I've always wondered how to create that cool bokeh effect in photographs (you know, those glowy white circles in the background on a Christmas tree). I googled around the other night and found Kevin & Amanda's blog post, which really helped. The "trick" is to place something in front of your tree (about 8 feet from the tree) and focus on that image with your camera in manual focus. With your lens open as far as it will go (1.4 to 1.8 for my 50 mm camera) bump your ISO way up (I used around 1250 for daytime and 2000 to 2500 at night). Finally, my shutter speed was around 1/40.
Using my Nikon D90, I took a few photos and show you below what settings I had the camera on for each picture. I hope this helps if you are aiming for some bokeh shots of your own.
With a Pointsettia . . .
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 2000
Aperture: f/1.4
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Manual Focus
Three miniature Nutcrackers . . .
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 2500
Aperture: f/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Manual Focus
And my Old Navy slippers:)
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 2000
Aperture: f/1.4
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Manual Focus
The above photos were taken at night, but these stocking photos below were taken in the afternoon when our house had some natural sunlight shining in. I like how bright they came out without any editing.
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 1250
Aperture: f/1.4
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Manual Focus
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Tomorrow, Natasha at Schue Love is hosting our Christmas Cheer holiday party featuring tasty recipes of all kinds. I made some dark chocolate and natural peanut butter cups and they were divine! So easy to make, I can't wait to share. See you there!
And, I'll be announcing the winner of the $100 Nordstrom gift card on Friday at Honey We're Healthy. If you'd like to enter, go HERE.
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