Faux bokeh???

[maytubby]

Can someone tell me if/how I can add faux bokeh using either Photoshop Elements 7 or Gimp?? I would like to achieve the effects in the pics I posted which do not belong to me.
Thank you in advance for any help!!

[lputman]

Please do not post pictures that you are not the owner of. You may link to them though.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by maytubby

Can someone tell me if/how I can add faux bokeh using either Photoshop Elements 7 or Gimp?? I would like to achieve the effects in the pics I posted which do not belong to me.
Thank you in advance for any help!!

That's all real-deal bokeh. Specular highlights tend to make nice bright rings like that.

[natek313]

I would imagine you could do something as simple as using the brush tool with a pretty low opacity.

[maytubby]

I have a Nikon D60 with a 35 mm VR lens, 18-55 mm VR lens and a 70-200 mm VR lens...How would I go about getting achieving that type of bokeh when I take pictures? I am an amateur photography with essentially no training other than some research I have done.

[natek313]

Bokeh is achieved when an area (a lot of times the background) is outside of the depth of field in an image. It's basically the blurred area of an image. You'll find that when you have specular highlights or lights in the out of focus background, they create nice circular rings like in the images above.

[maytubby]

Thank you for the info! I tried a pic just for fun with my Christmas tree lights on in the background...I have attached it...not exactly the look I was hoping for but it is closer at least..

[OsmosisStudios]

You must have been using a rather small aperture: Bokeh is best at super-wide apertures, like f/1.8 or larger!

[edbayani]

you can use a longer focal length lens and wide open aperture. long lenses have more shallow depth of field.