Shaped Bokeh!

[wulf]

Shaped bokeh can also work well when used subtley. By dint of accidentally leaving the star bokeh disk on my Lensbaby, I discovered that it can also contribute to a picture when the bokeh isn't the main feature but just an extra detail. Eg. (click to view larger if you want to see the stars more easily):



Wulf

[amy-rose]

that's fantastic! thanks for adding that!!! i love it

[Spike]

I have seen shaped bokeh tutorials here and there and been keen to try it myself, but after seeing that pic by Amy-Rose of the autumn leaves, I just HAVE to give it a try now.

Does it work well enough on a standard kit lens (3.5 aperture) or do I need to save my energy until I get a nifty-fifty?

[wulf]

Originally Posted by Spike

Does it work well enough on a standard kit lens (3.5 aperture) or do I need to save my energy until I get a nifty-fifty?

Try it... but I think you might find it difficult to get such good results. You might have to make the cut-out smaller and that means your effective aperture could drop to f/7.1 or below... and so it will be harder to get the bokeh you are after. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though - do report back on how you get on.

Wulf

[Spike]

Well.... I gave it a go, and you're right, getting the hole small enough apparently takes a bit more manual dexterity than my hands can come up with. I made a basic heart shape (more of a lopsided blob actually) and ended up with kind of lumpy-gravy-looking bokeh, but most of my photo was vignetted by the filter so the effect just wasn't as good. BUT the theory is sound, and I have a nice filter device all ready and waiting for my nifty-fifty which I'll be likely getting myself for Christmas.

Already I'm thinking snowflaky bokeh might be pretty.

[BRabbit]

I don't get why this works. I thinks its an awesome effect but how do you not just end up with a picture of the filter? I mean shouldnt the lens be "seeing" the cardboard too? It seems to me that you would end up with just a pic of what you can see through the small shape in the center? Does this make sense? I guess I just need to go get out the scissors and some paper.

[amy-rose]

I seriously pondered this for a long time last night trying to figure it out. I would love to know the answer as well! I guess I shouldn't question and I should just be grateful it does!!!

[amy-rose]

here's the one I played with today:



how the wall really looked: (man, bokeh is a powerful thing!)

[zespri]

I wondered if people had used those craft punches rather than cutting them out... do you know the ones I mean? Little plastic things that you slide the paper into as if it was a hole punch.

They make very small punches, how big/small does the hole have to be? I reckon judging by amy-rose's photo of her camera that these punches would be perfect.

Originally Posted by Spike

Well.... I gave it a go, and you're right, getting the hole small enough apparently takes a bit more manual dexterity than my hands can come up with. I made a basic heart shape (more of a lopsided blob actually) and ended up with kind of lumpy-gravy-looking bokeh, but most of my photo was vignetted by the filter so the effect just wasn't as good. BUT the theory is sound, and I have a nice filter device all ready and waiting for my nifty-fifty which I'll be likely getting myself for Christmas.

Already I'm thinking snowflaky bokeh might be pretty.

[zespri]

This was the bit that confused me, I didn't understand what you meant by the christmas lights... intriguing!

Originally Posted by amy-rose

how the wall really looked: (man, bokeh is a powerful thing!)