CHRISTMAS TREE BOKEH UPDATE
CHRISTMAS TREE BOKEH MANUAL
CHRISTMAS TREE BOKEH ISO

The circular pattern of that background is called bokeh, and it happens all the time in good portrait photography because it helps you focus on subject instead of a distracting background. It means that your picture has a very shallow depth of field, so only a small area of your photo is actually in focus, and everything that is not on that plane of focus is blurry. The reason those Christmas lights look so big and beautifully blurry is a photography term called bokeh (pronounced bo-kuh if you're wondering). Many of these tips can be used with a compact camera even if you don't have a DSLR. I'm going to show you how take Christmas pictures of your children with a blurry background. :) Sharing this post at Sarah’s Christmas Tree Party.I'm sure you've seen artistic pictures of beautiful, big, blurry Christmas tree lights. Hope this post helped you! If so you should pin for future reference so you’ll never forget. SO, have you ever tried taking pics like this? Are you a bokeh pro? Never heard of bokeh? I hadn’t until I started reading blogs, of course.

CHRISTMAS TREE BOKEH UPDATE

I will have to try my kit lens (18-55mm) and see what it does and update this post. If you do not have a 50mm lens with a low f-stop, I am not sure what results you would get. But aren’t those cheeks the sweetest? So sqeezeable and pinchable! :) I couldn’t put my camera down the other night. So cool right? I just love them! It’s kind of addicting though once you start taking pictures. Settings again for all pics: M anual mode: ISO: 400 / Aperture: f/1.8 / Shutter Speed: Either 1/13 or 1/20 for all pics. And yes, I love my kids and want to show them off…and my bokeh. It’s just pretty bright bubbles floating around. I think the bokeh shots make such a unique photograph. :)īut that’s really all there is to it! If I can do it, you can do it. You of course can use a tripod too, but since I was photographing kids (which do not stay perfectly still) I opted not to.

CHRISTMAS TREE BOKEH ISO

If they are coming out too dark, try raising your ISO to 800 to get a brighter picture. You can tell which ones were done at night, but they are still pretty. Once you have your object ready and the tree in the background, press the camera button down half way to focus the camera on your subject only (do not focus it on the Christmas tree) and then just snap away. For all of the shots I am about to show you my kids (and the birdhouse) were maybe just 5-8 feet away from the tree. You will have to play with the distance because you get different bokeh sizes when your object is closer to the tree or further away. You can even put your feet out in front of you, focus on them and have your tree in the background. Now like I said, what worked for me may not work exactly the same for you, but this should give you a good starting point.įirst, all you need to do is focus on your object like your kids, or whatever.

CHRISTMAS TREE BOKEH MANUAL

Camera setting in manual mode: ISO: 400 / Aperture: f/1.8 / Shutter Speed: Either 1/13 or 1/20 for all pics.

It has a really low f-stop which allows for pictures like this, and ones with really blurry backgrounds. I used my 50mm which I got for Christmas from my mom last year and love. One of the most important things though is the lens. I even edited that pic and made it mostly black and white except for the birdhouse which was kind of fun.īefore I get ahead of myself, this is what I used and what settings etc. In that image above, I was just focusing on that wintery birdhouse which is on our breakfast bar, and the Christmas tree is literally right behind it. I will tell you what settings I used on my camera, a Canon Rebel, so you can try those same settings too. What you really need to do is just sit and play with your camera after you read my post. And it’s the perfect way to experiment with bokeh. Now, I’m not a “professional photographer” or anything, but I do know a little bit about Bokeh and that it’s super popular around this time of year because a lot of people have their Christmas trees out. You know, those little lights you see in the background almost floating around and bubble-like? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m talking about these: :) And just as giggly as I was in my video, today I am more giggly and giddy because I finally got some good bokeh shots of our Christmas tree. Hey everyone (does that sound familiar?)! Thanks for the love and sweet words on my video.

Christmas tree bokeh