I love photography and I love doing photos diaries on my blog, however, to mix it up today a bit, I thought I would do a tutorial that you can have a go at home! This effect is called ' bokeh' a strange word I know, but it creates such a cool effect and is easy to do if you have the right kit at home. I hope you enjoy it and if you do try it, do send me your photos on twitter, I would love to see them!
You Will Need:
A glass jar
Fairy or Christmas lights
A 50mm prime lens
Or a 250mm zoom lens
camera
tripod
a long distance ( if using 250mm)
There are two ways you can do this effect. One, using a 50mm prime lens, that can go down to a really low aperture of F1.6 or a 250mm zoom lens that can have a slightly bigger f-number, of between 3 and 5. The way I created the above picture was on a 250mm lens, so I will go through that in more depth in a second. However, if you do have a prime lens, to create this effect you need to be close to your glass. You will set up your glass, in the foreground which you focus on and then the lights in the background, but the distance does not have to be that far away because you are using a small f-number.
However, if you are using a 250mm zoom lens, you will need to position your camera ( on a tripod), the jar and the fairy lights in perfect line with each other. You should be far away from the lights with the glass in the middle. To create the best effect, you should put your camera on manual. The exact settings I used to create the photo above were; a shutter speed of 1/20s, an f-number of f/5.0 and ISO200. You can play around with the settings to see what works best for you. I also highly recommend you using a tripod, to avoid camera shake and also because you are using manual settings as well as a two-second timer.
There are lots of different ways to create this effect. I bet it looks really good with different coloured lights as well. You can try so many set-ups with lots of different objects in the foreground, as the main focus such as baubles or parts of the Christmas tree etc. If you are using a glass, trying rearranging the lights so it looks like they are coming out of the top of the jar. But always remember to ensure the glass is in perfect focus otherwise it ruins the shot!
I hope you guys enjoyed this quick photography tutorial. I am sorry there aren't many Christmas themed posts on my blog this year but I really don't have the time to do any, so this is the closest you are going to get this year, apologies!
Thank you for reading x
Do you like trying different effects with your camera? Will you be trying this one?
This was a lovely post, and your photography is stunning! Mind checking out my 50 facts about me, on my blog?
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Aw your too kind x
DeleteThis looks really interesting but I can never get the hang of changing the exposure and aperture and whatever other complicated things there are on cameras! It all gets my brain in a right pickle. Lovely post I am definitely going to give it a go! x
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Oh definitely I know how you feel! I hope you have fun trying this x
DeleteReally enjoyed this post!! Such a great idea, I'd love to see more like this!!Xxx
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it x
DeleteOoh I always forget about the bokeh effect; will definitely have to attempt it again!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration girl!
Saph x
http://saphirluunee.blogspot.co.uk/
Thats okay! Thankyou x
DeleteOoh I always forget about the bokeh effect; will definitely have to attempt it again!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration girl!
Saph x
http://saphirluunee.blogspot.co.uk/
I love it! X
DeleteThis is amazing and so useful. I just got my first DSLR camera and I`m learning how to use it, when I get better I`ll definitely try this. Thanks!
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Glad you enjoyed! I have lots of other photography posts on my blog which you may find helpful x
DeleteLove this post!
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www.gracexkate.blogspot.co.uk
Cheers x
DeleteThanks for this post, I aim in 2016 is to improve my photography skills, and your tutorials are really easy to follow - thanks for sharing!
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I am glad you find it of use! Xx
DeleteI'll definitely have to try this out!
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http://skindeep247.blogspot.co.uk/
You should! It's fun!
DeleteThis is so pretty! I need to try it out xx
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You should x
DeleteWOW!! I've always loved Bokeh effects, but I've always used editing software to create the effect, rather than using a camera, I'm definitely going to try this out later on!
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Aw I don't know how to create it on the computer! You should give it a go x
DeleteI love experimenting with my camera, and your picture looks lovely. I´d love to create something similar!
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Thank you! Yes experimenting is so much fun x
DeleteLove this picture, bokeh is such a cool effect! I actually don't have a decent enough camera to give this a go and know nothing about camera tech, haha! It's definitely something i'm looking to improve on in the new year so i'll keep this in mind. Great post!
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Thankyou! Maybe that is something you could invest in the new year x
DeleteThe photo is so lovely! I really want to try this xx
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You should give it a go x
DeleteIt looks so pretty! Would love to try it out soon!
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Thank you! You should x
DeleteThis is far too technical for me but the effect is wonderful!
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aw! Its really easy if you have the kit! I am sure you could do it x
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