bokeh Archives - TimeLine Media Blog

January 3, 2014

Ice Sphere – Product Photography

This was a nice gift my wife received this Christmas. From the moment I saw this, I knew it would be a nice subject for a product photography shoot, but it would be a challenge. This was my first attempt at it while the tree is still up. I think it is a good attempt, but looking at the images on the computer now, there are a few things that I will try next time. Here is my first exposure using no flash, and using the Aperture Priority metering in camera using a 105mm macro lens:

Product Photography

Because of the automatic metering, the camera makes the background lights the basis for the exposure. The lights are about right, but the glass with the ice is underexposed. With this result, I knew that I needed to add flash from a speedlight to bring a little life and sparkle to the subject. This should also darken the background, and make the lights separated, and a little more saturated.

This is a little closer to what I was going for, but what I noticed first was the bokeh. In the blurred background of the tree lights, there was such a distance between the subject and the background, that the lights are no longer circular, and are taking on a strange oblong shape. To make them a little rounder, I moved the camera away from the subject, so lessen the difference between the subject and the background with respect to the lens:

Now the lights are back to being round, and you can see more of their colors. On the plus side, the flash is not too overpowering on the subject. I decided that I still want to have the lights a little larger, so I moved halfway between my previous position and this one.

This was the best that I could get with this setup – the macro lens and one flash with the diffuser as the only modifier. Looking at the images now, I think I have one more idea to try. I think the background could be even darker. I’ll give it a try and post my results. Let me know if you have any ideas as to how to make this image any better.

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December 19, 2013

Personal, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

Photograph Christmas Decorations – Bokeh Masters Kit

Christmas gift in front of tree - ©TimeLine Media

Tysons Corner Center

Every year, the Christmas decorations that pop up in the malls and office buildings in the area signal the holiday season. The strings of lights that wrap around the trees and line overhangs make for some pleasing light. They are usually a very warm yellow, and the many small points of light put together, make it a very soft light in photos. These are great for people photos, which is another reason everyone takes photos by the lit Christmas trees during this season.

The small points of light can also be used to make some unique photos while they are up. Bokeh a Japanese word that photographers use to describe the out-of-focus areas in the background of photos. Having the background completely blurred will help pop your subjects out of the frame. The amount of blur depends on how open an aperture you set on your lens. Additionally how far your subject is from the background affects the blur. If you have your subject a fair distance from the background, and you place your lens very close, you will have a nice out of focus background. If you have Christmas lights in that background, the shape of the lights will take on the shape of the aperture of your lens to make a nice shape with each bulb.

Christmas Tree Lights

An early Christmas gift from my in-laws was this Bokeh Masters Kit. The kit has hard plastic discs with shapes cut out in the middle of each. There is also another plastic mounting piece that you fit over the lens. When you fit this over your lens, then setup your subject as before, the pin point illumination from the Christmas lights takes on the shape of the disc.

Bokeh Masters Kit

This was the first setup I tried, and it works as advertised! Obviously, I tried the star disc for this image. The boxes were about 5 feet from the tree, and the lens was set to f/1.4. There was a large amount of vignetting from the lens which was expected since the holder was covering a portion of the lens edges along with the disc itself. But you can clearly see the stars from each of the lights.

I will have to try this with other subjects and setups, but this was a good start! With all of your decorations up inside your house and outside in your neighborhoods, there are lots of opportunities to try this out. Thanks to our friends at Encore Ballroom Couture for the gift and still-life subject!

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703-864-8208

February 14, 2013

Event, Photography, Sports, Technology | 0 comment

Nikon 70-200mm F/2.8 – Tech Thursday

Photo with Nikon 70-200mm, www.timelinedc.com — Flower bed photographed with the Nikon 70-200mm F/2.8 lens

This Nikon 70-200mm lens is the first professional lens I had the opportunity to purchase. The above photo is the first I took with it right out of the box. Just a simple shot of the front bed of mums. Truth be told, my mom helped me out with the payment – but I have made good use of the investment.

Professional Gear

The 70-200mm is the most versatile lens in my bag. I have used it on almost every assignment from ballroom dance, to weddings, sports, and portraits. When I first started using the lens, it seemed like it instantly transported my photography to the next level. This was different from other “new” lenses because of two factors. The first is the focal length – starting at 70 and going to 200 means that you cannot take a shot that is too wide.

Anything you are trying to photograph with this lens has to be a good distance from the camera, and many distractions will be eliminated from the frame. Both of these factors already change how you think about composition, making it simpler than if you had a wider angle lens on your camera. With an isolated subject, now you only need to think about placement of your main subject, and maybe something at the edges that would give some context.

Portraits

All camera manufacturers make a variant of this lens, so this information is not exclusive to Nikon. The other technical specification of this lens that helps your photography is it’s constant f/2.8 maximum aperture across all focal lengths. There are kit lenses that are sold with cameras that have longer focal lengths, but their max apertures vary getting smaller as the lenses is zoomed out to it longest focal length. Having f/2.8 allows me to photo at lower ISO settings in low light situations like conference rooms, and dance studios.

For shooting any field sports, the 70-200mm lens would be a minimum for catching action on the field. It was often too short to catch game action for me without extreme cropping. On the practice field or warm ups before the game, however, it was still able to work its magic.

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703-864-8208

Posts Tagged ‘bokeh’

Product Photography

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Tysons Corner Center

Christmas Tree Lights

Bokeh Masters Kit

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Professional Gear

Portraits

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