Before the christmas lights come down - a wee project

elven

Looking at one of Rojo's pics again there I was reminded of that trick you can do to change the shape of your bokeh (the out of focus points of light you get when using a wide aperture) and I've meant to do it for aaages. I suggest that fairy lights are the ideal application for such a blue peter type fantastic project and if you have a suitably fast lens such as the nifty fifty, you should give it a shot. I'll do mine before the night is out. I promise.

Instructions here.

More examples here.

pete4130

I'm definitly up for it. Want to give it a shot tonight anyone?

elven

Hehe

sheesh

make and do session going on here but I'm getting no blurry circles:(

elven

Are you using a fast lens, like, one that goes to f1.8? Just unfocus it - if your lights are far away, focus on something close then look at the lights - or do the opposite.

Fajitas!

Jaysis Julie... That took a lot of effort to make!!!

elven

Secret... I have a snowflake punch!

Fajitas!

Bah!

Rojo

Julie only started this project cos she knew she'd win!!!!

Ideo

julie - as inventitive as ever!

Ricky91t

elven wrote: »

Hehe

Nice shot elven
Im gonna do this when i get my nifty fifty
cant wait...:D

Masada

Err, im confused (dont take much.,lol)
whats this all about?

Stephen

Basically the shape of your lens' aperture blades normally determines what the bokeh looks like. By fooling around with bits of cardboard and stuff in front of a fast lens you can get effects like the above

Chochese

elven wrote: »

Hehe

nerd;)

evilhomer

elven wrote: »

Secret... I have a snowflake punch!

Who owns a snowflake punch?
Actually, who even knew snowflake punches existed before Julie said that?

But besides that, really nice shot Julie.

Masada

elven wrote: »

Hehe

So is the white stars i can see just holes in a piece of card with varying shades of light behind them then?
Im still confused.,lol
Nice image though elven.,:)

whyulittle

vtec wrote: »

So is the white stars i can see just holes in a piece of card with varying shades of light behind them then?
Im still confused.,lol
Nice image though elven.,:)

See these two pics vtec....

http://pix.ie/whyulittle/426009/in/album/318098
http://pix.ie/whyulittle/426010/in/album/318098

Masada

whyulittle wrote: »

See these two pics vtec....

http://pix.ie/whyulittle/426009/in/album/318098
http://pix.ie/whyulittle/426010/in/album/318098

Oh i think i got it now., about time and all.,:o
cheers,,

Stephen

here's my not so impressive attempt at this:


happy new year btw

Chunky Monkey

Deadly pics Elven and Stephen! I really like the colour of yours Stephen

elven

Wooo excellent example whyulittle There's something sci-fi about that shape Stephen, gives it a whole new slant...

(Oh, and I have a snowflake punch because I'm a secret crafter when I'm not taking pictures...)

Stephen

I only picked that shape because it was easiest to make in a bit of cardboard with only a stanley knife

whyulittle

It's the Mitsubishi symbol/logo/badge Stephen!

trishw78

must buy card tomorrow

Roen

Looks like a job for the 1.2!

TJM

Roen

Tried it last night and I think I cut the hole in the piece of paper too big
Will have to give it another go later I think

Cabaal

Must get myself some card this evening and give this a try as soon as I can, gives interesting results.

magicbastarder

elven, how come some of your snowflakes are slightly rotated?

Fajitas!

She did it all in photoshop.


She told me last night.

Quackles

I was just dying to try this.. the picture is called "My family tree"

challengemaster

bwahahhaa, brilliant

Stephen

That's deadly. How did you cut that shape so cleanly? You can see all the jagged edges in mine

Quackles

Stephen wrote: »

That's deadly. How did you cut that shape so cleanly? You can see all the jagged edges in mine

Went in to an art shop yesterday to buy the card, and spotted a froggie hole punch I like froggies, and I love spending money on unnecessary objects, so I was all over that action.

snickerpuss

I tried this a while ago and I couldn't do it. Not sure where I went wrong, I was using my 50mm. Should it all be out of focus?

Stephen

Yes. I set my nifty fifty to f/1.8 and then manually focus so that the points of light just look like big round blobs. Then stick the cutout card in front of the lens and away you go. A tripod will help

Roen

Make sure it's a small cut out too, mine didn't work well with a big ish one

Ricky91t

Finally got my nifty fifty im so pleased with it :-)
The second i got back i tried and heres my result

whyulittle

Quackles wrote: »

I was just dying to try this.. the picture is called "My family tree"

That one is great, and it really shows up the effect best with the in focus object in the foreground.

Redisle

I thought this looked cool so I said Id give it a try, I knew those selection boxes were good for more than just chocolate!
Unfortunetly I dont have any fancy cutouts so I just made a trinangle with a scissors.. Il try and get my hands on something better but heres my first attempt:



I also said Id give it a try with my new plasma ball, didnt work as well as Id hoped but you can still make out the shapes..

Lady_North

My effort. Not very good, cos I hadn't got a clue really what I was doing. lol:rolleyes:

trishw78

Finally got round to doing this. It was supposed to be a star but it looks like a weird butterfly

Chunky Monkey

Do you basically get a piece of black card, punch a teeny little shaped hole in the middle of it and cover it over your lens? Some really pretty shots here

trishw78

Basically yeah but you can use a cearal box and a craft/stanley knife to cut out the shape

Chunky Monkey

Thanks Trish I'll try this out when I get my macro rings.

melekalikimaka

my weak attempt


looks better big
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melekalikimaka/2259247838/


yes yes i'm aware its a month old thread

trishw78

That's pretty where is and where were you. I'm imagining you hovering in the air like some sort of weird superhero