Vasili’s Blog

Five Steps to Becoming a Bokeh Whore

There is no way for me to hide my love for bokeh, or the unfocused area of a photo. It was one of the contributing factors when I first started looking at purchasing a DSLR. It might seem like a silly thing to consider when buying such an expensive piece of equipment, but that unfocused background really makes all the difference in portraits when the focus should be on the subject(s). If you want to become a bokeh whore like me, just follow these simple steps. And if you don't, you should still look at the pretty pictures.

Step 1: Bring your camera with you in the car.

This includes the day when it just doesn't want to stop raining. All I needed was peanut butter but felt like bringing my camera since rain bokeh pictures are like the keys to my heart. Make sure you over do it and take loads of pictures of the water droplets on the window.

Step 2: Ruine a board game by taking loads of pictures of it.

Instead of playing a great game of Scrabble that doesn't include keeping score, make sure you say "SCREW THIS" to your brother and then put the game away without his agreement. Then proceed to forming words with said Scrabble tiles, but when you take the picture make sure you have a super small depth of field so 98% of the picture is blurry. Bokeh whores love this.

Step 3: Fireworks are your best friends.

In my opinion, fireworks look a lot better out of focus than they do in focus. This also makes them easier to take pictures of. you don't have to try and focus. You can just turn the focus ring until you like the size and blurriness of the pieces of light and then snap away. Make sure you take about 100 pictures in five minutes since you want them to be the majority of the pictures that you took during your vacation. Forget getting a picture of the sun rising! You're way too lazy to get up that early.

Step 4: Try to photograph a bubble. In focus.

Getting a bubble in focus and a unique background is a photographer's nightmare. They fly wherever they please and just as you think you're going to get it. POP! Nope, try again. It's like they're laughing at you. Only, they're laughs are less "ha" "ha" "ha" and more "pop" "pop" "pop". It's torture I tell you.

Step 5: Take an over exposed, bokeh filled picture of your breakfast.

It's rather common for photographers to be heavily involved in the computer so we often eat at the computer. We also often take pictures of the food midway through the eating process since we are too hungry to take a picture in the beginning. That bagel? It has two bite marks in the back that are hidden by the bokeh. See? Bokeh is helpful in many ways.

Conclusion

I'm crazy. And not a photographer. A bokeh whore. Someone who can't blog without filling it with pictures.

Enjoy your Sunday.

August 7, 2010 — Comments Closed — Photography