Thanks Tim- I ran across a cool tutorial on how to do this. (My fake lens hood was way less professional looking than theirs- pretty much just held it in front of the camera.) Here is a link: http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_create_your_own_bokeh
I can't say it better than Tim...other than add emphasis: DUDE! Seriously COOL! Thanks for the link...that is something that would have never crossed my mind, but now something I think I'll have to play around with on my 50mm F1.7 one of these days.
I tried my own spin on this shot...can you tell what my intent was? Clicking the picture takes you to its Flickr page.
jeff, can you sort of fill in the missing details about this? i have read the DIY article a few times but something seems to be not clicking in my brain. maybe expand on how you did the photo of your daughter? i know it's multiple layers...
I'm not Jeff, but when I did it (for the shot I posted here and shots other than the one I posted here), I did it all in one shot. You just use a wide open aperture (I used f/1.4), using black paper, cut a shape out that is smaller than the lens opening, and take a picture.
how does that create the multiple images out of one cut in the paper? aperture blades? can you post a photo of the fitting that you put on the front of your lens?
Physics, Tim. It's easier to think of it with digital sensors, but it was the same principle with film. It's like adding another set of aperture blades in front of the lens, and the light has to travel through it for each and every film grain (photo site). So for each highlight you would get this effect.
I threw away the piece I made to cover the lens (my cutout wasn't quite centered and the paper I used was too flimsy), but from what I read on the DIY guy's Flickr page, it works the way Roger described it. Sorry I can't be of more help. I do plan on revisiting it in the future though, as it could potentially make for some cool shots!
that was the question... obviously this would work better in front of christmas tree vs. a single bulb. that was my hangup.
Right; but you have to watch using it too much, just like using a star filter on Main Street at night.. <shudder>
