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DIY - Create your own Bokeh
Bokeh is an adaptation from a a Japanese word meaning blur. In photography this term is used to describe the quality of the areas in the picture which are not in focus.
When referring to Bokeh, we can distinguish some of it characteristics:
- Is the light/dark gradient smooth or sharp?
- What shape will a small dot of light take what it is in the Bokeh area? (mirror lenses for example, create a bagel like Bokeh)
We can play with those two variants to create a special Bokeh.
You will need :
- One large aperture lens (a Canon 50mm F1.8 is used here, but Nikon 50mm 1.8 will also do, and the superb Nikon 50mm 1.4 will work even better)
- One sheet of black paperboard
1. Cut and shape the sheet to make a fake lens hood. The Diameter is made so that it snugly fits on the lens.
2. In the middle of the filter the wanted bokeh shape is cut out - in out example a heart is used. I’m not sure how big a hole the shape can be. But you can check it right away by just looking through the viewfinder. On the 50mm lens @ F1.8 a 15mm heart gives a metering value equal to F3.2, so it can probably be a little bigger (you can use a puncher or cut it by hand).
3. Set your camera to its lowest aperture value (completely open).
Here are two shots to demonstrate this technique - one with a bare lens and the other with the hearted hood. see more shots here and here (I leave it as an exercise to tell which is which :)
Here are the parameters for the example shown above:
- Lens - Canon 50mm F1.8
- "Lens hood" Diameter: 70mm (2.75 inch)
- Hole diameter: 15mm (0.6inch)
Here are two more great examples for this technique from RottieLover (note - there only one "real" heart in each picture):
Do you have a cool bokeh? show off on the comments or on the flickr group.
This article was contributed by Karsten Stroemvig (aka Lullaby), see his other great photograph projects, or browse through our readers projects section.
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Some More Cool Stuff:
- The Cheapest Ring Light Ever
- Removing The Mystery From The Heart Shaped Bokeh Thing
- The Ghetto Studio
- Painting With Light
- The Best 6 Ways To Create Your Own Bokeh
Great Bokeh Lenses:
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Comments
Interesting project - please
Interesting project - please feel free to add to www.photographyvoter.com
Not really bokeh
I wouldn't call this bokeh, rather a vignette. I know bokeh is a popular term these days, but it's definition is based on using focus (or lack of focus) to define a subject .
This technique spelled out above vignettes the light to promote aberrations that are beyond that of the spherical aberrations given off by the lens itself. It really has nothing to do with producing bokeh or defining the rest of the image with or without focus qualities.
just my clarifying 2cents.
vignetting vs. bokeh
Bokeh is the quality, amount and SHAPE of blur. A vignetting effect as you describe would be termed by a heart shaped shadow that surrounds the image.
Think of it this way: This heart shaped cover is a cheap way of making the aperture blades heart shaped due to the proximity to the aperture blades. Bokeh is related to aperture plane, Vignetting is related between aperture plane and subject.
Take this same heart shaped cutout on a larger scale and move it firectly between the camera and the dog. You will see a heart shaped vignette.
Thus:
vignetting
(1) A defect of an optical system in which light at the edges of images is cut off or reduced. It is caused by an obstruction in its original construction; for example, when the elements used in a lens are too small.
(2) A visual effect of darkened corners used to help frame an image or soften the frame outline.
I see zero darkened corner on this shot because it is related to the aperture plane. Therefore, bokeh.
Not really bokeh?
Yeah, vignettes that change the bokeh.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: This article is about the photographic usage of the term "Bokeh".
Bokeh (from the Japanese boke ぼけ, "blur") is a photographic term referring to out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. The aesthetic qualities of the bokehs produced by various lenses are open to dispute, but it is generally conceded that an out-of-focus background image can at the very least reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject.
Bokeh characteristics may be quantified by examining the image's circle of confusion. In out-of-focus areas, each point of light becomes a disc. Depending how a lens is corrected for spherical aberration, the disc may be uniformly illuminated, brighter near the edge, or brighter near the center. Lenses that are poorly corrected for spherical aberration will show one kind of disc for out-of-focus points in front of the plane of focus, and a different kind for points behind. This may actually be desirable, as blur circles that are dimmer near the edges produce less-defined shapes which blend smoothly with the surrounding image. Nikon makes lenses with a Defocus Control function in popular portrait lengths (Nikkor 105mm f/2 and Nikkor 135mm f/2) which allow the user to increase the amount of uncorrected spherical aberration to change the rendering of the out-of-focus areas.
It is not Vignette...
You seem to be completely confused about what Vignette is... without going into the technical aspect, Vignette refers to the dark corners of the frame. It's got nothing to do with depth of field or in this case Bokeh.
Ok.. I did the project...
Ok.. I did the project... and honestly... it's a vignette... granted... the "bokeh" or blurriness of the paper creates the fuzzy edge... you all seem to be very confused about what bokeh and vignettes are... bokeh... is the blurriness of depth of feild, basically everything outside of the focus area, vignette is a frame around a picture (in the "old days" by using either a burn or dodge method. You would use a paper frame to block out or "dodge" a space that you didn't want in the picture when printing on an enlarger. So what this project is, is using the little paper contraption to "dodge" a vignette... only on the camera, instead of the dark room....
Vignette
Take it from an old old photographer. You are altering the lens blades which
cause the pentagon shape in out of focus pictures. This is known as circles of confusion. I was teaching this method back to my students in the early 1970's. One of the nicest photos I have ever seen using this method was a picture of an altar with all the candle flames looking like crosses.
I would love to see that
I would love to see that picture of the altar with the flames looking like crosses. could you post it or email it to me? thanks!
I think YOU are confused.
I think YOU are confused. If you got a vignette, I bet you made the hole the wrong size.
You understand how to make a vignette in the darkroom? Do you really think someone took the time to vignette every single one of those points of light? NO.
A similar thing is to stick window screen over your lens. See what happens to the points of light. And NO, that's not a vignette either!
it is a bokeh not a vignette
the cutout affects points of light a vignette frames the image either in shadow or light but always functions as a frame. if you have lightroom or photoshop go into the filters and add a vignette this way you can see the difference.
you all are WRONG
ITS CALLED A CHUCK NORRIS.
HE KICKED BOKEH AND VIGNETTE'S ASSES TO KINGDOM COME.
yall aint know nothing about no chuck norris.
dang.
...eehh
Although the definition of bokeh was correct, I can see your point. 6 of one, half a dozen of another.
is bokeh with the filter two images?
Hi there, I want to make this heart shaped filter. Will the photo be one photo or are the bokeh light then blended as a layer over another photo? Maybe a dumb question. How does the whole photo not turn out the shape of the cut-out? Thanks Gretchen
french article about bokeh shape modification
I wrote an article for the french forum "virusphoto" here : bokeh shape modification.
If any of you is french speaking or just want to see another way to achive that, feel free to browse to virusphoto.com ! (images are self-explanatory... ;))
neat. much cheaper than
neat. much cheaper than buying the lensbaby creative aperture kit
But that requires buying a
But that requires buying a Lensbaby first.
The creative aperture kit is the cheap part!
Really bokeh
It is really about bokeh. according to wikipedia, "Bokeh is a photographic term referring to out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens." "Vignetting is a reduction in image brightness in the image periphery compared to the image center." As this creative shade is affecting the shape of out-of-focus objects, it *does* affect the bokeh. Vignetting will probably also suffer from the shade, but that's a different story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vignetting
BTW, I'm not trying to promote flaming or discussion. After all, it's not important how it's called, what matters is how it looks
I must be doing this wrong...
I see why these people are calling it a vignette... because that's all I am getting too. It's not at all doing what it suggested by the pictures. It's only creating a heart shaped vignette... the bokeh looks the same shape as always...
This is what you must do
This efffect is best achived with a focal lenght longer then a "normal lens" (50mm or longer) the vignetting will not be seen. Portrait lens for a 35mm camera is 90mm lenght. works the best, but a 90mm portrait lens at f2 is very expensive.
I had learned this trick many years ago in photography school.
Try the cokin system, you can have many different shapes at hand.
crap factor
You might be forgetting that on a DSLR with the 1.6 crop factor, your 50mm lens becomes an 80mm lens.
Wow
Hi, I am a beginner photographer and I find your site very useful and am a bit disappointed that there aren't more article. So keep up the good work.
RE: I must be doing this wrong...
BeccaSue, which lens are you using ?
The lens must be a lagre aperture.
RE:
50mm lens with f/1.8 or larger aperture (1.4, 1.2)
I got it to work
My heart was just a little too big in the other attempts. Yep, it's a bokeh shape... pretty nifty!
So the key is multiple light sources?
I have been frustrated by this then I realized I need multiple light sources in the background, like a string of Christmas lights or glitter or water or something right?
thanks
this is an awsome site. this one caught my eye, and i made one with a star. it is a very cool idea. i was wondering what the lights in the background are. i had success with christmas lights because they are small. thanks again for these cool tutorials
Thanks so much for this
Thanks so much for this info, it's a great idea and one I will try soon! Thank you for sharing, keep it up!
Rot Hearts
How did the photographer get the hearts so clear on the Rot picture? How do you get it so they are not over your subject? Also how do you get all the different colors? I've never done this before! But I want to try it!
Great Picture
The picture of your wife with the heart on her nose is really sweet!
i have tried this with black
i have tried this with black plastic folder cut out with a different shape:
Simple but nice
This is a simple but nice effect, also easy to obtain. I would have never thought about such thing, so I'm glad I found this article.
sizes
Could you post the sizes you used?
It would be nice the bigger possible keeping the effect so you need less exposition time. I did it with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 (filter size 52mm) and I cut hearts 1.2mm tall.
totaly works!
I found this page last night while at work. (I work at a Ritz camera store) I went straight home and tried it on my Nikkor 50mm 1.8. I was so excited to find that it worked on my first try. I have been wanting a lens baby for quite some time but just haven't bought one. I think this will help to satisfy my craving for a little while... only thing that i need to fix now is the little paper frays. you can really see them in the photos.
i like the idea of using a coken system
worked for me
Got to clean that sensor ;-)
Got to clean that sensor ;-)
Or the windshield.
Or the windshield.
Whoa, this is so neat
Worked for me too, this is a great article.
My cheap mask for this shot
I'm lost
I did this and got the background lights in heart shapes but I don't know how you got such a sharp photo of the bear. What kind of light did you have? I did it with my daughter in front of the Christmas tree and the lights in the background were heart-shaped but her face came out very dark and not sharp at all.
How/why
Could someone explain (or point to a website that explains) how/why this works?
I understand the nature of bokeh, and understand that this works because the shape cut out is smaller than the aperture...
And I *sort of* know the basics of how a lens works... but what I don't quite grasp is how the shape cutout only affects those parts of the image which are not in focus.
It seems as though the subject(s) that are at or near the plane of focus are being formed on the image sensor (film) by using only that light which passes through the center area of the lens... and so it's not affected by the "shape mask" .... where as the subject(s) that are far from the focal plane are formed on the sensor using light that is passing through the periphery of the lens... thus being 'vignetted' by the mask.
But that's not right, is it?
What is the physics behind how this mask only affects the part of the image that is not focused?
It's affecting the whole
It's affecting the whole image, it's just not noticable except for on the bright, out of focus areas. It's a similar idea to taping a piece of fishing line across the front of your lens, or a hair -- you'll get diffraction spikes. My telescope produces them naturally. There are diffraction spikes on every star in this picture, but you only see them on the brightest objects.
If the picture had been out of focus, then each star would have a dark circle in the middle (the shadow of the secondary mirror), but the diffraction spikes themselves would be blurry and not so prominent
Bokeh
So, I put this black paper around the lens, do I do a composite with my subject or my subject will be fine, it's just the light being affected?
Yap, just do your composition
regularly, and the large aperture will take care of the nice blur of the out of focus bright lights.
- udi
Bokeh or vinette--whatever
Bokeh or vinette--whatever it's called, it's cool.
Definately Bokeh.
This is definately Bokeh from everything I have ever read or learned about it.
Vignette is the darkened shadow around the very edges of an image, I get it on a couple of my lenses if I am lazy and leave on a couple too many filters.
Bokeh is the blur effect created by a shallow depth of field. Normally the blur would take on the round shape of the aperture when there are points of light in the background, like fairy lights for instance.
In the case of this little experiment, the circular nature of the aperture has been changed to a heart, creating heart shaped bokeh.
And now I will be heading out to try it. Seeing as there are so many christmas lights around this time of year.
I don't get it.
I don't get it. All I manage to have as a result is a blurry heart shaped picture on a black background. Foreground & background stay the same as usual, blurred lights don't get the heart shaped flare.
Re: I don't get it
That happened to me until I made the shape smaller. Try making the heart really tiny in the middle of the paper.
I made it Christmas tree shaped :)
Bokeh
OK, now most of you seem to have got it, try again but this time put several smaller shaped holes in the card over the front of the lens and you will get a number of heart-shaped 'lights' from each out of focus light.
But in-focus areas will still be sharp.
This was the principle of one of the famous German soft focus lenses used on large format cameras - Imogen, I think they were called.
This is because all 'in-focus' light rays come together at the point of focus but out-of-focus rays are spread out.
Bokeh
There are premanufactured "punches" available at local craft stores, that will give you clean and crisp edges. Maybe they are worth a try to get these the best they can be?
Heart Punch or Star Punch
star shaped bokeh
wow, I tried it with a simple star and it worked really well in my opinion :) thank you very much for the cool tip!
arrowrrowrrow
heart
thanks, this was fun.
not a great image, but it works...
hmm..
so I tried this... I think I'm doing it wrong... or will it only work with a DSLR??
Question: will it only work with a DSLR??
I'm curious why you think a digital sensor is different from film as both are a recording medium, grasshopper. The only difference is one is analog and one is digital.
BTW, I first read about this trick in the early 50s, it's that old and probably older. So of course it works with film or digital cameras.
You can see this effect in movies when an anamorphic (Cinemascope) lens is used. In night scenes out of focus lights in the background are wide ovals, not round. The aperture in the cine lens is round but the lens elements squish the image onto movie film by squeezing the sides toward the middle. The movie projector has just the opposite lens configuration. But some magic happens and the out of focus lights stay squished. Cool stuff.
Terry Thomas
photographer since 1955
Atlanta, Georgia USA
www.TerryThomasPhotos.com
People have been playing
People have been playing with depth of field and bokeh since they discovered lenses, it's much older than the 50's.
Everything shown here is based on how the lens manipulates light before reaching your media. So this will certainly work on anything you want to shine that light on.
Thanks for the tips
I tried it out and came up with (what I think is) a great shot:
Thanks -- a new trick in my bag o' tricks.
Grrr
Frustrated here! I can't figure it out. Got my 50mm 1.8 lens, got my black cardboard paper with a similar sized shape to the examples above cut out of the middle and taped to the lens.
My aperture is set at 1.8 and I have it set to manual focus but i still get pictures of what I see in the view finder without any light bokeh.
Any other tips?
I'm having the same problem!
I'm having the same problem!
Same problem here too
Same problem here too
-> Try throwing the focus
-> Try throwing the focus way off. Make it as blurry as you can with a lot of bright spots (reflective metal, Christmas lights, candle flames, etc).
-> Try making the bokeh shape smaller
If none of them work, try posting your image. We might have a better idea of what went wrong if we have some visuals to work with. So far, the two suggestions I posted are the more common mistakes with this effect.
The bokeh is also much more noticable with high contrast images. A bright light in a dark room would make the effect much more noticable. Also, the blurrier the image, the more you'll see the effect.
I hope that helps :)
(Merry Christmas!)
Make sure the paper cut out
Make sure the paper cut out is tight on the lens and that the light source is far enough away from you. If it's too close you can't get enought dof to make a sharp bokeh. Also make sure that everything you see through the lens is totally blurry. Good luck!
Reply
Make the hole in the paper as small as you can. It's important that the paper not let any light through as well, hence the use of construction paper rather than just plain paper colored black.
Also, the paper should not be reflective, but flat black. As long as the shape is smaller than the "effective" aperture of the lense in the plane of focus in which the paper resides, it should work.
Also, try moving the shape a little farther from the lense. If you have it too close, it may not work.
Paul
wow!
This is great! thanks so much for sharing!
Congratulations
This is so creative and cool, thanks very much!!
nomenculture
not really sure why the terminology is so important. You're shaping the circles of confusion into hearts, as far as I'm concerned add me to the bokeh camp.
Cool thing
I've recently learned this trick from a friend, and this is what came out
Interesting!!!
I tried!!! Thanks!
I am new to all of this, I
I am new to all of this, I really wanted a lensbaby as well, to see what sort of effects i could get. What do you need to set the exposure at to achieve this effect?
This is so wonderful! What a creative idea!
I got it
I can't figure out what I am
I can't figure out what I am doing wrong, I am getting the shaped lighting, but it I am also getting the whole frame masked, so I get a tiny image in the centre of the picture, the rest is black from the mask.
Any advice?
Are these images cropped?
What was your focal length?
What was your focal length? If your hole is about 10mm in diameter, your lens has to be about 40+ mm for the "vignetting" to disappear. Generally, you want a 50mm or more for the effect to work effectively. The vignetting is happening because the lens' focal length is too short, so you got a larger picture angle and the board is in the way. The longer your focal length, the smaller the picture angle, the less you'll see of the board. I think the bokeh effect gets stronger with a longer focal length as well.
I hope that helps!
Thanks!
Loved the effect, it was fun!
will this effect work on a
will this effect work on a digital slr?
RE: Why it works sometimes!
For those having trouble making it work...
I ran across this article a while back and tried it on my film SLRs and it worked great on all of them using several different lenses (wide-angle, normal, & tele). I used black poster-board with shapes punched using premanufactured "punches" sold at HobbyLobby, Michael's, etc. The shapes punched in the "lens hoods" were between 5mm and 10mm and they all worked on all the lenses I shot with; however I did notice that with the wide angle lenses I got a lot more dark masking similar to vignetting. Then I tried the same "lens hoods" on my sony 828 - FAILURE! What was a nice bokeh on my 35mm became bad vignetting - even when set to the same lens equivalent and aperture. Tried the shapes on a few P&S digital cameras, and again failure. Then I tried cutting much smaller shapes into the poster-board and tried on those same cameras, and SUCCESS! Borrowed a friend's 5D and the original shapes worked fine. Tried those shapes again on the Sony A100 and again SUCCESS!
From my limited tests some digital cameras use a very small internal aperture even though their 35mm equivalent size would indicate a much larger minimum aperture. From what I can tell if the shape you cut out is "small enough" (apparently at least 2/3 the ACTUAL aperture of the camera) you will get the nice bokeh effect seen throughout this post, but if the shape you cut out is too large, you will only see bad vignetting. So my vote is for both vignetting and bokeh depending on your workflow (- and the pictures posted so far are bokeh not vignetting caused by the "circle of confusion". Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_confusion and http://snodart.com/tutorials.php for those who don't know what the "circle of confusion" is.)
Sorry for the long post, I hope this helps.
-Nathan
same problem as the others..Hmm!
So a few people are having the same problem. and me too.
I keep getting a star shape of photo and all the rest of the frame is black.
I have a 30D with a 17-85 canon lens and have tried various combinations of apertures and zooms. 50mm+ some one suggested so i tried 50-85 with the maximum aperture (which is about 5.0 at 50mm and 5.6 at 85mm zoom. but the same problem arises. Black frame with star shape photo.
I get some star bokeh with the smaller cutout shapes i made but it means the amount of photo is even less.
Is my aperture perhaps too small? the maximum it goes to is 4.0 but that's at 17mm.
any help would be appreciated.
Regards
Marco
Bokeh and Aperture
Hi Marco,
My guess would be that your dperture is not big enough. Ig you have a lens that goes to 1.8 it'd best. But I have also seen this working with 2.8 lenses.
Happy new year,
- udi
I'm having the same problem with my 20D
I am having the same problem as you with my Canon 20D 17-85mm lens, did you figure out how to fix it? Please let me know Thanks Gretchen
Great Tutorial!!
Thanks for sharing this.. I made snowflakes - which was pretty hard to cut out... but with a bit of patience, I think it paid off!!
what mode do I use for this?
what mode do I use for this?
BAsically you have two options
1. is manual with your aperture set to 1.8 or 2.8.
2. aperture priority - and again set your aperture to 1.8 or 2.8.
In both ways you ensure a wide aperture, which is the key ingredient for successful Bokeh-ing
- udi
ok, thanks. I'm a beginner
ok, thanks. I'm a beginner so I have no idea what I'm doing.
this is a pic of my x-mas tree, and I only have an aperture of 3.5.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o205/Shellyheartso/bokeh/try%201/IMG_...
i have the least steady out I've ever seen. ouch! is that and the aperture the reason why its not too heart-shaped or bokeh like?
i've gotta practice, obviously.
Ouch, I can tell you one
Ouch, I can tell you one thing for sure. You need a tripod. I use a tripod and a timer to take pictures of lights, so I don't get that streamy effect. Even pushing the button can shake the camera enough to make a bunch of little streams.
Hope I helped a bit!
Wow. What an awesome
Wow. What an awesome failure. You might not have achieved what you meant to, but that is a pretty wild picture. Looks like the tree is made of noodles.
Fantastic, thanks!
I made this one:
And had a lot of fun:
And replaced the snow crystal with other stuff as well. I really like all the hearts on the ground.
Full report on my blog:
http://eirikso.com/2008/01/08/an-impressive-yet-simple-photographic-effe...
My heart bokeh
Bokeh is cool
I'll definitely try this... this is a very neat trick... I'm a newbie so I explore my DSLR a lot...
My Cat with footprint bokeh
It really works and great! Thanks for the useful tips!
I love it!
The cat looks content and the paw prints are so cute. Great idea and great capture!
Plus: He reminds me of my cat. :-)
Re: My Cat with footprint bokeh
adorable! i can't wait to try it.
Bokeh
So, I have no clue, can this be done with your basic digital camera, or just a higher quality camera as shown?
Bokeh and P&S
Hi Victoria,
The main contributer to the nice bokeh effect is the large aperture. Since most point and shoot are capable of f/2.8 there is a good chance it will work.
I suggest spending about five minutes for making the test. nothing to loose.
- udi
problems...
I tried this effect tonight with my D80. My lens is an 18-135...I made the filter used a heart shaped hole puncher to punch a single heart in the middle. All my shots all blacked out completely except for the single heart shape (i used it in front of traffic lights so I'd have different colors). Do I need to move the taped ends of my bokeh so it meets the 50mm mark instead of all the way down to 18mm? Any suggestions?
I love this idea and can't wait to get it to work!
re
I tried this for the first time today,according to what I read on this website,including camera settings and lighting,also constructed my lens cover form black poster board,set my aperture low as well as iso. I used my standard Canon EF 18-50 mm lens set on 50 mm, You must take off the auto focus lens setting,and use the manual setting to really begin to acheive the effect,then it seems to be a matter of manually adjusting the focus, I used a daisy hole punch from Michaels's Craft store,I tried the heart,but have not been succesful yet,It might be the size of the hole punch or the precision of the cut,not sure. Also instead of using christmas lights or stop lights,I used a plate with red hummingbird nectar,and added some lantana blossoms for more colors,and placed it in full sun. You can see my image at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tking_dic/2896301295/ if you look at my photostream you can see the results of my first attempts as well as the original photo subject. Good luck!
re problems...
I have been trying this with a p&s and Cokin precut frames. No luck, so I read everything I could about it, and the effect is obviously related to the shape of the aperture. In a regular camera the size of the aperture and shape of the blades that make the aperture (a hexagon I spose) define the bokeh.
So....
You need to make a shape that is basically smaller than the size of the aperture you are using. On the p&s the aperture is artificially small as the sensor is small. On the p&s all I see is a big black frame with a heart shaped hole. But if I take the same precut frame and sttick it on my analogue SLR - hey presto, no more unsightly frame, just a regular picture and heart shaped bokeh.
So....
Make your aperture as large as possible, and just keep trying smaller holes. It sounds crazy because you are allowing less and less light in, but when your hole-size and your cameras internal aperture line up then like magic the frame will disappear and you get images like those above.
Wow! Perfect idea! Must
Wow! Perfect idea! Must try!!!!
love this tutorial!
love this tutorial!
Can you do this on a P&S or only SLR?
Just wantedto know if this was possible to achevie on a Point and Shoot or if it can only be acheived on a DSLR. I have a Canon A630
Thanks
Awesome. =w=
My friend saw this and showed it to me. We tried it out. =w=
This is my favorite so far:
8D
Just a quick thought. One of
Just a quick thought. One of the things i noticed when buy a new lens recently was that the quality of Bokeh on more expensive lenses was highlighted by the smoother edges around "circles of confusion"
Could you simply create a "mask" of a circle to produce smoother circles? or am I simplifying the issue somewhat?
Adam
Sony STF
Minolta/Sony sell a lens specifically designed around this idea, the 135 STF (Smooth Transition Focus).
It uses a lens element that is highly concave near the aperture blades that is isn't fully transparent, the thicker edges leads the edges of all out of focus highlights being darker. Although this is a much more technical implementation it's exactly the same technique as is being discussed by this thread.
see here:
http://www.the135stf.net/index.html
my attempt!
thanks so much for this tutorial, i had a ton of fun with it and it inspired me no end! heres my first attempt, with my 6 year old as the model! :)
Great idea!
This photo is lovely. Your idea worked out well! Congratulations! :-)
directed bokeh
I love this of your daughter. How did you get the bokeh effect to be so specifically directed? Did you set up colored lights against a wall? Thanks - beautiful job and very creative!
Fantastic..
Beautiful concept..fantastic execution..Its not the technique that matters..its what you do with the technique.. Brilliant photo that jumped out of the screen at me..
Make!
Hey, this post got written up on the Make Blog here:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/04/diy_create_your_own_bokeh.html
Nice!
--Zeke
nicephotomag.com
I think it's Aperture Shadow (a.k.a. Lens Flare)
Hi, I'm sorry to shift things back to terminology, but I think the main effect you're getting from this is to reshape the aperture shadows / lens flare. Aperture shadows are created when you have sources of light that are out of focus, and they take on the shape of the aperture in the lens. In most SLR lenses, the aperture has between five and eight blades, hence the aperture shadows that look like a pentagon, hexagon or whatever, but with slightly curved sides. In this case, you're opening up the in-lens aperture as wide as it will go, and you're restricting the light with another aperture that has a different shape. Therefore, it casts a shadow with the other shape.
Check out the "Flare" entry on the following web page:
http://www.photographytips.com/page.cfm/2011
This page is also good:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/lens-flare.htm
Generally, when people are talking about bokeh, they're referring to the way an out-of-focus background looks. Sometimes the out-of focus areas are better defined, and sometimes they're a mushy blur. To my knowledge, this is much more affected by the number of lens elements and their configuration, than the shape of the aperture. (When a Nikon 50 f/1.4 and a Nikon 50 f/1.8 are wide open, their apertures are pretty much perfect circles, but their bokeh looks very different. Even stopped down to the same aperture, their bokeh is different, though they both have seven diaphragm blades.) Given that bokeh is used to refer to out-of-focus areas in general, aperture shadows might be included in the category of bokeh, but if you're talking about the bright hearts, stars, or whatever created by out-of-focus light sources, I think many photographers would call these aperture shadows or lens flare. I'm not sure how the aperture shape would affect out-of-focus background elements that aren't bright light sources.
I appreciated what the gentleman said earlier about circles of confusion, but I think that has more to do with the physics phenomenon of diffraction, which usually applies when your aperture is small enough to approach the wavelength of the light. Pinhole cameras deal with this a lot. Here's a good article an diffraction and circles of confusion: http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/diffraction-small-apertures.htm...
By the way, great job to everyone who is experimenting and being creative with this technique. Having fun and being creative is what photography is all about!
Would the same thing work with f/3.5?
This trick is very informative and exciting, thus would like to know if it'll work with a higher f-stop?
i'm having trouble with this
i'm having trouble with this effect. i don't know what should be the size of the hole and stuff. wheneve i do this, i only get the frame.
Some thoughts on cut out size
The relationship between f-stop, focal length and the diameter of the lens opening is as follows:
f-stop = focal length / diameter of lens opening
Thus a 50mm lens with an iris diameter of 25mm has an aperture of 50 / 25 = f2.0
Using this you can calculate the size of your aperture for any Av/focal length combination.
diameter of lens opening = focal length / f-stop
e.g. 50/1.8 = 27.8mm
this should give you a good starting point for the size of your cut outs.
I think you will need to apply the focal length of the lens without the multiplier for your camera, so for a 1/18th inch format point and shoot you will need to divide the lens 35mm equivalent FL by about 5 (so a camera of this format set to, a 35mm eqiv. of, 50mm has an actual focal length of about 10mm so assuming you can get an aperture of 1.8 the lens opening is in the region of 5.5mm).
Probably the limiting factor for larger f numbers and short focal length P&S lens will be achieving a background that is far enough out of focus, maybe try getting some space between subject and background.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_factor#Crop_factor_of_point-and-shoot_...
http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/cinematography/f-stops-focal-length-lens...
Nice effect
This is a simple but nice effect, also easy to obtain.
tom
Thank you...
...so much for this great tip!
BTW I love the dog! :D
Cool trick
I saw this recently and tried it, works pretty well.
Regards,
Rean Kriel
www.weddingdaypictures.co.za
lovely technique!
Love this! Found you in the archives of Photojojo and have posted it up as our Friday "fun thing" on our website, http://www.dslruser.co.uk. Hopefully some of our members will give it a go over the weekend - I know I will!
Thanks again :) CharlieG
Thanks Charlie
It is an honor to be posted on DSLR user.
I have a few issues at home and always enjoy reading them.
- udi
I'm confused
I am an amateur and I know a whole lot of NOTHING about photography (even though I took it in high school for 3 years, we weren't really "thought" anything, we were supposed to learn my experience our teacher said) So maybe this is a stupid question, but how is it that you have a clear subject and pretty little shapes in the back ground and such? Are you layering the pictures?
Nice shapes on the backgraound
Hi young Mom,
In a nut shell, the shapes are coming from the making the unfocused like go through a heart shaped hole. It is all done in camera and no editing is involved. This is why this project is so much fun.
For the hard core physics, you can refer to article on the Circle of confusion like this great one in Wiki. (warning - a higly geeky article, but the diagrams explain it well).
Cropping?
Are you guys cropping your photos or am i doing this the wrong way?
I occasionally get the shapes to work but my entire picture is also framed with black.
>.<
help!
i really want to do this..but i can't! wha am i doing wrong..pls help me
i'm just bought my camera and im clueless ..i dont know much about digital photography.
have a d40 kit lens, 18-55mm lens...does it work with this kind of lens?
what mode should i use? pls give me the settings. pls help.thanks!
re help!
The principle is the same for all lenses, and it should work fine on your Nikon.
I did it with a 200mm f5.6 and it is still fine.
Here's how......
Make your little heart/star/whatever quite small, about 5mm diameter.
Set the aperture in your lens to be as small as possible.
If you see only a black screen with a small heart in the middle it isn't working!
Soo......
Firstly zoom in to the max, 55mm if that is what you have. The longer the focal length the more the light is going in a straight line down the tube towards the sensor.
If this don't work make the hole size slightly smaller and try again.
You can also add a close-up filter and this also changes how the light is gathered.
So -
Zoom in
Make the hole size smaller (2-5mm)
Add a close-up filter
All these things should make it happen for you :)
Thank youuu!
This technique works fine for me! Thanks for sharing =)
does this only work in
does this only work in changeable lenses? or it can be done in fixed lenses, I have a Fuji S9100 and it would like to try to do one of these = D
I'm addicted
A friend recently turned me onto this technique and I love it! I can't stop myself. Thanks so much!
Maths :o
Because we are creating a new aperture, it must be smaller than the one inside our lens.
This of course is how a lens works - it is one big aperture with a smaller one inside. All we have done is supplement the old aperture :)
If we take a "large" aperture, say a value of f/2 - this just expresses the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the aperture.
In a prime lens of 50mm with an aperture setting of f/2 the aperture will be 25mm, so your cutout shape must be less than 25mm in diameter to get the effect.
A prime lens of 100mm at f/2 will have an aperture diameter of 50mm, which is why they are so big and heavy and expensive, and your pre-cut shape can be up to 5cm in diameter.
How do you know how big of a hole to make and what settings to use on any lens?
The shape you make must be smaller than the aperture in your lens.
Take the focal length that you wish to use (eg 100mm)
Divide this by the aperture value that is smallest on your lens (eg f/2)
In this case the diameter of the lens aperture is 50mm.
If you make your shape smaller than 50mm across the effect should work as shown above.
50mm f/2 - shape must be less than 25mm across
75mm f/2 - must be under 37.5mm across
100mm f/2 - must be under 50mm
50mm f/2.8 - must be under 17.5mm
50mm f/3.5 - must be under 14.2mm
You Rock!!!!
Thansk for breaking the math of it. It takes the guess work out of making those hacks.
I just looked at your stream. I just love what you did with bokeh images. specially the keyhole one.
How does this apply to digital?
I'm wondering if there is an additional step for the digital sensor size.
For example: If I'm using my 18 - 55 kit lens with a minimum aperture of 3.5 and I calculate before the sensor I get 4.14 and if I add the 1.6 multiplier I get 8.23 (numbers are rounded to nearest hundredth). I'm no mathemetician but I noticed the same results no matter what order I do the calculations, when I multiply the focal length first, I start out with 28.8 and divide by 3.5 and end up with 8.23.
I ask because an 8mm cutout strikes me as easier to achieve than a 4mm cutout.
I'm also curious to know how one would calculate the variable f/stop lenses to achieve the nifty effect throughout the zoom range. I have some ideas in mind that would benefit from being able to do this and, if it's possible I'll post my photos.
Awesome work everyone. Keep it up.
Paul
Fuji Fine pix S5700
Hi there, ive tried this on my cam with different size (really tiny to big cuts) of heart shape, but no go ,, is it to do with my cam fuji s5700 or the settings i might be overlooking?? would appriciate any help.
Just in love
really a cool stuff to
really a cool stuff to try...............
hoping to make its good use for this valentine.
cheers!!!!!!!!!
Thanks
That's insane looking bokeh.
I don't see it being used too often because of the overall cheesiness of the effect, but I have no doubt that there's a few opportunities out there for something like this.
Bokeh or not, these are some
Bokeh or not, these are some outstanding images. With the Halloween season rapidly approaching, I'm going to see if I can't craft a jack-o-lantern and see what happens. I'll be sure to post some images. Thanks for the inspiration!
jack-o-lantern
That sounds like an awesome project. Good luck. The images should rock!
Suggestions?
My experiment turned out less than desireable, comments suggestions welcome.
http://flickr.com/photos/aimabo/sets/72157607913639563/
Good technique!
I used a basic cutout of a jackolantern face and 3 stars from some old résumé paper. With the paper I used, it let in extra light and turned the colors orange, which was no intentional, but for the jackolantern, it helped with the effect. I only tested with a candle in my bathroom, but I'm saving this stuff for halloween.
One could probably make a very cool photo of a flame in focus and a reflection of it in the background showing the bokeh effect in the shape of water droplets or something spooky, perhaps.
hooked
Cool stuff, I hooked on when I bought my lensbaby apperture kit. Question though, I am only doing totaly "blurred" pictures using different shapes. No sharp focus on any object like faery or books. Is this still bokeh method?
For film SLR/MF lens users
Hi, I've scanned through the comments in this site and have a few questions if you don't helping me with.
First off, I'm using a film SLR and have decided to use a MF 50mm/1.4 lens to do this. Going by the math, (50/1.4), my cut-out (using the heart shape) should be anything lower than 35mm.
I tried cutting shapes in 8, 12, 15 and 20mm and noticed that when I looked through my viewfinder, I saw edges of the heart-shape in the four corners of the frame (like a vignette). This is also messes up my light metering by two or three stops, so if I were to shoot in AE mode, it'd probably not meter the scene correctly.
However, I've also tried cutting the shape out about 30mm across, and the 'vignette' can't be seen in the viewfinger anymore, and because of this, the light meters correctly, obviously. I wonder if I've done it right this time.
I'm concerned however, whether the cutout will be too big and not show up the heart shape in the off-focus areas; however if the math is correct, technically I should not be having this problem as the cut-out is large enough (around 30mm) to prevent the vignetting (like a black frame with exposed areas in a heart-shape) but smaller enough than the aperture diameter to show the heart shape in the off-focus areas.
I just wanted to check with anyone whether what I've done is correct, as I don't want to waste a roll of film with the vignette problem, or not see any results at all :) I don't have a DSLR so I can the results immediately, and I definitely want to avoid feeling bummed out by the failed experimentation as we film users can be accustomed to when we get our developed rolls from the lab!
Really appreciate it if anyone can help shed some light on my situation. Thanks!
re: film SLR/MF lens users
Hi Jonah,
There is a follow up post which may be very relevant for you. it deals with the math and relative hole to aperture sizes to make this technique work.
Here is the link: Removing The Mystery From The Heart Shaped Bokeh Thing
Black?
Hi,
I've been wondering if you *have* to use black card for this?
DIYPhotography.net Photography and Studio LightingDIYPhotograph
The lens might not look as pretty as a Lensbaby, but the images produced are just as striking.
-------------------------------------------
Linc
Link Building
I did it :) Thanks!
Thanks for all the tips, everyone. The other night I got out all the materials and had a bit of fun.
Even made a blog post about it too -- which then referenced this blog post :)
http://daspar.com/blog1/2008/10/23/fun-with-lights-exploring-one-side-of...
(p.s., Alex R -- the paper doesn't have to be black, but dark non reflective would be good. All the images you see on my blog post about my trials with this, were made with a navy paper)
All the best!
Thank you very much. I tried
Thank you very much. I tried to do this too. My shot isn´t so nice, but I really enjoy it! Thank you. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernklauova/3019303851/
Chicken in Love
In 5min I made my cardboard "filter" and put my porcelain chicken in love...
Thanks for your tips!
A2day
:)
Really nice technique!
This is the COOOOLEST!!!!
This is the COOOOLEST!!!! You are brilliant!
Thanks!
Thank you for this guide!
It really works!
Even with a film camera.
Photo taken using a Asahi Pentax Spotmatic F film camera.
LENS: SMC Takumar 50mm F1.4
With a Kodak UltraMax 400.
Point and shoot cam
I forgot to comment that it didn't worked with my sony digital (compact).
The lens are so small that the hole needed to be even smaller, then, the hole started to function as lens by the diffraction effect!
So, if you have a cam with small lens, the chances to the effect works are as small as the size of the lens =/
gosh
i'm really a nub about these stuffs.
mine is e-420 olympus dslr, with a 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6
so you have to put it in manual focus right,
my lowest is f3.5.
what do i have to do to make this bokehh?
thanks alot. please replyy, i really want to make this super great effect! : )
Hi, I followed the guide
Hi,
I followed the guide here:
http://www.diyphotography.net/removing-the-mystery-from-the-heart-shaped...
To know the maximum diameter of the circle that the cut must be inside, just divide the focal length by the aperture value that is smallest on your lens.
You only have this lens?
Because you will have to do a too small cut. Small than 1cm with this lens.
Try with a lens with bigger focal length.
Good luck!
lots of fun!
zoom lens
is this can be implemented on a zoom lens?
i have a 18-55mm
24mm
I think my question is pretty stupid, but do anyone think the Canon EF 24L f/1.4 will work good too? I think it will do really good, but just curious because its just a bit wide you know..?
Thanks!
Thank you for posting this, I'm waiting on my lens before I can try it though!
My only complain though; Why are Lenses so much cheaper in the US than UK?!?! So unfair! :)
Vignette
Vignette is to do with the lens coverage of the film/sensor. If the lens cannot project an image as large as the frame you get vignetting.
Simple as that, this is bokeh.
Can cut out size be too small?
I've been trying to get this to work on a 1.7x crop factor DSRL with the 18-55 mm kit lens. At 55 mm, the largest aperture is 5.6, so the cut out size would need to be under 10 mm. I got a few funny-shaped hole punches to try out. A 7-mm wide star works fine, but a 3-mm wide diamond acts as a mask, giving me a small diamond picture in the center of the frame (the bokeh is diamond shaped, though). I also tried a 5-mm circle, which worked okay when I was focused to infinity (i.e. the front focusing element was as far in as it goes), but masked a little bit when focused near me (i.e. the front element was extended as far as possible).
My question is:
1. How can I figure out (other than trial and error) how small I can make the cut out before it starts to mask?
2. Less importantly, can someone explain the optics of why too small a hole creates a mask?
Sweet!
whatever it's called i like it and will be giving it a go.
Simply Can't Figure it out...
Hi,
I've been attempting this all night. I am surrounded with tape, black construction paper, and discarded attempts.
Maybe I should have just asked first. Is this possible with the Canon G9? The lens information is:
• 35-210mm (35mm equiv)
• F2.8-4.8
• 6x optical zoom
I can make the aperture go to 2.8, and sometimes by luck I can see the heart shapes, but then auto-focus kicks in when I press the shutter. I asked a friend (I'm no good in math) and he said I should make the heart cut-out to be 10.5mm? When I look through, I still see the black construction paper with the heart-shaped hole... which isn't right.
Help! Please let me join in the fun after all my trial-and-error!
Simply Can't Figure it out...
If you cannot disable auto focus on your camera try setting it to portrait mode and having a subject in the foreground.
Setting to portrait mode will make the camera use as wide an aperture as possible.
Having something close for the camera to focus on will make the background out of focus; the more out of focus the light points in the background are, the more the shape will be apparent.
Also, try experimenting with different distances from the lights, the further away you are the more out of focus they will be when you are focused on something in the foreground.
Lastly, use your flash to illuminate your foreground subject, taking care to be far enough away not to illuminate the background. Using the flash also helps to keep the aperture as wide as possible.
Does the sheet go flush
Does the sheet go flush against the lens? Or does it have to be a certain distance away?
Re: Does the sheet go flush
It should be as close as possible, but it does not necessarily have to be right against the front of the lens. Indeed, I am having good luck putting them in a Cokin mount.
Here is an Open Office Draw file with some samples sized for a Cokin A mount:
http://www.catmtn.com/temp/bokeh_cokin-a-1.odg
The cutouts will have to be resized for the intended lens/aperture combination.
As a side note, the further from the lens the cutout is, the larger it has to be, but the thickness of a UV filter , etc.. should not make enough difference to bother about.
WOWZER!!!
I too have really looked at Lensbabies, and really wanted one. But this is way too cool.
My wife does a lot of scrapbooking, and so we have a wide variety of punches. Here's our Christmas tree with a Winnie the Pooh filter.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30113137&l=b0af2&id=1502169268
Thanks for such a great tip!
Correy
My Bokeh
And:
bokehlooooonnns
it works :)
hi, i've tried doing this
hi, i've tried doing this tutorial.
im doing it on a 50mm with f1.4. what i capture is a vignetting on the shape. i don't have a bokeh. any in depth instructions to help?
i took a shot at 1.4 but nothing works. :/
Re: hi, i've tried doing this
If you are seeing vignetting, your cutout is likely too small. For that lens, try a cutout that would fit in a circle about 2.5cm dia..
But, it should still work even if it is vignetting slightly.
You should be able to see the effect through the viewfinder.
What are you focusing on?
Focus the lens to it's closest focus and point the camera at some points of light in the distance.
Variation on the design
Instead of making a covering tube for the lens to act as a lens hood, I just made a circle in a piece of black card by going round a lens cap with a craft knife, then cut a square in the centre. This piece of card is to cover the front of the lens (a nikon 50mm 1.8).
I punched a piece of card with a shaped punch from a craft shop and cut around it (the punch doesn't reach far enough from the edge of the card to punch the lens covering directly) and used this to plug the hole in the lens cover, fixing it with tape.
I then trimmed the lens cover slightly so it fitted over the front element and screwed in a UV filter to hold it in place. - This saved me the faff of making a tube to fix to the cover and will make it easier to switch between covers. It also makes the covers more portable.
My 50mm lens is an old manual one with a recessed front element. I'm unsure if my lazy plan will work with other lens designs (ie where the front element is wider and closer to the filter threads )where light leaks might be more of an issue.
Here's the result of my first attempt
(Thanks for an inspiring article btw)
i love it!!
I tried it and it's so much fun! thanks for this! :)
Custom Bokeh
lens
Hi,
I've just been trying this amazing thing. I am a bit puzzled, 'cause I got different results for my two objectives:
For my old 28-80 mm objective I got nice results with a tiny hole (about 5 mm), specially at the 80mm zoom and at F/3.5. The field view is great, I can get a "normal" shot, and the only thing changing is the shape of out-of-focus lights - so pretty much what is described in this post.
For my newer 18-70 mm objective, that's no way. If I use the same hole, the only thing I see is a black frame with a window in it. So the field is greatly reduced.
So I guess there's something more to the calculations than the maths posted above. Maybe the position of the diafragm (further/closer in the lens)?
a bit addicting
I made this much harder than it should be. But, after 800 shots (got to love digital), this one's stars are nice and clear. I need some punches, to make more exciting shapes now!
Thanks for the article!
Yay!!!
Thanks for this tutorial! Actually, I've been experimenting on this on my 18-55 kit lens, and it works... but not as good on 50mm f/1.8 (got mine yesterday)... here's my shaped-bokeh:
btw, i just hold the paper cardboard in front... will make a fake lens hood later. :)
puzzled
hey!
i made my bokeh kind of thing..i used 50mm lens at the 1.8..so the cutout size is like 27mm..what should be equal to 2,7 cm..anyways, i thought this is way too big hole..so i did it like 18/19mm..i got the effect in that matter. when i use manual focus and just shoot some lights at the distance, then it works..but when i tried to focus something in the foreground then it didnt focus anything..i mean i could get the item sharp, but then there were nothing in the background..non of my bokeh shapes..so..and also when i just made this kind of shot the picture was a bit blurred and it hasent got so much light.
i am confused. i read the comments above through, but still nothing:)
should i make the hole bigger? or what should i change..?
Re: puzzled
Make the cutout bigger. When it is too small, there is not enough light getting in to make a sharp image.
The cutout for the snowflake bokeh is about 28mm in dia., it is on a 55-1.8 and is a bit out from the lens on a Cokin holder; it is slightly too large to make the entire shape at every light point, but the effect is nice and there is enough light to get fairly sharp image.
The "required" overall size of the cutout is going to be partially determined by the shape; if is is mostly cut out, i.e. a heart, then it can be smaller and still allow enough light for a decent image. A shape that is mostly not cut out, will have to be larger than the theoretical maximum for your lens, to still let the lens work reasonably well. Regardless, aperture is always reduced, if not, the trick would not work. Shapes consisting of small openings, like the snowflake (really all shapes to varying degrees), also cause some image degradation, due to diffraction, I think; another trade-off for the effect.
Check out my tutorial ( currently listed in the Linkroll : ) for more ideas/tips and some Open Office templates with several example shapes.
Merry 'Bokeh' Christmas
This is my first attempt at shaped bokeh.
I hope that someone out there finds joy in my creation. :-)
Bokeh Christmas!!
Awww thats lovely!! I'm in the process of making one now. I hope mine turns out as well as this!! xxxxxxxxx
Fácil, económio y útil
Excelente accesorio, será muy útil en bodas, bautizos, primeras comunión y otros evento.
Muchas gracias por compartir sus experiencias.
Saludos.
Adding my own Bokeh for Christmas using the Tree
heart bokeh
Well....just make sure your cut out is small enough and that you have your focus set on manual.
its addictive!
My first try
Here's my first try:
Definitely fun (and an impressive party trick). I'll definitely play more with this in the future. Thanks for this article!
Fish Bokeh
Awesome fish bokeh!!!!
You can do this while using
You can do this while using your flash when it is snowing at night. Snowflakes then take on the shape.
stars rool! :)
50mm f:1.4
thank you :) !
tried some shots, you can see one of them on my blog
http://manuscrap.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/buon-anno-e-buona-epifania/
really nice, thank you!
Custom Bokeh
here is what i have done. i used a filter to place in the custom bokeh shapes.
use with a 50mm f1.4 Nikkor-S NKJ
bokeh and vignette?
i tried this with my 67mm(diameter) lens at 50mm, f4.8 to 5 and i made my heart 10mm big, now I'm finally getting my bokeh, but i;m also getting a vignette.
any comments on how i can just get my bokeh without the vignette?
cheers!
Here's my guess
Gotta be at a lower (wider) aperture than that to get good bokeh. Maybe this is the root of your problem?
FZ28.
Is there any way I could do this with a Panasonic Lumix FZ28? I'm quite lost with the guide, and the bokeh won't work for me... Although I haven't tried hard yet.
I just want to know if it's possible :D And if it is, how?
when shooting with custom
when shooting with custom shapes, its best to shoot with the lens aperture wide open. the shape acts like a stop'd down aperture.
heart bokeh
Yes it's addictive!!!
a few experiments I have conducted
shape-O-mat
How about a shape slider? Have to add the fish!
can i make it if i have 3,5
can i make it if i have 3,5 mm lens?
Blast Off!
thanks for the site, this was alot of fun!
Great tutorial! This is my
Great tutorial!
This is my second attempt...
Wow
My kid is an aspiring photographer and he is going to love this!
RT
www.Privacy-Center.net
Laser Cutter
You may want to use a laser cutter to cut out the shapes. The TechShop has one.
Simple Bokeh
Lensbaby, The Composer with the macro lens accessory set. Fabulous
http://lensbaby.com/
hi, nice bokeh :D a
hi, nice bokeh :D
a question. can i take bokeh pictures with a little digital camera? like sony dsc-t30 {that's the one i got}, or i need a big lense camera ? please answer, i really want to take tis kind of pictures :D
You CAN do it with a regular, small digital camera
Here's how I did it with a regular, small digital camera (Canon Elph):
Set it to macro mode so that the camera is focusing on close up things. Make sure the lights you want to turn into shapes are far away. I used Christmas lights to experiment.
Turn the flash off.
Cut a shape about 3-4 mm wide out of black construction paper.
Hold it in place over the lens and zoom the lens forward until you do not see the black outlines of the shape.
Half press the shutter so that you can see where the camera is focusing. Make sure it focuses on something close-by and not on the far-away lights.
If you do not see the shapes being made, remove the construction paper and play with focus until the far-away lights are sufficiently out of focus. Then add the construction paper back to make the shape.
Good luck!
First experiment with regular, small digital camera
That's what I've made for
That's what I've made for last year's Halloween ;)
A Little Help
Hello folks, stumbled onto this site, and wanted to give this technique a whirl. Went through all the posts, on manual I figured that the lowest aperture my camera can handle is 2.8 and my shutter is at 1/60. My question is, I have a Panasonic FZ5 camera, and it has one of those adapters for 55mm lenses, now I taped my hood onto it? Should this work or should I tape/hold it over the lens that extends out of my camera? And is that heart too big? What should I see when I look at my viewfinder? Not the cardboard heart right? So should I zoom? A pic of my setup is below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccuento/3257174548/
Any help would be appreciated
our Bokeh video
Hi! Just wanted to let you know that we've done a video on how to achieve this effect in the latest issue of Photo360 magazine - it's a little chuggy at the moment, but wanted to show you anyway - I made sure to namecheck your site in the video tutorial!
We should be putting it on YouTube soon as well, so if the link to the magazine doesn't work, I'll tell you when it's up on there :-)
http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1R498c5cd78a308012.cde/page/16
Starry Eyed Surprise
Thanks so much for this guide, its been a ton of fun :D Here's what I've done...
Still need help
OK i tired everything possible and it still wont come out.
Does the background have to be anything special? I tried with different lights but still no luck.
I made an exact copy of the hood as shown up above and in the videos posted.. I tried to make the heart as small as possible.
All i get is blury images, but no hearts in it and background just nothing lol..
This is really frustrating me.
Also my settings are set to f1.8 and iso auto, and shutterspeed depending on light and object.
Whats the ideal settings and what background should there be??
Should i do this in a dark room?? hmmmm
thanks for the help
Can this be done with a Smena 8M?
It has apperture from f4 to f16, I dont know the lens size, it says T-43 4/40...I'm new to cameras...
Thanks!
The subject is bokeh not english101
To the OP: Good article on the bokeh original post.
To the post highjackers: Its a shame so many people took up photography after failing trying to be english teachers.
People this is about a fun project, NOT a dictionary101 class.
Sam.
I'm using a DX (1.5 crop
I'm using a DX (1.5 crop factor) Nikon Lens.
18-200mm
3.5-5.6
It is impossible for me to make a cutout within the parameters of the aperture (say 35mm at a focal length of 200mm) and still have the cardboard not show up through the viewfinder. It seems that the only way to get ride of the cardboard from the viewfinder is to make the cutout larger than the maximum diameter.
Any thoughts? Thanks...
The bokeh lens is great!
The bokeh lens is great! Really fun to play with. I just came across a site that sells bokeh lenses, which is great cause I'm not that good at creating my own stuff, so I thought I would share the site with you in case there are others like me. The one thing though is that they only make it for a 58mm lens (I think), so if you use something different you will have to create your own. It's at www.thebokehfilter.com anyways hope this is of interest.
is it possible to create a
is it possible to create a bokeh effect with a normal digital camera?
YES! absolutely. Alien Skin
YES! absolutely. Alien Skin got a photoshop plugin called Bokeh. google it ;)
i recomend it!! 100%!!
but right..nothing like the bokeh effect from a lent..
I must say that is great
I must say that is great trick! Thanks.
impressed
im so thankful for uploading this article....it's really useful for me as the beginner in photography !!
thank you !
Nice
Will give this a try...as soon as I have some time on hand...
wonderfullllll
wonderfullllll BOKEH,...
visit my gallery at
http://www.w4one.com
beginner
Hi, I am a beginner with fotograhie. At the moment I am searching for informations around the web. Your article was very helpful for me - but I think I need much more time to learn before getting great results. Thanks for the infos!
butterflies
Thanks. this is great stuff.
I tried this in full daylight, making use of brights spots on wet leaves.
How do I post a photos here?
re: butterflies
Thanks Einat,
You can have a look at this mini tutorial.
butterflies
thanks!
Alien Attack on Azrieli Towers
Although blurred and totally out of focus, the Azrieli Towers are still recognizable - being one of Tel Aviv's symbols.
HELP!
I really want to try this out, but all I have is a 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. I've tried different-sized shape, and I did get the shaped bokeh, but I also got the vignette around it. Is there any way I can make this work with my zoom lens, or is a prime lens absolutely necessary?
never make it done
T_T i always fail to do this..
i use nikon D40 and 50mm f/1.4 and i've tried but never make it done..
anyone plz help....
This is a great Tutorial!!
This is a great Tutorial!! Thanks! Very useful
Please help..
Hi all,
I am using a 30mm f1.4 on a 1.5 crop. I had a 16mm shape on but there's no bokeh but vignette (as per shape). I can't seem to get the full frame view so I tried making bigger holes, 20mm and thn 25mm but the results were still the same. Where did I go wrong? Btw, I had a filter on.
My questions:
1. What should be right size? (My calculation = hole < 30mm/1.4)
2. Anything else I should take note of to make it work?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Cheers
Possible solutions
For those having trouble with this, have you read through the entire thread?; I know that it is quite long.
The 17-50mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4 and 30mm f1.4, should all work fine.
If you are getting vignetting and no shaped bokeh it is likely that although your lens potentially has a wide enough aperture, that it is not set to that aperture when you are testing this. You will likely have to use aperture priority or manual mode to insure the lens stays set to it's widest aperture. Portrait modes may also work, but being an automatic mode it is not a sure thing. Also, remember, you need to be focused on something near and the background with the light points should be as out of focus as possible. I realize these are basic points but I am just trying to cover the essentials.
Try starting with a simple shape, like a rectangle. That will let you see if the effect is working and not be so time consuming to cut out. It can also be quickly made larger in one direction, until the best size is figured out.
Tks Zaug for the tips. Yes,
Tks Zaug for the tips. Yes, I have gone through the whole article including the comments here as well as another article at http://www.diyphotography.net/removing-the-mystery-from-the-heart-shaped....
Yes, I used aperture priority and set at f1.4, manual focus to the nearest object throwing the background (with lights) out of focus. Initially, I cut a heart shape of 16mm but as mentioned in my earlier post, didn't get it work. So I had a rectangular hole of 20mm and thn 25mm, unfortunately both failed. I think I will give it a try again and maybe post some photos for your kind comments.
Cheers..
Al
I really like this post.
I really like this post. Thanks for this article, Anyone got any more info about it? I am now your blog' s rss follower. you are now in my bookmarks.
Whoo~
Interesting technique. I've never seen this before. It's a first for me.
I couldn't help but grab my camera and try out this effect.
Here is what I could come up with...
I still need more practice to get nicer shots though.
I'm using a Fujifilm FinePix s602 Zoom 35-210mm F2.8, the diameter of the shape that I cut out was about 1.1cm big (I'm supposed to use a cut out shape about that size right judging from what I read here). Was just wondering, would the effect still work if I increased the size of the shape to, say, 2.2cm?
I look forward to a reply.
Thanks for the post by the way~
will this work with 18-55 lens?
i just want to know if this will work with an 18-55 lens... thanks.
Very useful :) Thanks
Very useful :) Thanks
hey thanks a lot for this
hey thanks a lot for this post is awesome!!!
i ve read pretty much all of it ...but i m not sure wether someone said it or not,anyway mine works great with high iso,around 1000 or higher!!
also just to make an example aperture 1.4 shutter speed around 1/2 sec.
and shape size is about 1cmm.
(on nikon d90 lense 50mm 1.4)
thanks again!!!!!
ciao and have fun!
video tutorial
hey! loved this so much that I did a video tutorial for "fun with bokeh" in one of the issues of Photo360 - here's the link - made sure to give you a shout out during filming!
http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1R498c5cd78a308012.cde/page/16
takes a bit of time to load but hope you like it :)
Finally!
This video tutorial is so useful, I was getting the settings wrong.
I just bought a SLR camera a few weeks ago. This is my first really nice camera, so I'm just trying to figure out how it all works. Trying to do this bokeh effect was driving me crazy! I think I've got it down now, and I'm on way -- thanks to your help!
Wrong aspect on shape
After many tries a manished to get the bokeh to work. The only problem is that it has the wrong aspects! I'd cut out a heart that round and nice but on the picture it turns out long and thin, not at all like the one I cut out.
What am I doing wrong?
First attempt
I'm so looking forward to catch color lights.
You will likely have to use
You will likely have to use aperture priority or manual mode to insure the lens stays set to it's widest aperture. Portrait modes may also work, but being an automatic mode it is not a sure thing.
neat!
used nikon d40 at 1.4 =D
WOWWW!!
What a great and nice idea you shared!!!
Just loved to read this informative article!
.....awesome post!:D
It Works!
I tried it using my Canon EOS 450d 18-55 lens... it worked!!! I'm now eyeing to get a 50mm lens. :D
[IMG]http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc87/ctbautista/photo101/IMG_2274.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc87/ctbautista/photo101/IMG_2275.jpg[/IMG]
re: It Works!
Great, thanks for sharing this.
The 50/1.8 is a great lens, not only for bokeh, but also for portraiture. It is equivalent to 80 on a Canon ( 75 on Nikon) and is as sharp as a laser razor. For around a 100$ it is a true bargain
I love fun little projects
I love fun little projects like this, especially when they are so cheap!
I've recently started up a blog that's all about sharing ideas just like this, feel free to check me out at http://phlog4fun.blogspot.com/
What a fun project to do!
What a fun project to do! Tried this out today, and had decent results with nikon 50 mm f1.8. Thanks for the writeup!
Nikon kit lens
Would this work (maybe not as well) on a nikon kit lens such as the 18-55mm?
This seems like a fun little trick. I would love to try it on my camera.
I see where the confusion is coming from...
I tried this and DEFINITELY got a vignette. Although, I agree that the tutorial is obviously for bokeh. I tried doing it several times. I know that some lenses aren't really capable of this kind of bokeh. I think I just need a lens that can give a lower aperture. I will try this again now that I am more familiar with my camera. I will post my results whether it works or not. Wish me luck!
My second attempt
Okay, so I tried it again and got MUCH better results, though still not great. Here is my try at heart bokeh.
First Attempt
My second attempts with it.
love this.
my nikon d40 is on the way and i'm SO excited to try this out when i receive it. thanks so much!
Superb
Thanks, will give a try ....: )
Is there ANY way i can
Is there ANY way i can achieve this effect with a point and shoot? I want to get a shaped bokeh but cant figure out how to do it . PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME! I have a canon powershot sd1100 IS by the way!
Olympus pancake
Will this work with the zuiko 25mm lens? f2.8
Elephant Bokeh
Here's one with an elephant theme. Wasn't sure if it would work out, but I think it looks really good.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45292762@N00/
Lens
What makes a "good bokeh lens" a good bokeh lens? I can't seem to get this to work with my EF 28-135.
my
my attempt...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_arnab/3156132047
oh this is going to be
oh this is going to be fun.
i really loved all those creative shapes.
Nice
Nice to try. I wonder if there is any Bokeh Lenses for four thirds cameras like Olympus DSLR?
Love it!
Great idea!
this is really cool. i had
this is really cool. i had completely forgotten about this technique. there's actually a very simple rule for getting it to work: the shape has to be larger than the field of view in the plane where you put it or you will get a vignette (the shorter the lens compared to the focal length the easier), but it still has to be smaller than the largest aperture (focal length / f-stop = aperture diameter) or you won't get a change in bokeh. that's all there is to it, and it also explains why it can never work with some lenses. you can try to place the mask behind the lens though, the "field of view" is much smaller there. if you get good results that way or not will probably depend on lens design though.
Here is my first attempt
Here is my first attempt from last year.
My daughter made a snowman a few years ago, at school, which I had been meaning to take a picture of, but never seemed to get round to it.
Using this filter gave me the perfect opportunity.
It's nose was missing so I had to think of what I could use to replace it. I sharpened an orange pencil and broke off the nib, carefully placing it on the snowman's face. It was perfect!
I set him up on a piece of A4 white paper, in front of my fibre optic Christmas Tree.
Armed with my camera, my cheapy 50mm lens and home-made filter...it worked! It really worked! I love it! I hope you like it too.
Such a neat idea. Thank you so much for posting it!
Awesome!
This stuff is truly awesome, i wish i could get anything half a cool out of my DSLR.
Well i'll keep plugging away.
Peace
Sam
link building
A custom aperture in front of your lens
As the Wikipedia article describes, the out-of-focus area has images of your aperture projected onto the film/sensor. I had never imagined putting the aperture in front of the lens, incredible idea.
I've yet to try this
I've yet to try this, but I suggest the people having problems with focus should try to cut a shape approximately the same size as the aperture they are shooting with. Might help.
For example a 50mm @f2 = 25mm diameter aperture. So cut your shape about 25mm diameter or maybe a little less. Maybe on a crop camera it will be different since the focal length is effectively 80mm (if using a 50mm lens) so @ f2 you would need a 40mm diameter.
My source for this reasoning A Tedious Explanation of the f/stop
Anyway, I dunno if it'll work, but try it!
Treats on Dog's Nose
An informative article and I enjoyed the debate about vignette v bokah.
Can't stand it when people put "treats" on their dog's nose and make them sit.
I have a canon xti with a
I have a canon xti with a 50mm 1.5 lens, since it has a small sensor should i make the cutout bigger like said above?
also when looking through the viewfinder should i be able to see the shape or not?
thanks!
Such a fun (and slightly geeky, yay) photo trick! I had a great time thinking about this, making my own, and playing/troubleshooting yesterday and today. I used craft foam cut with an x-acto knife and taped it to a low-profile lens hood, which made it fairly durable and also easy to pop on and off. Would use a sharper blade or craft punch next time to get smoother edges.
It works! Thanks!
Use a software plug instead
If you have not see what is possible in creating fake bokeh and tilt and shift lens effects using software plugins from AlienSkin and OnOne - you're are probably wasting lots of time with this method.
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