How to Capture Bokeh in Your Photography

Anytime I hear "images of broken light" in the Beatles song Across the Universe, I think of bokeh.  One of my favorite songs ever btw. So what's bokeh exactly? It's the result of blurred images of light - which in turn take on this magical, dreamy quality when you're shooting wide open apertures.

You can achieve bokeh in nature, from the bits of light peeking through trees, with strands of lights and even stained glass. BTW some people say it as bo-kah, others um... I don't know? I say it as bo-kah.

This bride and groom portrait of Holly and Phillip has just the slightest amount of natural bokeh from the sun behind them. Shot with aperture f/2.8

One of my favorites is the bokeh behind Chris as she says her vows... it's actually a mix of light filtering through trees as well as colors from flowers and the guests.  Shot at f/2.8

Here's an example of "framing your subject" with a strand of Christmas lights. The lights were actually about 10 feet away from the bride and groom, and I was also shooting as close to the lights as possible in aperture f/3.5 to achieve this look. I simply focused on my subject, set my exposure and tada, bokeh framing.

The bokeh behind this detail shot of an ornament at a December wedding was not that far away.  They were actually on the same tree as the ornament.  Since I was shooting with an aperture of f/2.8 very close to my subject (almost macro) I was able to get a significant amount of bokeh. That's the big benefit of lenses with wide open apertures. You don't have to have your subject so far away to achieve the look.

I'm obsessed with stained glass windows, and the ones at Jana and Stephen's wedding were no exception. Shooting with the veil about 5-10 feet in front of the window, I was able to capture the delicate detail of Jana's veil while creating a gorgeous amount of color bokeh. This was shot in aperture f/4.

But get this, you don't have to have a subject to capture images of broken light! This set of purple and white bokeh was actually a Christmas tree at TCU. To get the shot, I chose the settings (aperture first, then the others accordingly) and then I put my camera lens in manual focus. This is not the same thing as the focus points in your camera. It is the auto focus / manual focus on the lens itself. Then I deliberately turned the barrel on the lens to get an image of lights not in focus. Instant bokeh.

Note how this bokeh (above) is much more defined than the previous image. You can actually see some of the hexagon shapes of the lights. That's because I decided to use a smaller aperture to get a different looking bokeh. Again, shot with the lens in manual focus, deliberately set to be out of focus.

image (above) shot with f/2.8

Last but not least, here's one of my favorite images taken of a strand of regular colored lights. I actually had the lights hanging on a window (in a dark room) about 10-15 feet away from me. I chose my aperture (in this case very wide open f/2) adjusted my other settings and then set my lens to manual focus. Again I deliberately made the shot out of focus to create blur without an immediate subject to focus on. This wasn't the final result, in editing I made the darks much darker and tweaked the colors.

So that's just some of the fun you can have shooting bokeh. Next time you're shooting, try your hand at creating these images of broken light.

The Focal Plane and Getting Things in Focus

I don't know about you, but I'm bad at math and other technical things like that. When I first started shooting I was always getting confused with the technical details. Well dealing with the focal plane sometimes confuses people but don't fret - it's really not. that. bad. What the heck am I talking about? Just a little something that looks like this...

So yeah, there are these focal planes in a photograph. Basically if the subjects in a photo line up on the same focal plane at the point of focus - then they will all be in focus... depending on the depth of field. Big wide open apertures like f/2 have a very shallow depth of field. What this means is in focal plane land, there is a very small area where things will be in focus. After such the point of focus drops off really quick.

That's why it's tricky to nail focus when shooting wide open. Now if you're shooting with an aperture that's smaller, it will have a more increased depth of field and you have much more of that subject in focus. Confused yet? That's ok here are some pictures...

I love shooting portraits (singles or couples) in wide open apertures, but it can be really tricky to get two people in focus with apertures like f/2. In the photo above I asked Andy to lean forward until his head lined up with Christine's. Yep, I totally put their faces/heads on the same focal plane. Now if he dropped back some, he would drop out of focus really quick. Likewise, if I happened to hit focus on their shirts, then that area would be in focus and not their faces. That's because of the wide open aperture and the very shallow depth of field.

So when I shot this image we were running out of natural light. Since I didn't want to use flash, I knew that I needed to stick with a bigger aperture. I could have shot this photo with f/2.8 however for the size of the group and how I have them posed someone would not be in focus. I ended up using a high ISO to get the look I wanted with f/4.5 and had just enough depth of field to get everyone lined up and in focus.

f/2.8 = shallow depth of field = focus on the cool Marilyn painting in a thrift shop. The clothes in the foreground were on a different focal plane so they would be blurred (just like I knew they would.) This composition technique is called framing the subject and works great when you want to highlight your subject.

In my last example I wanted to blur quite a bit of the background. For lighting reasons my couple had to be close to the background, so I shot in a wide open aperture of f/2.8. As usual with big apertures it was really important to line them up on the same focal plane if I wanted them both in focus. The result? My couple are both in focus and the green industrial wall behind them is more blurred, making them stand out.

So remember if you're shooting in wide open or want a certain look in your photos, keep in mind the focal plane to help get what you want in focus.

The Histogram - Your Sometimes Friend

In today's post I wanted to focus on the histogram. Or as I like to call it, your sometimes friend.

1. What is the histogram?
The histogram is a graph on your LCD screen that shows what the exposure looks like after you take a picture. If it's too dark, the graph goes to the left. If it's too bright, it goes to the right. If it's a good exposure, it's in the middle.

Now to find the histogram you'll probably need to click info on the picture you're viewing in playback. Check your manuals. The thing to remember is that the histogram is your sometimes friend. It's just a guide. Sometimes the reading is right... sometimes totally off.

To be honest I almost never pay attention to this thing. Most of the time it's all wrong (especially if I'm deliberately shooting dark stuff, like when light painting.) Instead I'm used to how my images look on my LCD screen and how it compares to how they look at home when I upload them on my computer. LCD screens are different though, and if you have one that is hard to judge, you can check your histogram to see what's up.

Here are some examples...

This picture is too dark, I can't even see my dogs eyes. The histogram is towards the left (too many darks.) Totally an accurate histogram reading.

According to the histogram, this is overexposed (the graph is towards the right - too many "lights") but really, it's a pretty good exposure. You can see some of the details are pretty bright in the white wall behind Ava pup towards the left. But my subject is properly exposed just how I want it. So in this case I wouldn't give two fiddle sticks about what my histogram says.

When the histogram stays to the middle and starts to resemble a "mountain" it's supposed to be a good, correct exposure with even lights and darks. The bigger / fatter the mountain, the better the light. Usually we agree! This isn't the best example of a histogram mountain. But like I said, I really don't pay much attention to the histogram. In fact... I kinda/sorta/forgot what it was called. I had to ask my husband B. True story. Mr. Technical saves the day.

Well that's it! This is really a very simple thing in DLSR photography. Just remember that if you want an idea if your exposure is good, take a look at your histogram. It can sometimes be your friend when you're shooting. I never really pay attention to mine but sometimes it helps.

Understanding Aperture and Depth of Field

I totally have a crush on aperture. What's not to love? By choosing certain apertures you can be all kinds of creative with your photos. You can make your subject stand out with some background blur, frame your subjects with foreground blur and of course there's that dreamy bokeh. Most of the time I shoot in f/2.8 or bigger apertures (wide open.) I also love to shoot mid-range apertures to get more of my subject in focus. So what aperture will you choose?

It depends on the look you want in your photograph.

When I started learning photography, my goal was to shoot weddings and engagements. I didn't know much but one thing was for sure: pro photogs were gurus at making their subjects stand out. Yep, I'm talking about those gorgeous soft backgrounds... blurs of color and seamless backdrops.

So what's the trick to creating that look on purpose? Lenses with big apertures. As a reminder, beginner kit lenses normally only open up to f/3.5 or f/4.5 and even when that happens those apertures are only available at certain focal lengths. Why is it like that? Zoom lenses that have bigger apertures available at all focal lengths are really expensive.

But no worries! Even if you only have a kit lens you can still capture background blur and bokeh. That's because the further away your subject is from the background, the more intense the shallow depth of field will be. Granted, you'll have to have your subject stand in front of that pretty wall (or lights) at least 10 feet or more away - but the further away your subject is, the more blur there will be. Yes, even shooting in bigger apertures like f/4.5.

What is depth of field? It is how much of the image is in focus.

Anyway, this is why 99% of the time when beginner photographers learn about aperture they want to add a new lens to their kit. The most popular option? An affordable 50mm f/1.8 prime lens. A lens like that opens up to a whopping f/1.8 aperture. With a lens like that you get tons of opportunity to capture creamy backgrounds and bokeh. You'll also be able to shoot in lower light situations without flash often.

The only downside to shooting wide open?  It's really easy to miss your point of focus but with lots of practice you'll get better at hitting focus.

Wide open apertures like f/2.8 are great for capturing stunning detail photos. If you have a blog, Etsy shop, etc. then shooting in f/2.8 or f/2 is going to be something you'll want to try out. Big apertures really make product shots pop.

It's true that most of the time I shoot in wide open apertures (I have a tendency to stay around f/2.8 - f/2) but sometimes I just need to get more of my subject in focus and a wide open aperture won't work. This is when I'll stop the lens down (make the hole smaller.) Smaller apertures = greater depth of field.

Anytime I'm out shooting new places / architecture I like to use smaller or mid-range apertures.  Apertures f/3.5, f/4.5, f/5.6 are still considered to be big apertures but they have more depth of field than shooting wide open. Apertures f/7, f/10, f/11 are the true mid-range apertures.

Then of course there are the very small apertures. We're talking f/16, f/22, f/32 and I rarely use those.  Those are ideal when you're wanting to capture the details of some grand big picture - like the view from the top of the Royal Gorge Bridge - looking down into the canyon below.

For this view from our cruise ship (above) I actually used f/2.8 - mainly because I didn't want a lot of grain in my photo (from a high ISO) and I wanted to make the most out of the lingering natural light at sunset. This just goes to show that you don't always have to shoot in smaller apertures to get a beautiful landscape shot.  It will just always depend on what you want and what you're willing to compromise when capturing a certain image.

While on-location in Vail, Colorado I shot this image of Aspen trees in late spring around Sylvan Lake. I really wanted more of the trees and texture in focus so I chose a smaller aperture.

If you want to use a very small aperture to shoot big pictures you need to set your aperture and adjust your other settings accordingly. Then pick your point of focus on something about 3-4 feet away from you. When you take the shot the details from front to middle to back will all be in good focus (if you're using a fast enough shutter speed.)

Sometimes the subject you'll want to shoot won't have a lot of depth (front to back) in the first place.  In that case you can get away with bigger apertures, though it's generally better to use a mid-range aperture.

This image of business cards I collected at a social event was shot with a fairly small aperture. Why? I was using a macro lens and anytime you shoot in a macro situation the shallow depth of field is intensified even more. The closer you are to your subject the more background blur you'll get as well.

So if you're shooting in macro and you're just not getting the depth of field and detail that you want, chances are you need to shoot with a much smaller aperture.  The aperture f/4.5 is going to produce a background blur like f/2.8 when shooting in macro. The above image (of cards) was shot at an aperture f/7 with a macro lens.

The next photo was shot in macro. Notice how only the rings are in focus and the focus drops off really quickly past that? I can't remember but I was shooting either aperture f/11 or f/14. When I first started doing ring shots I would get upset because I couldn't get more of the actual ring in focus. I eventually learned that to get more focus in a macro shots, I had to use an even smaller aperture.

Well I hope this post about aperture and depth of field was helpful. Remember that your choice of aperture determines your depth of field in a photo. As always what settings you choose depends on what you want in the photo. It's always your call to get the shot you want.

Fixing White Balance - JPG vs RAW

Have you ever taken a picture that was too yellow, too blue or just overall not the way it looked in person? That would be a white balance issue. I've mentioned before how important it is to pay attention to white balance when shooting in JPG vs. RAW.

When I spent the afternoon with one of my friends at the Modern art museum, I snapped a photo of her that was just awful in terms of white balance. So I thought, hey blog post! Here's a little video tip about why it's important to pick the right white balance setting if you're shooting in jpg format. And a little bit about the difference between shooting in JPG vs. RAW.

As you can see the auto white balance is bad in this picture. The light is way too yellow and red. If you shoot this in JPG without paying attention to the white balance, it's tricky and sometimes impossible to fix. If you shoot this in RAW you can easily fix the white balance issue in editing (I use Lightroom.)

Ewwwww. Look at all that green. I mean, it's better but no cigar. Really I'm done trying to fix this (fixing jpg white balance is just not my thing!)

Now here's the same image (the RAW format) after white balance correction in post editing.  It looks SO much better and more true to life, and it was really easy to fix.

So basically there's nothing wrong with shooting in JPG - but this is why it's really important to pay attention and choose the right white balance setting for the situation you're shooting in. Next time you're out taking pictures, try to remember the white balance and keep it in mind. If you do change the white balance, don't forget to change back to AWB when you're done. Unless of course you're totally feeling all Oompa Loompa up in here.

How to Use Your Camera's Light Meter

I've mentioned in previous posts that aperture, shutter speed and ISO are super important but they are nothing without the light meter. So when shooting in manual you always have to use the light meter, otherwise you won't be able to adjust your settings for a correct exposure. In today's post we are going to learn more about the light meter and how to use it!

Remember, the light meter is most often indicated by a circle, half circle or something close to a circle in the center of the viewfinder (see above.) This example is for Canon and I don't have a Nikon example but they are very similar. Also take note of what the light meter indicator generally looks like.

Here's what you need to know:

1. The light meter indicator helps you get a proper exposure
To manually set your exposure you need to make sure the tic-mark is on the "0" and to get it there, you adjust your aperture / shutter speed / ISO. The light meter indicator tells you if the exposure looks too bright (+) or too dark (-)  and you may have realized by now, this is sometimes subjective. It depends on what you're taking the meter reading off of, or what kind of picture you're trying to take. If you're light painting, the indicator will show it as way too dark (-) etc.  Sometimes even though the tic-mark is on "0" the image is still too overexposed.

2. The light meter isn't perfect
Stay calm and remember - the light meter isn't perfect. In fact the light meter easily gets confused. This is why sometimes no matter what you do to get the tic-mark on "0" the exposure is still bleh! Well in digital photography there's a little thing called "12% reflectance of gray."  It's too complicated for me and I'm not going to go into specifics here but pretty much, its how the camera sees the world. Which means black & white are a big deal in light meter land...

3. Black absorbs light
Ditto for pretty-much-black and really dark grays. These colors will confuse your light meter:  if you take the meter reading off these things... the camera will think you need more light (when you don't) and prompt you to over expose.

4. White reflects light
Bright white snow, white sand beaches, reflective water etc. will confuse your light meter: if you take your meter reading off these things... the camera will think you have TOO much light (when you don't) and prompt you to under expose. Well crap!

5. Find a neutral subject
So black and white objects confuse the light meter. What to do?!  Take the meter reading off something neutral in the scene and take the shot.  That's about it.  Confused?  Don't worry, I have pictures.

The image above is pretty much how the sculpture actually looked in person. When I took my meter reading off the black sculpture, the camera meter told me to add more light...

but instead I got an overexposed picture. No problem! I just took the meter reading off the neutral sky behind the sculpture, set my light, then recomposed and took the shot. TADA!

Here's how Ava pup looked when I took her picture.  It was really bright and lots of light was reflecting back from the sorta-white wall (and concrete.)  When I took the meter reading off the wall, my camera's light meter told me to use less light...

and then the picture looked way underexposed... bleh! Instead I took the meter reading off the blue sky. I set my light (my settings) and recomposed the shot.

And sometimes the light meter does just fine! In this example, I took the meter reading off my subject (the building) and the exposure settings were perfect. If there was a lot of reflection on that glass, I would have taken the meter reading off the sky.

Just remember the light meter is a guide, it helps you set a proper exposure. It is often great but sometimes gets confused. If this happens try taking your meter reading off something neutral in the scene, set your light, recompose and take the shot. The more you work with your light meter the easier it will get!

Understanding White Balance

Have you ever taken a picture only to find that it is too yellow or too blue? Maybe the colors just look off and not quite how they looked when you took the picture. Most of the time this is due to a white balance issue. When you shoot in manual you get to choose the white balance settings. So let's see how white balance can affect your photos!

1. What is white balance?
White balance is the color temperature of light, or as I like to think of it the color tone of light.  Different light sources have different temperatures. Indoor lighting like household lamps are often tungsten - they put off a yellow tone. Fluorescent lights put off a blue/purple tone.

2. When shooting in manual, try setting your camera to AWB (auto white balance)
Just like ISO, cameras handle white balance differently. Keeping your camera in AWB (auto white balance) works well especially if you shoot in RAW. I almost always keep my camera's white balance set to AWB for a few reasons...
1) my camera handles white balance well
2) I'm usually shooting fast and don't want to fuss with setting my white balance constantly
3) I shoot in RAW and edit white balance later, if needed

But that is just me, everyone will have a different preference when it comes to white balance. In the photo example above, the image is shot in AWB.

3. If AWB doesn't cut it, you're shooting in JPG or working in a specific light, pick a specific white balance setting
Sometimes you need to set the white balance for the situation you're in (like low light, inside with tungsten, etc.) Just remember to reset to AWB when done - otherwise you may take a ton of pictures out in the sun only to realize later that everything is blue. This is very important if you're shooting in JPG - because it's hard (and often impossible) to fix white balance in editing. If you're shooting RAW files, you have the ability and flexibility to fix things like white balance after the fact.

4. Cameras feature custom white balance settings
These advanced settings can be created using a grey card. Honestly I have never fussed with custom white balance.

Here are examples of how different white balance settings can affect your photo:

Piggy was photographed outside in even shade and for this, AWB worked pretty good. To give you an idea how WB settings in camera can affect your picture, I took a picture of piggy with the different WB settings on my camera. Some will look really bad because that wasn't the proper WB for the light situation I was shooting in. Notice that in this example the "shade" setting looks best. That was the lighting I was shooting in. Flash comes up a close second but is slightly more blue in tone.

So remember the next time you are shooting in manual, take into consideration the white balance setting. If your camera handles AWB (auto white balance) well and you decide to shoot in RAW then great. If it doesn't (or you want to shoot in JPG) simply choose the proper white balance setting for the light you're shooting in. Don't forget to keep an eye on your white balance settings - when you set it, it stays that way until you change it again.

ISO - The Basics

If you've been following along with my Shooting in Manual series and practicing with your camera then yay! I mean hey, you've come a long way from pressing the shutter in the dreaded "M" mode and getting a blindingly white picture of nothing. Or a major blur of who-knows-what. Right? Well in this post we'll be focusing on the third big player when shooting in manual: ISO

1. What is ISO? It's a Red Bull for your camera!
I've mentioned before that ISO is the camera's sensitivity to light. Or as I like to call it, a Red Bull for your camera. It's the boost you give your camera when you need more light. Let's say you're at the museum and using a flash / tripod is not allowed. You're already shooting wide open (the biggest aperture hole you've got) and it's still not enough light. The light meter says you need to use a crazy slow shutter and it's going to be stupid blurry. What can you do?

Bump up your ISO!

2. Use a higher ISO setting anytime you need more light - but be aware of noise
If you need more light, bumping up your ISO is a great option. But just like downing a case of Red Bull, there are consequences. A really high ISO setting will show digital noise or "grain" in your picture. The less light in the scene - the more grain is noticeble.

Each camera handles ISO differently... some get too grainy at ISO 800, others at ISO 3200. The more expensive the camera, the better it can handle ISO. Just play with your settings to see what's the highest ISO you feel comfortable using. Since high ISO causes grain, you'll want to shoot in the lowest ISO possible if you can. If you want to be artistic and have grain in an image then crank up that ISO. And if given the choice between grain in the image and NO IMAGE AT ALL by all means bump up that ISO. It's better to have a photo, than nothing.

3. What you need to know:

• The choice of ISO setting is up to you - the person taking the picture and what you want from the photo


• Don't forget to check your ISO when setting your light - be sure to do this with every new location or change in light


• You can leave your ISO in auto but I recommend controlling it manually for the best results


• If you don't have a tripod or can't use flash - bump up that ISO to get the shot. A grainy shot is better than no shot

Here are some photo examples to give you an idea what ISO setting to choose in certain situations:

On bright sunny days your ISO can pretty much be as low as possible. If you have the ISO too high and it's really bright, you could have an overexposed photo no matter how small your aperture (or fast your shutter speed.) This is why it's important to keep an eye on your ISO. Don't forget to change your ISO back to low if you go from a darker location (like inside a museum) to a brighter location.

If it's a cloudy day, I'll typically choose an ISO around 400. This is also a great starting point for shaded areas (like the candy apples below.)

Sometimes I still want more ISO - in this example I wanted to use a smaller aperture so I could get more of the ferris wheel in focus. Since I didn't have a tripod, my choice was to bump up my ISO.

Here's one of my favorite images from the Seattle Aquarium. I needed to use a lot more ISO for the shot so I bumped it up to 1600! It allowed me to take advantage of the ambient lighting while still having enough depth of field (aperture) and shutter speed to get decent focus.

I love this photo of Sleeping Beauty's castle @ Disneyland. It was pretty much pitch black, the last bit of twilight almost gone. I didn't have a tripod and I really wanted to get a picture of the ambient light (so no flash!) This is a great example of when you might want to use a high ISO to get the shot. Otherwise I would have had to use a slow shutter that would have been too blurry to see much of anything or used flash. Because there was very little light, the grain in the photo shows up even more. That was my creative choice.

ISO is a pretty simple concept and once you get an idea of the range to pick your ISO settings. Don't be afraid to change your ISO and see how it helps in your photography. Just remember to change the ISO settings back to a lower setting - because once you set it manually it stays that way until you change it.