Your Appointment with Friday

Happy 4th of July weekend to you!  For this week's photo prompt I though it would be festive to try a little experiment with.....

Light bokeh shapes.

Bokeh is the pretty light that is out of focus in the background of your photo.  You can make this light turn into a shape by creating your own lens hood.  Cool, huh?!?  This is my first try, so my shapes aren't perfect.....but it shure was fun taking my pictures.  They are from the fair.  There were so many pretty lights on all the rides : )

Also, I have to say that I first learned about bokeh photos last summer while taking Kara Haupt's awesome "Summer of Love" class (if you haven't bought the class pdf yet, you should).....ever since then I'm always amazed with how much beauty they add to a photo!!!  Thank you Kara for introducing me to this lovely effect!  I learned a lot from your class while having a blast <3

And now back to our photo prompt.  For my bokeh heart shape I used this tutorial to make my lens hood.  I hadn't figured out the exact ratio of the size that my shape should be before taking these photos, so I improvised.  However, later I did find these instructions so when I try again it will be easier to be more accurate.  One thing I would like to mention though, is that I found it is really important to keep your aperture as low as it will go, and then looking at your light meter to just under expose a little.  It will help keep your shape crisp.  And just as a reminder, don't forget to turn your lens to manual focus so you can blur your background.

If you have an extra 5 minutes to make your own lens hood, you won't regret it.....it will make your holiday photos extra special.  Have a fantastic holiday weekend!!!

Love, Carrie