Christmas Bokeh
It’s Christmas time, that time of year when one starts seeing lots of Flickr users displaying bokeh Christmas lights. It seems its a popular photo to shoot this time of year. This year I tried my own hand at “bokeh-fying” my Christmas lights. One would think that this would be a pretty easy task. After all its just an out of focus photograph at some lights. Not so true as I quickly found out.
Bokeh for those that do not know is by definition:
a Japanese term for the subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of a photographic image
according to dictionary.com
Examples of bokeh Christmas lights
Pretty neat, huh? I think so. I’m a HUGE fan of bokeh images, something about the blurry, “not normal-ness” (or maybe that’s just me) of the images really float my boat.
Which is just nerd speak for learning a new photography tricks makes me giddy with excitement. Don’t worry, no one else understands my giddiness for “blurry” images either.
I’m not a photography expert so the only thing I can share on how the above images were created is the way that I did it.
I’ve heard some people say that it is easy to create the images above (*cough cough* from my Dad “THE photographer”) by simply putting your camera in manual mode but with my camera this wasn’t true because it for some reason isn’t like other cameras and still tries to autofocus. So my alternative way of creating bokeh Christmas lights was as follows:
1. get out your tripod for a steady shot
2. turn off your flash we want to see the lights not the background
3. set your camera to Aperture Priority mode, typically this is the “A” on a DSLR
4. find something in front of you to focus on.
With our flash off and camera set in Aperture mode its time to start taking pictures. What I did was simply focus on something that was in front of me, not what was on the tree. For example I set a pillow on the floor near me and away from the tree. I focused on the pillow, held the button on my camera half-way, then moved the camera and took the picture at the tree. This works because the camera is still focused (if you keep the button half way down) on the object in front of the tree so when you move to where the tree is it is automatically out of focus because the camera thinks it is focusing on something else. Snap the photo and the lights come out in beautiful, perfectly round little balls.
Hope that helps those who are trying to figure out the bokeh Christmas lights thing, like I mentioned I’m no professional but figured out a way that worked for me. Other more experience photographers feel free to leave your tips on how you create bokeh Christmas lights in the comment section of this post.
Got some Christmas Bokeh you’d like to share?
Leave your links in the comment section of this post.
Something About: The Domestic Diva
Heather started blogging back in 2004 as a way to document her first pregnancy. Now two kidlets later, she enjoys sharing a glimpse into a Diva's world via video blogs (vlogs) and a daily self-portrait challenge (via the 365 days Flickr group). She can be seen around the blogosphere in various online campaigns such as the Walmart Moms, Velveeta it! Kitchenistas, Lee Fit Ambassador, and her latest involvement with Tropicana as a Juicy Insider. To keep up to date with the Domestic Diva you can follow her on Twitter @thedomesticdiva or Fan us on Facebook.
I love bokeh images! I’ve always done it by unfocusing the lens, shooting wide open in aperture mode. Fabulous photos!
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..{The Pioneer Woman Cooks} Cookbook Giveaway! =-.
@Sarah, Thank you! So glad someone else is a bokeh fan. Thanks for the tips!
I love Christmas bokeh! I still need to do shots this year.
Christmas bokeh pictures are always so lovely! I’ve never done anything more than just putting my camera on manual focus, but your tips are are informative and helpful!
.-= natalyn´s last blog ..dec. 12: new food. =-.
@Jenn, you always have such a pretty tree each year. Can’t wait to see your bokeh shots.
@natalyn, awww thanks. I think most ppl prefer the manual focus thing, but my camera just wasn’t working right or maybe I wasn’t doing it right. Either case you do what you gotta do and what works for you, right? Thanks for commenting!
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