hello beautiful....

i can hear the cicadas at night. they make noise without a care in the world. wouldn't it be great if we could do that, too. think about it. think about walking outside after the sky has colored itself that perfect shade of black. standing there. looking around. 

then screaming loud enough that someone could possibly call it deafening. 

yet they wouldn't care. or be surprised.

and

might even think it beautiful

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maybe this should be PHOTO TIP friday. 

maybe you want to learn how to take a photo like the one above and have a totally cool bokeh background. oh and just so you know, that word has been pronounced in more way then i can count. i say bokeh like "boke-uh" which sounds like "boca"

anyhow

trying to describe how to do this isn't easy, so bear with me. first of all, you need to shoot on aperture mode and use the largest aperture your LENS will allow. now remember, the largest aperture is actually the smallest number. like 1.4 or a 2.8 or 3.5

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now think about your depth of field. you want to try and get as much distance between your subject and the light source behind it, as that's what gives you the bokeh effect.

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confused yet. let's talk about my photo in hopes of making it clearer. i shot this hanging flower indoors at a conservatory with my 100mm lens and my aperture at 3.5 with a ton of space between the flower and the sun coming in from the skylights in the ceiling. did i do it on purpose. not at all. my 100mm lens is what i use for my macro shots {which is what i had been shooting} and i just happened to see this withered flower about my head and took a photo of it. i could have switched to what would have been a more appropriate lens, like my 17-55 and put my aperture at 2.8, but i was too lazy to do that. would i still have gotten bokeh in the background with the 17-55. yes. as my lens would have gotten me closer to my subject BUT i still would have had a ton of space between the flower and my light source.

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sorry. now i've really done it. you're even more confused. right

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the best time to practice and play with bokeh, is at christmas. a lit up christmas tree in your background, while you focus on your child or a wrapped present will be a. fun and b. produce some amazing bokeh 

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am i a certified instructor for giving directions on achieving bokeh in your photos. 

not a chance. but i do like to share a little bit of what i know.

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the happiest of weekending to all of you. 

and if you're on the east coast, with irene approaching the area where you live, you probably aren't even  on the computer reading this, but just so you know, a bunch of prayers are being sent your way.

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