Mt. Juliet portrait photography

How to create shaped bokeh

December 28, 2012

Have you seen these pictures with the shaped bokeh? (blurred background light) Want to know how to do this? It’s super easy and a LOT of fun!

Supplies:

Camera lens or camera you will be using

Heavy black paper

exacto knife and/or scissors

cutting surface

pencil

stapler or tape

Assemble your supplies and lens. Trace the front of the lens you will be using and mark an outer circle 2 inches wider.

You could use the lens cap instead of the whole lens, but the lens cap may be slightly smaller than the outer edge of the lens. Just make sure the inner circle will cover the glass. You don’t want light creeping in on the sides.

Cut out your filter using the outer circle as your guide. Cut slits all around up to the inner circle. This allows the paper to bend back over the edge of the lens and still cover the front. Try to cut yours neater than mine. I have a crummy exacto knife but it’s pink and matches my pink tool set. I will keep it. 🙂

Cut a square in the middle of the inner circle. Again, mine is super messy. Do as I say, not as I do. Good.

Cut a rectangle of paper that is the same width as the inner circle. This one is a bit too wide, but I will trim it after the next step.

Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise.

Trim the edges of the two rectangles so that they fit within the inner circle. These rectangles should only be wide enough to overlap two sides of the inside square. These rectangles will serve as guides to hold our fun-shaped filter.

Staple or tape these two rectangles into place. One on top and one on bottom of the inner square. I would not recommend glue. I don’t want to get glue on my lens. Be careful with the staples. You don’t want to scrape your lens either. It would be a good idea to place a piece of tape over the backside of the staples to protect the lens from scratches.

Cut out a rectangle of paper that will cover the hole in the middle and will slide in and out of the two rectangle holders you just stapled/taped on.

FINALLY! The fun part is here! Cut or punch the shape of your choice in the middle of the rectangle that fits over the hole. If you are a scrapbooker, I need to borrow some paper punches. Thanks!

See my sad little star that I cut out by hand? It works GREAT! Obviously, if you have some paper punches, this would be another great use for them.

Now my handmade filter is ready to go over the lens!

Get ready! This is super high tech. Use a rubber band to secure your cool home made photo filter to your lens. Don’t laugh. It works, baby.

Now, you should refer to my previous post about fun with your Christmas lights to learn how to create bokeh. If you have read this, start snapping pictures! You will notice when you use your filter that your photos have a large vignette (faded to black edges). This is because you have reduced the light to only the center of the lens. I think it’s cool.

Poor boy. He was the closest kid, so he is my example photo. Cute! See how the background lights (my Christmas tree) are now stars! FUN!

Cute kid + starry lights = awesome!

Here are some photos I took last year with different shaped filters. Go make your own and have some fun!

by MelanieG

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Fun With your Christmas Lights

December 24, 2012

Soon, very soon, the party will be over. All the presents will be opened, and you will sit in the peace that is Christmas Day evening. What to do? You spent a lot of time on those decorations, so have a little fun with the lights before you rip them down. If you own a DSLR camera or any camera that will allow manual focusing or adjustments to shutter speed, you can create some really cool photos. The trick to getting that nice bokeh (out of focus balls of light) in the background is for the Christmas lights to be completely out of focus.

This is my Christmas tree completely out of focus.

Notice that as the tree gets more and more out of focus, the bokeh becomes larger.

“That’s great”, you say, “but why do I care about a blurry Christmas tree photo?” Stick with me here. Now place a loved one in front of the Christmas tree. Bring them forward farther than you normally would so that there is a greater distance between the subject and the lights of the tree.

Place the subject farther away from the tree and closer to the camera so that the lights become beautiful bokeh instead of a perfectly focused light strand.

This is a simple snapshot of my daughter and a friend at Opryland Hotel. They are not right next to the trees but out in front of them.

This photo shows how the lights right next to the subject are perfectly visible as a strand of lights while the wrapped tree in the background is more magical.

NOW! On to fun with a slow shutter speed! If you are less familiar with manual settings on your DSLR camera, place it in “s” for shutter priority. Bring the shutter speed down to 1 second. This is VERY slow. The shutter will be open for one full second. Most of the time if you are shooting outside, the camera may be working at 1/2000 of a second or faster. Point the camera in the direction of some lights. It doesn’t matter now whether they are in focus or not. Press the shutter button and move the camera. The results are so much fun!

In this photo, my tree is out of focus, the shutter is set at 1 second, and I moved the camera in a circle.

The tree was in focus this time, but the shutter speed remained at 1 second. I love this one!

Same settings here, but I moved the camera in a more zig-zag motion. Super fun!

I hope this inspires you as you take a last look at your holiday lights. Grab your kids. Get the camera. Take some soothing bokeh photos to remember your 2012 Christmas and some fun disco light photos in honor of 2013.

Happy Holidays!

by MelanieG

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2013 Baby New Year Contest

December 24, 2012

My latest Facebook contest is in full swing! Entries are being accepted NOW. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to win a free photo session with me!

Will your baby be my 2013 Baby New Year?

To Enter:
“Like” Melanie G. Photography on Facebook. Submit photo of your baby (age 0-12 months) FB message or email to Melanie Gnewikow by 11:59 pm on January 1, 2013. Melanie G. Photography will post the contest photo album on January 2, 2013. The voting period will last from January 3-11, 2013. Vote by placing a comment under the contestant photo. Only comments will count, not “likes”. The winner will be the picture with the most comments by 9pm CT, January 11, 2013. Melanie G. Photography will post the contest winner on her FB page January 12, 2013.

The Rules:
All contestants must be between newborn to 12 months old at the time of entry. All contestants and voters must “like” Melanie G. Photography on Facebook for votes to be counted as valid. Only one vote is allowed per person per day durning the voting period. “Likes” on the contestant photo will not count as a vote. The winner must allow full release rights to Melanie G. Photography.

by MelanieG

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Christmas Traditions

December 22, 2012

My family rocks. “I know”, you say. No, really. My family is amazing. Everyone should be blessed with crazy lovely people such as these. Yes, we fight and disagree. No, we don’t all attend the same church (or even all go to church) or vote for the same party. It’s not always pretty. We’re not perfect. We know we’re ALL a little nut-so. (except me, of course) But when it’s Christmas time, we put all our differences and disagreements aside and party. Plain old fun and lots of food. This happens on both my mother’s side and my father’s side. How cool is that? We get together and eat until we cannot eat anymore, then we smash together for a photo, play Dirty Santa (sometimes called White Elephant), and let the kids open real presents. Before we say goodnight we eat lots of desserts featuring my mother’s scratch red and green velvet cake with scratch whipped icing. The Dirty Santa game is a new tradition, and it has just added another layer of laughter and fun to our parties. I highly recommend this game. We let the kids play too, and yes, we will steal from the kids. They have to learn it’s war for the best junk. Christmas can be so very stressful, and family time can be difficult. Start a new tradition of love and tolerance for one another. Show your family and friends that you will support them through the good and the bad. My family is crazy and I am too, but I know that they are there for me. We are never alone when we give love to each other. Isn’t that what He came to show us? Isn’t that the point of life?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

New International Version (NIV)

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.⁸Love never fails.