DIY || bokeh heart tutorial

i have always seen examples of bokehs, but i have never tried them until now! this was a bit tricky to figure out at first but after searching the web i figured it out. 

{supplies needed}:

- black paper

- sissors

- tape

- dslr camera

- lights

{step one}: get black paper or something similar and cut a small heart {or preferred shape} into it. then shape it to the size of your lens, taping it so it fits on like a cap. 

{step two}: put all your camera settings on manual and set your aperture as low as it will go. my nikon will only go down to about a f3.5, but it is best to have it as low as an f1.4 if you can. the lens should be set at about 55mm {or more in my case for some of these pictures} and the focus ring all the way up {to the left}. you need to have a lot of lights in the background for this to work. i used christmas lights that were still up, but a city scape at night would work great. and the more colors the better {i only had white available}. 

this is what it should look like without the bokeh cap off: {the first one is more out of focus than the second, which creates a different size of shape for the heart once the cap is on}

f5.6, 1/25, 80mm

f5.6, 1/25, 80mm

{play around with it if you want to put an object in front of the lights. it helps if the lights are farther away and the subject is closer up. then adjust the focus and zoom accordingly to what looks the best}

f5.3, 1/13, 66mm

{step three}: add the bokeh cap on to the lens to create lights in the shape of hearts! again, play around with it until you get the desired effect. but keep it around 55mm or more, and out of focus. 

f5.6, 1/15, 80mm 

f4.8, 1/13, 56mm

f5.3, 1/8, 66mm

{this is what it will look like if you are doing it wrong and you aren't zoomed in enough. it creates a heart vignette, which does look cool as well anyway!}

f3.3, 1/25, 28mm 

nikon love! {bokeh cap added in front of iphone camera}

and there you have it! now go out and create your own! and don't forget to add a comment, or share if you do it yourself!