Fun with bokeh

[SnappingShark]

My first real attempt at having fun with bokeh, seeing as I was digging out holiday lights.

 

[tirediron]

I know I'm going to regret asking this, but lights for which holiday?

Nicely captured!

 

[SnappingShark]

Christmas window lights.
My wife loves the holidays and no doubt they will be up early, so I was checking what we had

 

[weags77]

I like this, man. Did you set up the lights or arrange them ? Or it just kinda work out that way ? Either way really cool idea and execution.

 

[DanielLewis76]

For me its almost good. It has a bit too shallow DOF for me. I would like the whole kettle to be in focus and looking at the distance of the lights this could have been achieved with a slightly wider Depth of field. Not too sure on the bokeh as well...

 

[SnappingShark]

I just placed them loosely from the plug and around a window with some overhang. Nothing special - just made sure the angle coming out of the spout was ok - twisted the kettle around to avoid it looking flat.

 

[SnappingShark]

For me its almost good. It has a bit too shallow DOF for me. I would like the whole kettle to be in focus and looking at the distance of the lights this could have been achieved with a slightly wider Depth of field. Not too sure on the bokeh as well...

True - the full kettle should have been in focus!
What is not right about the bokeh? I am looking to learn

 

[DanielLewis76]

Bokeh isn't something that you can adjust and describes the quality rather than the amount of blur (caused by adjusting the depth of field). Its more a characteristic of the lens than the way the photo is taken. Visually a creamy smooth bokeh (blur) is favoured over a more harsh looking blur.

 

[SnappingShark]

Hmm, so would changing my aperture to get the whole kettle in focus change the way the bokeh has been recorded here in any way, do you think?

 

[DanielLewis76]

By widening the DOF the kettle would be more in focus but so would more of the background. If the background is a fair way away from the foreground this would still give a nice blur between the two but if the lights were closer they would be more in focus (less blurry) than they are now.

 

[SnappingShark]

There's about 15ft - I'll give it a try, see how it goes

 

[DanielLewis76]

Look forward to seeing it

 

[D-B-J]

There's about 15ft - I'll give it a try, see how it goes

You can also try using a longer lens.

 

[DougGrigg]

interesting