I love my Google calendar, but there is something about having a calendar hanging on the wall that I can’t give up. I have been putting together a photo calendar, but instead of pictures of Annie I’m using some of my still life shots. While I was flipping through my photos I remembered that a bajillion of you wanted to know how to make shaped bokeh after seeing my heart tree (bokeh refresher post here). DIY Shaped Bokeh just for you, awwww.
What you need:
A camera that has manual focus
Dark-colored card stock
Scissors
Pencil
Shaped Hole Punch
Rubber Band
Tripod
On a sheet of card stock, trace the outline of your lens. Dark-colored card stock is best because it blocks the light, but white will work at night time.
Draw three “wings” that are approximately 1 inch long, then cut the whole thing out.
Draw whatever shape you want your bokeh to have. I went with a heart, because it’s easy and I am drawing challenged. OR you can use your shaped hole punch here. That’s 10,000,000% easier. I should get one. Anyway, make sure your shape is centered and small – no bigger than a dime. (Edit to add: the number one reason this tutorial doesn’t work for people is because the cut-out is too big.)
If you don’t have the hole punch, cut out your shape. I used nail scissors because they were small and precise.
Place the paper over your lens, using the rubber band to hold the wings in place.
I put my camera on a tripod, then switched my lens to manual focus. I shot in Aperture Priority mode and set my f-stop to 1.8. The more out of focus the picture is, the bigger the shapes will be. The paper with the shape cut into it literally shapes how the light hits the sensor of your camera. It’s like magic.
Ta da!
I am going to use the heart picture for my February photo.
This one is for the dog days of summer, of course!
Any questions? Let me know!
Daisy says:
I had no idea- thanks! I would have never figured this out by myself!
Amber-Drew says:
I did this but it didnt work! It just made my subject heart shape! So what did I do wrong!?
Heather says:
The heart might be too big. If the photo is somewhere I can see it, link it!
lyn says:
You may not have had your aperture as low as possible, around F/4 is good, also I found you need to turn the shape upside down, due to the camera’s mirror seeing everything the wrong way.
Neeroc says:
I like the wing idea, most of the other tutorials I’ve seen have you taping the cardboard.
The only other thing I’d add to this tutorial is that you should be using a fairly large aperture lens and open it wide, and you need to make sure the cut out is smaller than that.
Heather says:
Good point! I will add that.
Tessa says:
What is the largest you can go it F/4?
Heather says:
Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re asking!
Barbara says:
Heather, you did put in the instructions about using a large aperture. 1.8. Also, Tessa is talking about what is the largest aperture you can use. Tessa, Heather must be able to use a 1.8 with her lens, however, a lot of lens can only open up to 5.6 or 4. So use the largest aperture you have. That will help make it out of focus.
Ashley says:
For your dog days of summer one, you should totally add Rigby up front and in focus and have the paw prints behind
Angela says:
I’m totally going to do this!
Skye says:
Thank you! This is amazing and I can’t wait to try!
Fiona says:
Hi
Might be a really stupid question but how have you managed to get multiple hearts/paws when you only had one heart on the cardboard….?
Great effects
Fiona x
Fiona says:
Wait a minute – I think I get it……the actualy lights on the tree, instead of just shining, because of the heart template the camera sees them as heart shaped….? Is this right?
Thanks
Fiona x
Heather says:
yep, you got it! Every light on the string becomes the shape of the filter.
Fiona says:
Thanks Heather….and apologies for the errors in spelling etc. I am actually not illiterate, but you wouldn’t know it from my comment…..
Great photography stuff. Love it!
Cheryl says:
I couldn’t get my camera to go below an f stop of 3.5. How do I make it go lower with the A setting on?
Heather says:
3.5 is good for bokeh! It all depends on the lens. The lens you’re using probably isn’t designed to go below 3.5. But you should get good bokeh on f/3.5!
kristi says:
I had a question… probably dumb, but… can you do this with any lighting or does it need to be dark and did you use small lights for all of those picturess?
~Kristi
Heather says:
You should be able to do this with any lighting, although it will be clearest when it’s dark. I used Christmas lights for this demo!
Courtney says:
I tried this, cut everything out to scale etc, and tried it on christmas lights, but i couldn’t get it to make the shapes…? any tips or maybe reasons why it wont work? the lowest my camera’s f-stop could go is 5….i was wondering if that might be the problem.
Heather says:
Hmm. Are you remembering to make the picture out of focus? Bokeh is out of focus light, so that’s where you’ll see the shapes. Let me know and then I can troubleshoot some more.
neeroc says:
In order to make sure the opening you have cut is small enough to get the shaped lights you can calculate the aperture of your camera at f5 like this:
focal length of lens/f-stop you are using=aperture
So for a 200mm lens, at f5 anything smaller than 40mm (4cm, about an inch and a half) should work. But a 70mm lens at f5 will mean your cut out can be no bigger than 15mm, or 3/5 of an inch.
Courtney says:
Seeing the comment below, that might be my problem. What kind of camera did you do this on? I was using my DSLR Nikkon. could that be the issue perhaps?
neeroc says:
What was the focal length of the lens you were using? You need both the f-stop and the focal length to figure out how small to make the cut out.
This will absolutely work on a DSLR, you just have to make sure you cut the whole small enough
Courtney says:
I was using my 55-135mm lens.
katie says:
I took like 50 pictures trying different settings and couldn’t get it to work.
Heather says:
what kind of camera are you using?
Maiya says:
I tried this for my photography challenge. I made a star cut out. It sort of worked, but the star didn’t seem to fully take shape. Any idea of what happened? Here’s my photo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/maiyabecker/7417985208/
Heather says:
what kind of camera did you use? How big was the hole you cut?
Maiya says:
I used a Canon EOS REBEL T1i. The star was as small as I could cut it out! lol Not quite a half inch at the widest point. Maybe that’s it. It was too big?
S says:
Will this work on a digital camera, and if so is there anything special i have to do to make it work? Thanks xo
Heather says:
Do you mean on a point and shoot?
S says:
Yes. I’m kind of an amateur, I don’t know much about different types of cameras but my own ( a Nikon Coolpix L22) but I really enjoy photography. So is there anything i can do to make this work on my type of camera?
Sarah Starks says:
How did you get the different colors?!
Heather says:
different colored Christmas lights!
Mackenzie says:
I have the Nikon Coolpix P510 and I can not figure out how to do this!
Kasey says:
I am using a Canon Rebel T3 and i have adjusted my aperature and taken several pictures, and tried different sizes, i just can’t get this right.
Heather says:
What about your focus? If the light is in focus, it will NOT take on the shape of your cut out.
kasey says:
I got it to sort of work. Just needs a little more work. Its not taking a normal photo, kind of cut off on one side. Thank you!
Sanya says:
My f-stop won’t go below 3.5 and when I try to take the picture, it doesn’t work! Do I need a lense that would allow me to go use a 1.8 f-stop? Thanks! Your pictures look amazing!
Heather says:
No, that will work. Are you focusing your lens on something else, with the lights in the background? Or are you making sure your focus is blurry if your photo is just the lights?
Christina says:
Thanks for the tutorial! I’m slowly getting the hang of my new DSLR, and this will be my next project.
Rylie Beasley says:
When I take the pic I only see 1 heart
Barbi says:
Did you also use Christmas lights for the paw prints?
Heather says:
yes I did.
C says:
Hi, what you did looks really great. I just cant seem to get it. I have put it on the specific mode. But I can only go to f5.6. I only get a picture with a heart frame. What do i do?
Kelly Lindquist says:
I dont want to do this with Christmas lights, but I would love to see if I could frame my subjects in a heart like you cut out above. Is that possible with this – unblurred with a regular photo of people?
Heather says:
You mean, the shape of the photo is a heart, or do you mean something different?
Kimberly says:
Can you do this with any camera?
Heather says:
Yes! I am working on a point-and-shoot-specific post.
Angna Shah says:
I tried this and it works!! It’s awesome, TFS!!!
Liz says:
I’ve tried this a million different ways, even in shutter priority to allow the shutter speed to be slower and allow more light in. I haven’t done actual Manual yet, but that’s going to be next. But my lights are not shaping! Everything is just in the shape itself and really blurry. I am making sure it’s out of focus and not zoomed in at all. Any tips?
Heather says:
You don’t want it in shutter priority – aperture priority is best, and you want it as open as possible. Your shape might be too big – try making a smaller shape and see if that works!
Carmin says:
it didnt work:( it just came out in the shape of a heart…
Heather says:
Try changing the size of your heart!
Valeria says:
How could i get a kid maby in focus and the lights in back heart shaped ?
i can see that i need to make my shape smaller
Heather says:
This is actually the easiest way to achieve bokeh! Just focus the camera on your kid, and the lights in the background will automatically blur into the shape you’re trying to achieve!
joanne says:
Ive tried this with a star shape aiming it at my christmas tree, the room is dark, Ive got a bridge camera but can get manual setting and have been able to set my f to 3.1. All Im getting is a star shaped image of what Im aiming at.
?
Heather says:
Your cut-out is likely the wrong size! Try some different sizes, that should work.
Reg says:
So far I’ve got all the settings right, but I’m assuming the cut out size is wrong. Any suggestions on the size of the cutout….my lens is a fixed lens on a fuji dslr, 34-720mm. Thanks, Reg
HLM Photography says:
worked GREAT! at first it didn’t, but read thru the comments, and changed the size of the shape (smaller) and it worked out perfect. Thanks for passing that along!
Jennifer says:
How can I do this with a Canon Rebel T3i? My f-stop won’t go lower than 5.0
Heather says:
You can still do it with this lens! Set it to 5.0 and manual focus and you should have no problems.
Heather says:
I tried this and it didn’t work? Instead of a bokeh effect it looked like a pin hole :(. I used a hole puncher in a shape of a flower which created a hole smaller than the one you had. The only thing I can think of is I used a Nikon L120 which isn’t a DSLR it’s more like an advanced point and shoot. Please help!
Heather says:
It might actually be TOO small! Try making the size a bit bigger – maybe cut along the outline of the hole punch to expand it a bit. Let me know if that helps!
LAPOPIN says:
Hello I tried , my heart are not clear. I worked with tripod and pentax k5 50mm 1,4. AV
What I have to do more ?
Sorry for the translation
Lindsay says:
Hello,
I’ve got the bokeh effect with stars when the lens is in the MF mode but I’m trying to take a picture of my cat in front of the tree with the stars but I cannot for the life of me get him bright enough to see. Even with all the lights on in the house he is so dark. I do get the stars but how do I get a brighter subject? Ive tried with the AF mode on the lens but it won’t take a picture at all for me. I’m using a rebel t3 and a 50mm lens..1/40, 1.8 and 1600. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Heather says:
Try using AV mode – that will have the camera select the proper shutter speed and ISO and will hopefully help you get your cat properly lit!
Tessa says:
I am so excited I found this! Thank you for sharing. I have often wondered if this could be done without the lensbaby and aperture rings. I can’t wait to try this. I also can’t wait to share with my instructors that have told me it can’t be done..
av says:
I have set it all up and i can see heart shape blurs but the camera wont lock the focus so i can fully click the photo. What am I doing wrong!?
Heather says:
Try turning off auto-focus and see if that works!
Karrigan says:
When I did this with my Nikon D3100 the hearts looked funky and the clarity was horrible. Any suggestions?
Heather says:
What did you use to cut out the hearts? How big were they? Did you use manual focus? What kind of lens were you using?
Kailyn Neil says:
Hi! I love the tutorial! I’m in a production class and we’re making demonstration videos for a project. I’ve seen a few different websites with this tutorial, but yours is my favorite! Would it be ok with you if I used a few of your pictures in my presentation and I’ll credit your blog?
Please let me know, I really love this idea.
Heather says:
Hi Kailyn,
Sure, that’s fine! Good luck with your project!
Marcia Salazar says:
Pure genius. I couldn’t have figured this one out on my own. You must really be an expert with using your camera. Thanks for sharing the idea. Will definitely try it out.
laurel says:
I found that the further away from the lights the better the bokeh. Also, I noticed on another site that moving the star, heart etc further away from the lens could help. Moving the shape and wrapping the space with a strip of black paper (or tin foil works best) makes the shape further away from the lens.
mish says:
how does the heart have color? do you edit that or it will appear like that when you take a picture? Just want to ask before doing it,THANK YOU. :)))
Heather says:
The heart’s color will be whatever color the light is!
Julie says:
It’s kind of like when you take a picture of an eclipse though the trees. I have some pictures through the trees on my barn that are cool too!
Shannon says:
It reminds me of the 3-D glasses that make shapes out of the Christmas lights that we picked up last year. I was trying to take a picture through the glasses, but this is way better! Totally trying it.
laurel says:
I don’t like forcing my photo out of focus to get the shaped bokeh, instead, I put the human a few feet (or more) from the lights and then focus on the human. Works every time. The further I move the human away from the lights, the more the bokeh.
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physiotherapeut hamburg says:
I delight in, cause I found exactly what I used to
be having a look for. You have ended my 4 day lengthy hunt!
God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
Mike says:
This is the simplest and the best intruction I have found on internet. Very helpful. Many thanks! Greetings from Czech republic.
Samantha says:
Hi, I’m new in the photography thing and English is my second language so I barely understand can someone please tell me which buttons or what should I do with my camera so I can take this amazing photos.
I really want to do this, please someone help!!
Btw I have a Nikon D3200
John Speckman says:
Hello, Is there a way of using digital and camera phones that can be used for this affect ? What are some really cool ways and affects to get the ” How did you do this ” attention by using todays digital and camera phones ?
Heather says:
On a camera phone you’d likely just have to use an app to add the shaped bokeh effect later. As for digital, do you mean point and shoot? I took all of these with a digital SLR camera.
Birgit says:
i tried it but it did not work
Sarah says:
Tried this with my nikon d5100, 18-55 lens, no matter how many times I tried different sizes of the shape, the bokeh looked nothing like a heart shape, mostly just weirdly shaped blurry spots? F stop was 5.6 (wouldn’t go any lower, even though it should be able to go to 3.5) but kept saying “subject too dark”. Any ideas what I’m doing wrong?
Heather says:
The F-Stop really needs to be lower, unfortunately. Did you try using manual focus?
Mike says:
My 1st test http://www.bastleni.eu/upload/strom_hvezdicky.jpg
MillieP says:
I tried this and the picture I’ve taken appears with a small section of the photo being a heart shaped cut out of my subject and the rest of the space filled with the colour of the card I’ve used. My camera has taken a picture of everything in front of the actual lens, including the cardboard. What would you suggest I’ve done wrong? And how to fix it?
Heather says:
What kind of camera and lens are you using?
Sarah says:
Would this technique work with a zoom lens on a dslr or would it only work on a prime lense?
Heather says:
It should! Just make sure your aperture is wide open (the smallest number possible). The shapes might not be as sharp, as the aperture tends to be smaller on zoom lenses, but it’s definitely worth a shot!
Meagan says:
If I want to take a picture of my daughter with the “heart” lights as the background, how would I bring my daughter into focus but still have the lights out of focus to make the “hearts”?
Heather says:
If you focus the lens on your daughter (using manual or autofocus) the lights in the background should go out of focus IF you have your aperture set wide open (a low f-stop). Hope that helps!
Carolynn says:
What background is best to use??
Heather says:
The simpler, the better!
Brittany says:
This is brilliant! I have to try this with my camera.
Boom says:
Nope. This didn’t work no matter what I did. I used a canon DSLR and no matter how I tried to change the settings or use light or dark paper, nothing worked. It just took a normal pic every time. So frustrating.
Heather says:
How big was the hole? What kind of lens are you using?
Nicole says:
HUGE TIP!
I wanted to try this for a while and last night I finally gave it a shot, I was frustrated for about an hour getting nothing to happen, changing my settings, the cut-out anything. I googled some tips on bokeh and saw a tip about focusing the camera and then it was magic!
When you are going to try this you want to have your camera set up the way youd like, then (with autofocus on) aim the camera at something like a person, your shoe (i used my computer screen) anything closer to you than the lights.
THEN, switch your camera out of autofocus to manual focus (it will keep the lens set to how it focused on whatever you chose) and then when you point the camera back at the lights it will be out of focus enough to turn the lights into your shapes.
the most likely problem is that your lens is not out of focus enough! So glad I finally figured it out
Anni says:
Will this work with a Canon eos rebel t3i? I saw yours was a Canon 7d and I just wanted to make sure.
Heather says:
YEP! I used to have an EOS Rebel and it worked!
Zuzu Petals says:
It would be cute to use the hearts photographing lit candles at a wedding. I had a star filter and used it for some candles at a wedding, and I remember it turning light reflections on people’s glasses into stars. Funny effect. Thanks for the good idea!