Bringin' the Bokeh!

For Pictures with Bokeh........

You will need:

Christmas lights with wires the same color as your background. (White works best.) 
White sheet or Tarp.
Subject & table.

Preparing your Space:

Set up the tarp for your background (bk).
Drape, wrap, or clip the lights to your background. (see pic). 
Set subject on a table at applicable distance from the background.

The larger your subject - the further the distance from the bk & lights. (The further away you are, the more lights you'll need to fill the larger bk area.)

The smaller the subject - the closer the distance from the bk & lights. 

Preparing your Camera:

Set to the lowest aperture you can. (For the elf pics my aperture was f 1.6.)
Focus on something in front of the lights to blur bk.
low aperture - shallow depth of field/small slice of the picture will be in focus. Everything in front and behind that slice will be blurred 

Preparing your Subject:

Distance between subject & background/lights

More Bokeh - place subject farther away from the background.
Less Blur - place subject closer to the background.
Too far away? Your lights will lose shape & blend into the bk.

*My elf was about 3 ft in front of the bk & lights. Take practice shots until you find your sweet spot.
























Preparing Shapes:

Cut a circle out of black cardstock or construction paper.
Using a paper punch (or exacto knife) cut a shape out of the circle slightly off to one side (see pic). 
Tape the circle your lens, completely covering the opening. 

Lights + Low Aperture + Cute Subject = juicy BOKEH pics!