How to make bokeh shapes.

It’s no secret that I love bokeh play. No, this isn’t some kind of freaky sex fetish.  It’s a Photogranerd thing!

Bokeh – Most photographers know this term, but if you don’t, bokeh basically refers to the shape (and oft admired beauty) of the out-of-focus areas of a photograph. This isn’t in reference to camera shake or motion blur, but rather the OOF areas that occur due to depth of focus determined by settings on your camera.  In a nutshell, you want a very wide aperture (small f-stop number – f/1.4 or f/1.8 are the most dreamy) to achieve the most lovely bokeh. Then adjust focus so that the lights are out of focus.

One of the most fun (to me) types of bokeh, and the most often referred to, are those you can create by manipulating points of light.

With a DSLR, just go into manual mode (or aperture priority) and make sure you have the lowest f-stop # aperture setting your lens will allow, and adjust focus to create the bokeh.  I used a Canon Digital Rebel XT with 50mm 1.8 lens for this lovely shot.

On a point-and-shoot, use your manual settings to do the same, or you can put your camera in portrait mode (profile shaped icon) to approximate this, if you can’t adjust settings manually. This is because portrait mode generally uses a shallow depth of field/low number f-stop to make the subject “pop” with the background out-of-focus. Remember, the lights have to be out of focus to achieve bokeh.

I’ve also cheated like this with my point-and-shoot:

Remember, practicing (a lot) with your camera of choice is the key to good results. Never. Give. Up.

I captured this shot with my Canon Powershot G9, using maximum aperture (lowest number, widest opening), and focused on the ornament up close, throwing the lights in the background into lovely bokeh shapes.

Once you’ve played with light bokeh, an even more fun thing to do is to force them into specific shapes!

If you’d like to do the same, you’ll need:

CAREFULLY trace a circle around your lens on your black paper.  Cut out your circle.

Next, you want to draw and then cut a small shape (about 1/2 inch, or 15-20mm) from the middle of your circle. If your shape is too big, you get poor results. Popular shapes include hearts, stars, and crosses. You can get creative here, and that is part of the fun.

Be very careful with your shape – clean lines, no tears, clearly shaped and cut.  This is easier to do with x-acto knives or shape punchers than with scissors.

Cut a strip of black paper to wrap around the lens, about 1 inch wide, like a cuff. Tape that shut on the lens, and tape your circle carefully to that, so it sits in front of your lens. This must be flush, no light leaks!

Another method is putting your paper circle inside a lens filter ring. This eliminates need for tape. Experiment to see what works best for you!

PLAY WITH THE LOVELY BOKEH. SMILE. REPEAT.