Our new addition to the family…and Bokeh!

© Hayley Salmon

On Thursday, 11th December 2014 my new baby cousin, Aimee, made her entrance into our family. Obviously this was going to be a new photo opportunity for me but I wanted to try something a little different from the normal baby portrait image.

I really like the aesthetic quality of “Bokeh” the beautiful soft effect in which the background of a photograph becomes like circles of blurred, translucent light. This blurring is created by the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by the lens. I’ve had a little experience of using this photographic technique with outside street and fun fair lighting but I thought I would give Christmas tree lights and tinsel a go…

Our gorgeous Aimee complete with glowing orbs of magic behind her…

To achieve the twinkly lights in the background I had to use the widest aperture setting  – the wider the setting the more intense the Bokeh effect. The widest aperture lens I have is a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens. Using the camera on a tripod I set the AV to f/2.8, ISO to 200 and the exposure at 1.00 second (this was OK initially as she was fast asleep!) I used the single point autofocus point and back button focussing with a remote control shutter release to avoid camera shake. We placed Aimee on a pretty Christmassy cushion about 1 to 1.2 m away from the Christmas tree.

I love how the Christmas tree lights make the shots look magical. On reflection,  Aimee’s face is a little too dark so I probably should have raised the ISO to 400. I would also really like to try this technique using a wider aperture and use natural light on her face to avoid the colour cast (as these were shot at night) and I think I may invest in the prime Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens to see what further improvements I can make. On the whole I, and her parents are really pleased with the outcome. I do love photography and the precious moments that you can capture for prosperity. I really would like to do this shoot again before Christmas is completely over…

Here are a couple more images from my shoot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Hayley Salmon

• ASHBROOK, S., 2009. Bokeh. PSA Journal [online], 75(9), p.18 [viewed 27 December 2014]. Available from: EBSCOhost
• LUCK, S., 2012. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Digital Photography: A Step-by-Step Guide. Wigston: Lorenz Books