This time of year we always get a lot of new members to the 365 community. Each and every new member is a unique person and has their own reasons for joining this community. We also have members who have been on 365 for many years and others who just pop in and out to suit their lives. For whatever reason draws you to the 365 Project, the wonderful challenges that people put their time and effort into are a fun and non-threatening way to improve your photographic and artistic skills and help take you to the next level.
The technique challenge has been going for a few years now, and generally runs for 2-3 weeks, with voting after that. The winner of the challenge gets the privilege of choosing the next technique and hosting the challenge.
THE NEW TECHNIQUE CHALLENGE - CREATIVE BOKEH
We’ve all seen those beautiful photos that have dreamy out of focus in the background that really helps to emphasise the main point of focus. For this technique challenge how about we make Bokeh the star of the image and get a little creative.
What is Bokeh? The word ‘bokeh’ refers to the aesthetic quality of an image’s blur, which is found in the out-of-foucs area of a picture. It is the way in which your lens renders points of light that are out of focus. Most tutorials recommend using a fast lens with the aperture wide open on f/1.8 or similar. Don’t be put off from this challenge if you don’t have this type of lens, I’ve also included links to tutorials on how to use your long lens
Here are a few links to kick start your creativeness.
Subject - Creative Bokeh
Start - Jan 1, 2018
Finish - Jan 15, 2018
Tag - technique79
Only photos taken and posted within these dates will be eligible for voting.
Have fun! I am looking forward to seeing your creative bokeh photos. Tag your photos with technique79 to enter the challenge.
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE ALSO PLACE A COPY OF YOUR PHOTO ON THIS THREAD SO WE CAN ALL ADMIRE YOUR WORK AND TO GIVE INSPIRATION TO OTHERS BUT IT'S NOT ESSENTIAL
wow thats such a long list, perhaps we should wipe that each year! well done Debbie, great writeup, I'll help you give feedback and try to get my piece up on sandbox soon...
I love this!!! My plan for 2018 is to learn a new technique at least once a month (hoping for once a week) so this is perfect!!! I just recently did a couple of bokeh plays.. so I'll link them here :P.
@deborah63@kali66 hahaha! it took me FORever to put that list together ;p just kidding... i still have it saved somewhere up to wherever we were when i won last summer... i was trying to come up with a challenge that hadn't been done in a while... i definitely agree we should just let the list recycle itself after a year or so... it's a crazy list (right up there with the mundane object list!)
@northy @ kali66 I was wondering if there is some IT Savvy person who could put this list into a seperate folder like the one that is floating around for the Artist Challenge
Here's a short tutorial for how I created the shot above, when I was not happy with the bokeh that occurred naturally. I work in Lightroom, so that was the basis for cropping and tweaking to get the focal image to the point where I was happy with it. It had the tones I wanted and the soft bokeh from the lights out the window, but I wanted to add some defined bokeh in the lower left corner.
Next, I exported within LR to a plug-in called Topaz Textures (can be purchased and downloaded -- follow their directions or online directions to link it to LR, or use as a standalone -- either works fine).
Within Textures, I did 'add an adjustment' (the plus sign) and selected 'bokeh'
Within the 'bokeh' options, I chose the one I wanted -- I was looking for the right size and color tones to make it require the fewest adjustments back in LR. Once I clicked on my choice, I then did local adjustments:
1. I clicked the 'move' key so that I could move the bokeh to where i wanted it in the image
2. I used the slider to make it larger til it was in the right place and the right size
3. I used the masking tool to make sure that my original focal image was still tack sharp and not muted by any bokeh from the textures file
4. I clicked 'save' (or 'apply' - can't remember what the name is) to keep the final version and reimport to LR
5. Final adjustments/tweaks in LR before posting.
@merrelyn I love it. Especially his green eye. I haven't had a chance yet to try the shaped Bokeh , but I have a feeling that it's not as easy as it sounds to get the shape right. Keep perserving, you'll get there.
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Brilliant.. I love them both.
Sandbox. This is the 'how to' that I used to create the bokeh in my portrait shot.
Here's a short tutorial for how I created the shot above, when I was not happy with the bokeh that occurred naturally. I work in Lightroom, so that was the basis for cropping and tweaking to get the focal image to the point where I was happy with it. It had the tones I wanted and the soft bokeh from the lights out the window, but I wanted to add some defined bokeh in the lower left corner.
Next, I exported within LR to a plug-in called Topaz Textures (can be purchased and downloaded -- follow their directions or online directions to link it to LR, or use as a standalone -- either works fine).
Within Textures, I did 'add an adjustment' (the plus sign) and selected 'bokeh'
Within the 'bokeh' options, I chose the one I wanted -- I was looking for the right size and color tones to make it require the fewest adjustments back in LR. Once I clicked on my choice, I then did local adjustments:
1. I clicked the 'move' key so that I could move the bokeh to where i wanted it in the image
2. I used the slider to make it larger til it was in the right place and the right size
3. I used the masking tool to make sure that my original focal image was still tack sharp and not muted by any bokeh from the textures file
4. I clicked 'save' (or 'apply' - can't remember what the name is) to keep the final version and reimport to LR
5. Final adjustments/tweaks in LR before posting.
artificial bokeh is not one I do very often, but had to play with this one. taken with christmas lights in back ground
@caterina That's one very large Bokeh. It fits the artistic theme perfectly.
Thanks for playing along.
@spectrum Nailed it... I love the colours and bokeh.