# My hand at the "holiday bokeh" for C&C



## Snakeguy101 (Dec 14, 2011)

I got this shot for a friend who is using it for a xmas card. It is my first attempt at using that real strong bokeh. Let me know what you think! Thanks. 




DSC_3053 by Snakeguy101, on Flickr




DSC_3048 by Snakeguy101, on Flickr




DSC_3049 by Snakeguy101, on Flickr


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## Trever1t (Dec 14, 2011)

It's very pronounced but the bokeh itself isn't appealing quality due to the lens's quality, nothing you can do about that. The last shot could use a little light camera right. Cool shots.


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## ph0enix (Dec 14, 2011)

I like them but they're too cold for me.  Christmas time is all about warm and  fuzzy and these are anything but warm.  All the white and blue lights say Hanukkah  much more than Christmas.  Did you aim for hexagonal bokeh?  If you wanted circles, you should have shot wide open.  Just my humble opinion.


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## j-digg (Dec 14, 2011)

Prolly just comes from a cheaper lens - more than likely a 50 1.8?


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## 2WheelPhoto (Dec 14, 2011)

why isn't the bokeh more round, what lens you using?


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## mwcfarms (Dec 14, 2011)

I think you could brighten them both and as mentioned warm them up just a tad.


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## KmH (Dec 14, 2011)

Snakeguy101 said:


> . It is my first attempt at using that real strong bokeh.


Circle of Confusion (CoC, or bokeh) isn't adjustable, but depth-of-field is.

The lens used was Nikon's AF 50 mm f/1.8D, set to f/2.8, which has 7 aperture blades which is why the CoC (bokeh) the shallow DoF reveals is 7 sided.


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## Snakeguy101 (Dec 14, 2011)

Okay, thanks for the feed back guys. So brighten it up and warm them slightly. I can probably fix that in Aperture or PS- I shot this RAW so I don't think it will be too destructive... KmH got all the EXIF data spot on and I did know about the number of aperture blades being a problem but my budget is very limited right now. Does the f/1.4 lens have 9 blades? That would be enough for essentially round CoC right? I might ask for that for christmas or something.


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## RichardsTPF (Dec 15, 2011)

> The lens used was Nikon's AF 50 mm f/1.8D, set to f/2.8, which has 7  aperture blades which is why the CoC (bokeh) the shallow DoF reveals is 7  sided.



Thanks for the answer. I was about to question. Can this 7-blades len give round bokeh?

I like the 2nd most.


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## Natalie (Dec 15, 2011)

I quite like these shots, though as mentioned they don't really have a "holiday"-type feel to them because of the cool colors. If that's what you're trying to do, I would suggest using warmer Christmas lights (I can tell the ones you used are those newfangled LED ones, look for the warmer incandescent ones), and maybe letting in a little more ambient light. Though to do that might require a slower shutter speed, and I don't know how slow you'd be able to manage with cockatiels. The seven-sided shape of the lights doesn't bother me. Cool shots!


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## enzodm (Dec 15, 2011)

Shoot wide open for round "bokeh".


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## jake337 (Dec 15, 2011)

RichardsTPF said:


> > The lens used was Nikon's AF 50 mm f/1.8D, set to f/2.8, which has 7 aperture blades which is why the CoC (bokeh) the shallow DoF reveals is 7 sided.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the answer. I was about to question. Can this 7-blades len give round bokeh?



Yes, shot wide open. You will start to notice it become more like the OP post as you stop down.

Not the best example but t here a few OOF highlights in the back. Nikkor 50mm f1.8 af-d, shot at f2.


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## RichardsTPF (Dec 15, 2011)

So f2.8 is not wide enough to get round bokeh?


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## jake337 (Dec 15, 2011)

RichardsTPF said:


> So f2.8 is not wide enough to get round bokeh?



Not sure if the round OOF highlights are from the shape of the water droplets or if this lens keeps OOF highlights round at nearly every aperture.  Shot at F22.  9 tokina 100mm f2.8 macro with 9 rounded blades.





Depends on the lens construction. Here is one at F4.5 with my tokina 100mm f2.8 macro. It has 9 rounded blades.


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## enzodm (Dec 15, 2011)

RichardsTPF said:


> So f2.8 is not wide enough to get round bokeh?



It is not matter of wide or not. When is _fully_ open, no matter how wide is, blades are open, so they not appear into the lens hole (to be clear). When you start to close, they... close the hole with their shape. If blades are rounded, or many, then you still will see round bokeh.


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## cyngus (Dec 15, 2011)

def cool shots.. but agreed with adding some fill light onthe birdies


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## Snakeguy101 (Dec 16, 2011)

jake337 said:


> RichardsTPF said:
> 
> 
> > > The lens used was Nikon's AF 50 mm f/1.8D, set to f/2.8, which has 7 aperture blades which is why the CoC (bokeh) the shallow DoF reveals is 7 sided.
> ...


 Had I shot any wider you would be complaining of an OOF image instead of angular bokeh which I personally do not mind.


 I did what I could with was suggested in edits and brightened/ warmed them up a bit. Let me know what you think of the revised edits. Thanks. 




DSC_3053 by Snakeguy101, on Flickr




DSC_3048 by Snakeguy101, on Flickr

I tried editing in Photoshop. forgive my poor selection around the birds crests, I was simply doing a preliminary jpeg edit before I put too much time into it to do it right. Is this good or did I warm/ brighten too much/ too little, etc... In the second image, I played with the color adjustment tool in Aperture to get rid of most of the cool tones- I think it came out a bit too much like valentines day and not enough like christmas but it was fun to play with. Thank you again.


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## jake337 (Dec 16, 2011)

You sig shows OK to edit, so I gave it a shot. Been playing around with PP for the last few days. After some sharpening it seems focus is on the foot or at least my eyes get pulled there. Excuse my selection around the crest as well. I just added a very small amount of blur to the background to get the grain out of the OOF highlights and brought the exposure down .25 on the background. Some sharpening on the bird and curves tweaked.

You could have used a wider aperture. But you may have had to step back to get the DOF you want and then pull the lights farther back from subject to compensate for the gained DOF by stepping back. You may not have enough room to do either of those, I know I don't.


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## jake337 (Dec 16, 2011)

I agree that it looks to be a bit more like valentines day than christmas.  Needs more range of colors in the OOF highlights.


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