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December: Highlight Reel, 1

It's bokeh month!! It has become a tradition to cover the theme "bokeh" every December. The fun, festive theme is the perfect way to end the year long project. It's hard to believe we're closing off year three of this project!


I will have to admit to a wee confession, though. I don't get overly excited for the bokeh theme. I love bokeh, don't get me wrong. But sometimes, as it often happens in the world of social media, something can become trendy and it explodes into excessiveness. Suddenly, there's a bokeh explosion of festive Christmas lights where no lights really belong.


But! Lest you think me a Grinch, I do believe that festive bokeh can be pretty when used thoughtfully and intentionally.


And! There is so much more to the world of bokeh than twinkly Christmas lights! Like snow bokeh (my personal favorite) and the creamy golden backgrounds from lens compression and light hitting just so.


I was so happy while looking through all your images in the Photo Dump. Bokeh can be sentimental and romantic and nostalgic all wrapped into one. Here are some of my favorites.





Gear: Nikon D750, old nikkor 50mm 2.0

Settings: ISO 100, SS 1/1000, free lensed

The Shot: I got down very low to the ground and tried to focus on that one little guy on the left, and allow some light leak into the free lensed image

Post Processing: I added a bit of contrast and clarity, then went to the HSL panel where I changed the hue of the yellow, the saturation of the yellow and green, the luminance of the green. Lastly, I used the split toning panel and added bit of purple to the shadows and yellow/green to the highlights.




Gear: Nikon z7 - sigma art 135mm

Settings: 1.8 1/500 iso 800

The Shot: I stood back and my clients little girl to play/dance and have fun. I watched and shot when she started moving.

Post Processing: Edited in ACR warmed, hilights brought down, shadows up, sharpened, blue saturation up, greens cooled, orange and blue luminance up. PS cloned in more of the bokeh, warmed, added contrast.




Gear: Canon 5D mIV sigma 35 mm

Settings: 1/800 f2.8 ISO 800

The Shot: I was looking for a different point of view for a portrait. I went out onto the terrace and saw the reflection of the garden on the window. I thought it might be interesting to try playing with the bokeh that was created. I put in manual focus and took the shot.

Post Processing: I struggled a lot to edit due to the reflection of the outdoor terrace furniture. I have cloned a lot and played with the lights.




Gear: Canon 6D Mark II with 35mm 1.4

Settings: f/3.2 1/800 ISO 1000

The Shot: Got on my son's level slightly and made sure sun was filtered through the trees

Post Processing: Applied preset in Lightroom (2 Cool 4 U from Two Blooms) Decreased exposure & blacks. Increased highlights, shadows, whites, clarity, vibrance and saturation. Removed some matte effect using the tone curve and removed vignette. Took to photoshop to overlap bokeh and remove chromatic aberration from trees in background.




Gear: Nikon d750 + lensbaby sol 45

Settings: F3.5 (the lens has a fixed aperture), 1/160, ISO 500

The Shot: This is a composite of multiple images- I took one photo of myself, one photo showing the full mirror shape (had to back up at an awkward angle to get it all in frame which is why I needed to do a composite), and then another one of fairy lights against a wall- I had initially tried to take it holding the fairy lights but since you could see then in my reflection it didn’t look good.

Post Processing: To edit I first made basic adjustments to all of the photos in Lightroom, and then brought into photoshop to do the composite replacing myself in the image with the full mirror and cleaning up the background (original could see reflection of a door and curtains). I added the fairy lights as a bokeh overlay as well as an additional bokeh overlay from Jessica Drossin. Took back into Lightroom for final edits.




Gear: Canon Mark IV & Lensbaby Spark2 Sweet50

Settings: ISO 4000 1/25

The Shot: Taken in the quietness of Sunday evening when all the kids were in bed and everything was peaceful.

Post Processing: Edited with SMAL01 and tweaks




Gear: Canon 6D Mark II Canon 35mm 2.0

Settings: Iso 1600, Fs 2.0, ss, 250

The Shot: I had my daughter lying on the couch in a crochet blanket with Christmas lights on top of her!

Post Processing: I edited this with my own preset.




Gear: Sony a7iii with sony 35 mm

Settings: shutter speed 1/2000 f1.8/ ISO 100

The Shot: First I saw her shadow and photographed that. But then I moved myself to get her and her shadow both in the frame. I was trying to get some natural light bokeh, and I do have a bit on the wreath, but I just loved this shadow so much. So I added some foreground bokeh from Jamie Eilts.

Post Processing: edited In lightroom mobile: straightened/contrast down/highlights down/ blacks down/adjusted curves/warmed up slightly/vibrancy up/saturation down/ texture up/clarity up/dehaze up/sharpened/. Added bokeh overlay from Jamie Eilts in photoshop mix.




Gear: Canon 5D mkIV 85mm

Settings: f1.8 1/250 ISO250

The Shot: There is a park that I have been dying to take pictures at, but I can never get any clients that want to drive far enough to get there. One day after school I grabbed my kids and some clothes and headed there. It is such a magical place to explore. I had my little one walk along the edge of the creek and just instructed her to look around at what she may see in the water.

Post Processing: Cropped in slightly, highlights and shadows adjusted, levels, colors warmed through selective coloring, fairy lights added and sharpened.




Gear: Nikon d750, Lensbaby Sol 45

Settings: ISO 200 1/1000

The Shot: Shot from my front yard at sunrise through a pine tree strung with lights.

Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom: adjusted exposure, highlights, and shadows, increased saturation and vibrancy a bit, adjusted luminance of magenta and red Photoshop: retouching out phone wires, slight curves adjustment.




Gear: Nikon D750, Nikon 24-70mm at 62mm

Settings: 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100

The Shot: I shot with the sun at the top right of the lens so that I'd get some evening warmth and haze. I also shot so that the focus leaf had other branches and a few leaves in the background to provide subtle bokeh.

Post Processing: Edited in Adobe Camera Raw using a Krautkopf preset.

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