how’d you do that? holiday bokeh balls

When I first joined Flickr, I kept hearing the word “bokeh” being thrown around, and I didn’t have a clue. Even after I read the definition, I still didn’t get it. So I’m not even going to try to explain it.

There are really two kinds of bokeh out there …

1. defined “balls” of light, often in the background of pictures

2. a less defined blur in the background

All of this can be discussed for DAYS, and one of these days, I will try to explain how it works, why it works and how to get it. When I figure it out.

But today, I will explain how to get one kind of bokeh — holiday light bokeh.

Have you ever seen pictures like this …

And wondered how to get them?

I did for a really long time. But it’s really quite simple.

First step, put your camera on manual focus. Don’t freak out – you won’t actually have to be focused. That’s the beauty of it! Bokeh balls like this are made by being out of focus.

Second step, shoot! If you’re a beginner, you can shoot in night-mode. If you’re more advanced, shoot in aperture-priority mode & then set your aperture wide-open (that’s the smaller numbers like f/2.0). If you shoot in full manual, you already know how to do this, so quit reading! ;)

The magic is in getting the right light & exposure, but if you play around, you’ll get it. And make sure you are out of focus. The more out of focus you are, the larger the “balls of light” will be.

It’s really fun driving or walking around at night & taking pictures of a house that has a lot of Christmas lights up.

And of course, don’t forget your Christmas tree!

You might be lucky enough to have all of your lights working at one time – unlike us. {The downside of having a pre-lit tree …}

Have fun!

•