Copyright Kristen Cassidy Photography 2011 |
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| Copyright Kristen Cassidy Photography 2011 |
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| Copyright Kristen Cassidy Photography 2011 |
These are a few photos I took last Christmas, while i was experimenting with some Bokeh techniques. Youll notice the heart shaped bokeh in the last photo, I made a nifty little gadget to achieve those. Ill explain that in a bit....
How To Achieve Bokeh
As I mentioned earlier, Bokeh is most often achieved by photographing lights out of focus, or using a shallow depth of field. What I did with the above photographs was point my camera at the tree, and play with the focus. I could see the effect taking place as I was moving my camera in and out of focus. Once I had the right effect, I took the picture. Simple as that.
With the photo below, there is natural Bokeh (in the background, behind the flower) which was achieved by photographing my subject with a shallow DOF.
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| Copyright Kristen Cassidy Photography 2011 |
Creating Bokeh Shapes
This is so easy, I love it. It creates some awesome effects :)
You ll need:
1. A piece of black construction paper, or card stock. Card stock typically works better because its thicker.
2. A shape puncher, or you can use a pair of scissors to cut out your own shape
3. Scissors
4. Tape
1. Take your camera lens, and trace a circle around the piece of black paper. Make sure the paper is the same shape and size as your lens.
2. In the middle of your circle, you can cut out a shape, or use a shape puncher to punch out the desired shape for you. You can make the shape as small or as large as you like, but make sure its not too big. Tiny to medium will do, I chose to do a small heart.
3. Use a piece of scotch tape to hold the paper with your shape on it to your lens. You can lightly tape it just enough so it will stay.
4. Aim your camera with your shape attached to your lens at a light source (Christmas tree lights work best) and play with your focus. Once you are out of focus enough, you can actually see your bokeh shapes taking effect, shoot away!
There you have it, super easy!
Another Way To Get Some Bokeh...
Do a search on flickr for Bokeh Textures. A lot of people have bokeh textures you can apply to your photos, and they are free to download.
To apply a bokeh texture to your photograph, you just need photoshop, here's how:
1. Open your photograph that you want to apply your texture to in Photoshop
2. Open your Bokeh texture image
3. Select all on your bokeh texture, and copy. Paste the texture onto your photograph
4. Go to image > transform > free transform (command+ t for a mac)
5. Adjust your bokeh texture so that it covers your entire photograph, double click to un-select.
6. Now you can play with your blend modes...I tend to go with the "Multiply" blend or "Soft light" as it blends well without being too light as the "Overlay" blend tends to be. You can choose whichever blend mode works best for you. Also, play with the opacity if the bokeh texture is a little too harsh on your photograph.
voila! Easy way to add some nice bokeh effect :)
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| Copyright Kristen Cassidy Photography 2011 |
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| Copyright Kristen Cassidy Photography 2011 |
