Announcing the Boost Your Photography eBook!

I am excited to share with you the big news: my new eBook, Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR is now available from Amazon! Carrying the style and tone of the Boost Your Photography web site into a full-scale book, Learn Your DSLR will help you get the most out of your camera.

I wrote this book to address my concern that most introductory DSLR books overlook basic skills that many long-time photographers simply take for granted. Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR is written with a beginner's perspective in mind and provides clear, detailed explanations of DSLR photography basics. I've also included many techniques and tips that more experienced photographers will appreciate. All levels of photographers will benefit from the "Apply It Now" activities that will make in immediate impact in your photography.

You can download a sample, read the beginning through Amazon's "Search within the book" feature, or purchase your own copy for only $4.99. Containing more than 50 full-color photographs, you can read Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR on any device, including tablets, smartphones, and computers through the (free) Kindle app.

I am so excited to share this book with you! If you like what you read, please consider writing a review on Amazon and sharing your thoughts.

Shaped Bokeh

The first article in this series introduced you to All about Bokeh, and this second one will cover the topic of shaped bokeh. Shaped bokeh takes the concept of bokeh one step further by transforming those out-of-focus circles of light into another shape, with endless possibilities.

How to Create Shaped Bokeh: Supplies

This classic how-to post for shaped bokeh comes from DIY Photography, and it is incredibly simple and inexpensive. (For the non-crafty among us, you can now also purchase a Bokeh Masters kit, created by them, for $25 USD.)

For supplies you will need the following:

• A piece of black paper (thicker cardstock works best)
• A rubber band
• A piece of tape
• Scissors
• A 50mm lens

Seriously, that is really it. An x-acto knife is helpful for making the really small cuts, but I did my first few with a regular pair of scissors. You could also use a shaped hole puncher, if you wish.

The steps, you can basically intuit from looking at the picture above. Cut out a length of black cardstock, roll it around your lens to make a tube, and tape it together. Trace around the circumference of your lens/tube. Cut out that circle, adding about a half inch or so all the way around. Then, cut a series of notches into the circle (back to the original, traced circle). Fold the notches back. You can then place the circle over your lens and the tube and secure it in place with a rubber band around the tube and the folded down notches.

Example shapes: star, snowflake, and heart

But yes, we skipped the most important step: the shape. First, decide what shape you want for your shaped bokeh filter. For an introductory 50mm kit lens, you can make your shape up about 17mm long. (Here's the article on the math behind that, if you are curious.) Center your shape directly in the middle of the circle (fold the circle in half in two places if you want to easily find the exact center). All sorts of shapes can work, as long as you can easily and neatly cut it out at that small of a size. (The complicated-looking snowflake was cut using an x-acto knife.)

Shooting Shaped Bokeh

Now that you are well-armed with your shaped bokeh-making tube and filter(s), you are ready to start shooting. Many of the principles are the same as when shooting any kind of bokeh. You will need to shoot with your lens wide open (the widest aperture available, like f/1.8). You will want to have your subject fairly close to the camera and the background at least twice as far away. You will need a background that will render large, circular bokeh, which is why the holiday season is an ideal time for shaped bokeh. Hang up some strands of lights or go stand in front of your neighbor's tree or house, if you prefer.

The easiest way to shoot shaped bokeh is to compose your shot before putting the shape in front of your lens. A tripod is particularly helpful so that you can focus on your subject first and then switch your lens into manual focus, which will lock the focus in place. Then you can put the shape over your lens, secure the rubber band, and not have to worry about your camera trying to find focus through the narrow shape.

Keep in mind that your shaped bokeh will end up being much smaller than the original bokeh circles. Unless you are able to cut your shape to exactly the maximum allowable size, you will lose some of the size based on how small you have made your shape. The only compositional difference between the two photographs below is that the shaped bokeh filter was used for the second one. The distances between the subject, the camera, and the background (a lit Christmas tree) remained the same.

Another difficulty with using a shaped bokeh filter is that it will further cut down on the amount of light reaching your sensor. Because you will already be shooting with your aperture wide open, you will need to use a longer shutter speed or increase the ISO to compensate. (Another reason a tripod is handy.) You may also want to consider using a flash to better illuminate your subject. The background will not need the flash, since it is already bright and made of lights. With the Chimay shots above, the shutter speed increased from 1/8th of a second for the circle bokeh to 2 seconds for the shaped bokeh. No flash was used.

For the snowman shot, below, the camera's built-in flash was used to illuminate the snowman. The overall settings for the shot were ISO 100, f/1.8, and 6 seconds. The bits of shaped bokeh snowflakes creeping around the snowman were a result of my inability to hold him perfectly steady for the full six seconds. A steady subject (or something to hold your subject steady) can also be helpful.

Snowman and a field of Snow-Bokeh

Experiment with different distances, both between the camera and the subject and between the subject and the background. The series of photographs below demonstrates the impact of moving closer or farther away from the background. Moving closer to the background will lead to less overlap between your shapes, but you will have less of the shapes, as less lights are in your composition. Moving farther away from the background will cause a lot more overlap of the shapes and there will be a lot more of them.

The two photographs above show the impact of moving the subject (and the plane of focus) closer to the camera. In both images, the camera and background stayed in the same place, while the plane of focus moved a foot or so closer to the camera for the second image. Moving the plane of focus that much closer to the camera also led to an increase in the size of the bokeh shapes.

Summary

Shaped bokeh is a fun and easy way to make creative pictures. There are endless possibilities, and you can easily make new bokeh filters in a matter of minutes. What better way to celebrate and share the things you love?

Have a favorite shaped bokeh shot you've taken? Share it in the comments below!

All about Bokeh

Bokeh is a Japanese term used in photography to describe the out-of-focus areas of an image and is often created deliberately for artistic effect. There are several factors that influence the look and impact of bokeh in an image, and this article will explore those factors and give you advice about how to best achieve the 'bokeh look' with the equipment you already have. The second article in this series will introduce the idea of 'shaped bokeh' and explain how to manipulate the shape and design of background bokeh.

Creating Bokeh: Aperture

In order to create bokeh, you need to have a section of your image that is outside the depth of field (the area of the photograph in focus), and this area is generally in the background, rather than the foreground, of your composition. The narrower your depth of field, the easier it is to create bokeh in the background.

There are several ways to create a narrow depth of field. The easiest way is to shoot at a fairly wide aperture, such as f/1.8. The wider the aperture value, the narrower the depth of field, and the thinner the section of the photograph that is in focus, the more of the background that becomes out-of-focus. Opening your lens up to its maximum aperture will also create a 'smoother' look to the background and bokeh.

Bokeh created by setting sunlight bouncing off the water.

One reason for the popularity of the 'nifty 50' or 50mm lenses is their ability to obtain an aperture of f/1.8 for a relatively low price for a camera lens. (50mm starter lenses are available from Canon for $110 and from Nikon for $110. Read more in Yes, You Need a 50mm Lens.) At f/1.8 with these lenses, the background bokeh becomes bright circles of light. As you close down your lens and narrow the aperture, however, the shape of the background bokeh changes, based on the number of blades inside the lens. The Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens has five blades, which means that the bokeh becomes pentagonal at narrow apertures.

Foreground and background snow bokeh. The pentagonal shape resulted from the 50mm lens at f/6.3.

If you do not have a 50mm lens and instead have only the lens or lenses that came with your camera, then it is likely the widest aperture you can obtain will be between f/3.5 and f/5.6, depending on your focal length. You can still achieve a bokeh effect at these apertures, but you may need to use additional strategies to do so.

Other Strategies for Creating Bokeh

You can improve the blur of your background bokeh in other ways. Increasing the distance between your subject and the background will improve the bokeh. The closer the background is to your subject, the more likely it is to fall within the depth of field or just outside. As you move your subject farther away from the background, however, the increased distance will make it more likely that the background will fall outside of the area in focus.

Violets from above at f/5.6. Minimal blur and bokeh due to closeness of background.

Violet from the side at f/5.6. Greatly increased blur and bokeh due to distance to background.

You can also improve the background bokeh by getting closer to your subject. Even if you keep the aperture the same, the relative width of the depth of field will narrow as you approach your subject. Moving the focus closer as your subject moves closer also makes the background relatively farther away. You can do this by moving physically closer in to your subject or by using a zoom lens and zooming in for a closer in view of your subject.

The series of images below demonstrates the difference that the placement of focus can make on the shape and size of the bokeh. As the area in focus moves farther and farther away from the camera, the bright bokeh light circles become smaller and smaller. By the bottom right image, the tiny holiday lights are now fully in focus and no longer creating bokeh.

For this bokeh-filled portrait, below, the subject was positioned fairly close to the camera (about five feet) with the background significantly farther away (about fifteen to twenty feet). The pop-up flash on the camera was used to illuminate the subject, while a longer shutter speed (0.6 seconds) provided the brightness in the bokeh lights.

Bokeh-licious Portrait by Archaeofrog on Flickr

You can combine these two tips (closer subject and farther background) to achieve bokeh even with a point-and-shoot camera. If you use the macro setting (the tulip symbol), get in close to your subject, and keep the background farther back, you will be able to achieve some measure of pleasing background blur and bokeh.

Point-and-Shoot Bokeh (Canon A4000IS)

Improving the Quality of Your Bokeh

Certain backgrounds lend themselves to better bokeh effects than others. Bokeh is all about light, and the more light you have reflecting or shining off objects in the background, the better your camera will be able to render the blurred, bokeh look. Point sources of light work particularly well for bokeh, as each point source can be rendered as an individual, bright circle of out-of-focus light. (Read more about point sources of light in my guest post on Digital Photography School: Using Sun Flares and Starbursts to Create Stunning Images.)

Holiday light, street lights, and even car headlights are popular choices for bright, bokeh-filled backgrounds at night. Try using a combination of all three strategies above to capture the look you want. Start with your widest aperture and then see how changing the distance between the camera and the subject and changing the distance between the subject and the background changes the final look of your photograph.

Christmas ornament with bokeh. Ornament was held slightly in front of tree
 to increase background distance and create better bokeh.

You can also create bokeh during the day. Light filtering through trees and leaves can make attractive bokeh. You will get better results earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon, when the sun is lower in the sky. These long, bright rays and varied shadows can create an interesting framework to use for creating bokeh.

Backlit bokeh from the afternoon sun

Color and particularly contrasting colors are another important factor to consider. If you really want to create a unique or memorable look using bokeh, try to find or create a situation where the background bokeh is a contrasting color to your main subject. This will further accentuate the differences between the subject and the background and help make your subject 'pop.'

The bright oranges of the foreground leaves contrast with the blues and greens of the background.

Bokeh Summary

Bokeh is a great photography effect and one that can add a unique and memorable twist to your images. While bokeh often begins with aperture, you should also pay attention to your distances: zoom in to create more blur, get closer to your subject to narrow the depth of field, or move your subject farther away from the background to be sure that it falls out of focus. Find some bright lights or bright sun and see what you can create!

Guest Post: Sun Flare and Starbursts

Jump on over to Digital Photography School to read a guest post that I have written on Using Sun Flares and Starbursts to Create Stunning Images.

Here's another example to get you started:

Sun Flare created with a Late Fall Sun

Dramatically Improve Your Photography for Less than $20

Improving your photography does not require upgrading to a new camera body or buying that fancy lens you've had your eye on. There are lots of small investments that you can make that will have a big payoff in the quality and range of your photography. This article highlights some inexpensive purchases that you can make to give your photography a quick boost.

Get a Background

Take a trip to your nearest school supply or big box store, and you will find tri-fold boards that remind you of your Science Fair days. A white tri-fold board makes an excellent background for high key or product shots, allowing you to get a bright, all-white background. You can also use it as a reflector, to bounce light back onto your subject. A black tri-fold board can be used for low key shots or to provide an all-black background for darker, moodier images. Just a few dollars gives you a multipurpose tool that provides a lot of new options for your photography. Read more in Easy Photography Upgrade: the tri-fold board.

A white tri-fold board makes a great high key background.

A black tri-fold board makes a dramatic low key background.

Get a Pack

Scrapbook paper comes in 12 inch squares with a wide variety of colors and patterns. You can get a pack of different patterns and colors or just a handful of single sheets at any craft or scrapbook supply store. These can be used as background or settings for smaller objects and can be used to create patterns or designs when shooting oil and water or water drop shots.

Scrapbook paper makes a great background for product photography.

Oil and water photographed above the same piece of scrapbook paper.

Get a Remote

A remote shutter release gives you a new range of flexibility when using your camera. A remote is particularly useful if you want to get in front of the camera, as it allows you to focus and then take pictures of yourself easily. A remote is also a useful tool in combination with a tripod. A remote lets you trigger the camera without touching it or adding potential motion to your still shot. Read more in Easy Photography Upgrade: get a remote shutter release.

Finally, a remote is the best way to utilize the ‘Bulb’ mode on your camera. 30 seconds is often the longest set shutter speed option on a camera, but bulb mode lets you keep the shutter open for an indefinite amount of time. Look for a remote that has an option to hold the trigger button depressed. Bulb mode is useful for any long exposure situation, such as light trails, star trails, or images of slow, silky water and waterfalls.

45-second image captured using a remote release. Read more about Waterfall Photography.
This image is available for purchase.

Get Closer

Macro or close-up photography lets you explore the tiny details of the world around you. While dedicated macro lenses cost hundreds of dollars, a small investment can lead you to macro-level results. Read about Macro and Close-Up Photography Tips and Tricks for advice about how to get the most out of your investment.

Close-up lenses are filters that screw on to your existing lens. They act like a magnifying glass and allow you to get closer to your subject than your lens’ normal minimum focusing distance. Read more about close-up lenses here. A set of four close-up lenses are available on Amazon for less than fifteen dollars.

Snowflakes captured with a +4 and +10 close-up lens on a 50 mm lens.

A reverse ring allows you to mount your camera lens on backwards for close-up results. You can read more about reverse ring mount adapters here. Purchase a reverse ring that fits your camera model as well as the diameter (width) of the lens you want to reverse.

Extension tubes mount between your lens and the camera, changing the minimum focusing distance and allowing your camera’s sensor to record details over a much smaller subject. A full description of using extension tubes can be found here. Generic metal extension tubes are sold in sets of three and cost less than fifteen dollars, while specialized tubes maintain the electrical connections with your camera’s body and cost over $100.

Can't decide between the three? Read more on Cheap and Easy Macro: comparisons and recommendations.

Get Reflective

Reflections can really add something to a photograph, and a mirror is an inexpensive item that can provide endless photographic opportunities. You can find large mirrors at a very low cost at your local craft or hobby store – they are often sold near candles to create a decorative centerpiece. I have a 12-inch round, frameless mirror that I use frequently in photos that I purchased for about $8 at a hobby store. I have been considering going back for a larger version, to make it easier to avoid having the edge of the mirror appear in the image, but the 12-inch size provides reasonable coverage without being bulky.

Candles reflected in a mirror.

Get Around

Want something fun and different to play with in your photography? A crystal ball is a great prop for creative and unusual photographs. There are several sizes of crystal balls available easily online. The 50 mm and 80 mm sizes work well for photography. The 50 mm size is more portable, while the 80 mm size (pictured below) is a bit larger and easier to use for more encompassing scenes.

Flowering tree photographed through a crystal ball. (Image rotated 180 degrees.)

Get Light

A reflector can make a big impact on your portrait and close-up photography. 5-in-1 reflectors give you a variety of options to use when bouncing and diffusing light. Reflectors are useful in both indoor and outdoor lighting situations and can help balance light in the scene. These reflectors are also compact and portable, folding down into a bag smaller than a salad plate. 5-in-1 reflectors start at around $15.

Water drops on a CD. White reflector used to balance light from the window.

Get Stable

A tripod opens up many new avenues in your photography. Freeing yourself from the camera allows you to take better self portraits (read more about How to Shoot a Successful Self-Portrait ). A tripod also gives you the flexibility to shoot photographs with longer shutter speeds. See examples in the article on What an Aperture of F/22 Can Do for You.

GorillaPod is a brand of flexible travel tripods that provides the functionality of a tripod in a convenient, portable size. A GorillaPod can be used as a traditional, three-legged, tripod, but it can also be wrapped around bars, fences, or posts for an unusual point of view. A GorillaPod is small enough to fit in a larger purse or camera bag and comes with an inexpensive price tag. Entry-level GorillaPods for point-and-shoot cameras start under $20, and the larger version for supporting DSLR cameras start around $30. Read more about How to Maximize Your Tripod or Product Review: GorillaPod Tripod.

This photograph was taken with my DSLR on a GorillaPod wrapped around a metal spoke.

Summary: Inexpensive Photography Upgrades

You do not need to spend a lot of money to greatly increase the quality and variety of your photographs. Basic backgrounds, using tri-fold boards or scrapbook paper packs, can add variety and simplicity to your images. A remote shutter release will get you out from behind your camera and provide the ability to take sharp, crisp pictures and long exposures, even beyond 30 seconds. There are several inexpensive options to get you started with close-up and macro photography, including close-up lenses, reverse rings, and extension tubes.

A mirror or mirrored surface is an easy way to play with reflections, while a crystal ball can do more than tell your fortune. A reflector can move you forward in your portrait photography and improve the light in your close-up images. Finally, a tripod is an important investment, and a travel tripod, like the GorillaPod, is a great way to get the functionality of a tripod at a convenient price and portable size.

So many options! What will you do first to boost your photography?

Want more great ideas?  Follow Boost Your Photography on Pinterest: Boost Your Photography

Fall Round Up

Just in time for Thanksgiving, it's the Fall Round Up: your one-stop spot for a look back at this fall's posts. Catch up on the previous round ups here: Spring and Summer.

Yes, Go Chasing Waterfalls

Musings:

• Photography Is ... What is photography for you? Some thoughts about the importance of timing, patience, and luck.
• Boost Your Photography: Set a Goal or Challenge - Learn how setting, reviewing, and revising a photography goal or challenge can help move you forward in your photography.
• Photography Gifts for the Holidays and Where to Order Holiday Photography Gifts - Put your photography to good use this holiday season. Read about the wide variety of ways you can use your images to create memorable gifts for friends and family.

A collage mug is one of many ways you can use your photography for gifts.

For Beginners:

Explanations and overviews geared towards those wanting to get more out of their photography. Many of the 'Tips and Tricks' and 'Inspired Ideas' are also applicable.

• Aperture and the F-Stop Conundrum - Confused about aperture? This article is the place to start. The rest of this mini-series divides the aperture section into three: What an Aperture of F/1.8 Can Do for You, The Middle Range Apertures: f/8 and f/11, and What an Aperture of F/22 Can Do for You.
• Camera Lenses: What's In a Name? - An overview of camera lens naming conventions and what you need to know when looking for a new lens, Learn Your Lens: the lens itself - All about the functions and features of a lens, and Learn Your Lens: the accessories - Learn which camera lens accessories you need and how to use them.
• Yes, You Need a 50 mm Lens - Find out why a 50 mm lens is a great upgrade, especially from your kit lens(es), and it's a great steal, priced around $100.

Comparison of changing apertures from the wide, middle, and narrow ends of the spectrum. 

Tips and Tricks:

Advice for getting the most of your camera and photography

• Zooming vs. Cropping: perspective in photography - Understand the differences between zooming vs. your lens, cropping afterwards, and the importance of changing your perspective.
• Easy Photography Upgrade: get a remote shutter release - Around $6 for a remote can make a big impact in your photography. 
• Shoot a Successful Self-Portrait - Learn how to shoot a better selfie: how to focus and set the scene as well as a variety of ideas to try. 
• Improve your Fall Photography: use a polarizer - Get those blue skies you've always wanted. Learn how to use a circular polarizer.
• Panning in Photography - Learn how to create panning shots with a frozen main subject and moving background.
• Thankful ... for Food Photography - A collection of tips and tricks for improving your food photography shots.

Improve your Fall Photography: use a polarizer

Inspired Ideas:

How to make the shot with specific photography ideas

• 50th Post and Six Month Blogoversary - Count down the Top 5 Most-Viewed Posts of the first 50
• Make the Shot: Slow Sync Photography - Get a behind-the-scenes explanation of how to create your own ghostly images using the slow sync function of your on-camera flash.
• Yes, Go Chasing Waterfalls - Suggestions and advice for what to bring and how best to shoot waterfalls with that long, silky water look.
• Local Tourism: Photograph the Harvest - Find photographic inspiration in your local harvest. Visit a pick-your-own orchard or pumpkin patch.

Photograph the Harvest

Travel Photography

• Photography Collections: start a collection - Consider a collage as a way to display travel memories. Unify your collage by focusing on a specific item or element, like full doors, door knobs, or even hearts.
• Window on the World - Windows are a unique way of placing the viewer within the frame of your photograph. Consider paying attention to windows when you travel.

Windows give you a view. Window on the World.

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Yes, You Need a 50 mm Lens

The holiday season is just around the corner, so now is a great time to think about giving yourself a photography gift (or to start dropping very specific hints). If you are looking for something that will make a dramatic difference in your photography and widen your photographic options, all without spending a large amount of money (right at $100 for the Canon version and $109 for the Nikon version), then you should look no further than a 50 mm prime lens.

What is So Special about a 50 mm Lens?

A 50 mm lens is a prime lens, which means that it only offers one focal length (50 mm). The benefit is that the entry-level 50 mm lenses are also very 'fast' lens: they have a wide maximum aperture, usually f/1.8. As a comparison, most entry-level zoom lenses and kit lenses have their widest aperture at f/3.5 or up towards f/5.6 as you zoom in with the lens.

A wide aperture, like f/1.8, brings with it a whole host of photographic opportunities that are not as easy to achieve with other apertures. Shooting wide open at f/1.8 creates a very narrow depth of field (area of the photograph in focus) and easily creates 'bokeh,' the colored circles of light and blur created by a deliberately out-of-focus background. This ability to manipulate the depth of field and control the focus to such a narrow area provides infinite photographic possibilities. Read more about What an Aperture of F/1.8 Can Do for You here.

This photograph of a single leaf demonstrates the ability of the 50 mm lens to create bokeh at its widest aperture (f/1.8). Because the depth of field is so narrow at f/1.8, the single leaf and its branch are the only things in focus, and the leaves in the background fall out of focus rapidly. These leaves and the light on them are rendered instead as a collection of colorful circles of light (the bokeh). Bokeh can be very appealing and is highly sought after in art photography, as well as in portraits.

A 50 mm lens is very small and fairly inconspicuous (or at least, as inconspicuous as you can be with a full DSLR body). 50 mm lenses have always been popular with street photographers, people who value the 50 mm's small size and fast shooting. A 50 mm lens is also very light and makes carrying around your whole DSLR a little less onerous. With the 50 mm lens on, I can easily carry my entire DSLR in my purse, which was not designed for photographer and is fairly small as purses go these days. Having a small, portable lens also makes it far more likely that you will consider bringing your camera along with you, and having your camera is the first (and critically important) step towards capturing that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

The 50 mm lens is also a very adaptable focal length. It is considered close to the view and vision of normal eye sight (although the view is more zoomed in on a crop sensor camera than on a full frame one). 50 mm is wide enough for you to capture large sections of a landscape view, like the farm above, or to get close up to something small. It is also a good length because 50 mm does not create noticeable distortion when shooting portraits (which is a common problem at very wide focal lengths).

Lily shot with 50 mm lens and +4 close up lens

A 50 mm lens also provides an opportunity to experiment with macro and close-up photography without also investing in a separate (and far more expensive) dedicated macro lens. You can buy a simple reverse ring for less than $10 USD that allows you to mount your 50 mm lens backwards on your camera, creating a microscopic magnification. Read more about the benefits of using a reverse ring here. The 50 mm lens is also ideal for use with extension tubes that make your subject even larger, relative to your sensor, or with close-up lenses that change the minimum focusing distance and allow you to get closer to your subject. Read more about how to use extension tubes here and how to use close-up lenses here.

50 mm lenses have the added benefit of being fairly inexpensive, especially for camera lenses. While lens-envy is the curse of many a photographer, the 50 mm is a lens that is actually within budgetary reach. The entry-level version of the 50 mm lens, the 50 mm f/1.8 is available from Canon for $110 USD (list price), currently retailing for $101 on Amazon; from Nikon for around $110 USD (list price on Amazon), from Sony for around $170 USD (list price on Amazon); and from Pentax for around $180 USD (list price on Amazon). Faster versions of the 50 mm lens, such as the 50 mm f/1.4 or 50 mm f/1.2 rise in cost as the aperture widens but are something to consider if you have had a 50 mm f/1.8 for a while and want to get even wider.

A 50 mm lens is an excellent upgrade, giving you a wide aperture at low cost and providing tack-sharp images with fantastic background bokeh. It is a great lens for any photographer.