Today I wanted to share with you a fun idea to do this Valentine’s Day.
You may remember I did a post about bokeh shapes around Christmas time. Â If you missed it, go check it out, since you’ll need to make a heart shaped “lens filter” to get this look.
This little photo is actually really easy to create (provided you have a cooperative child).
So what do you need?
A DSLR camera
A lens with an aperture of 2.8 or lower (I use a 50mm fixed lens. The lowest apeture is 1.8)
A tripod
Christmas lights
A backdrop (white if your string of lights is white, black if you have a dark colored string)
Heart shaped lens filter
A cooperative subject
How to set it up:
So you are going to want to have enough light hitting your subject to illuminate them. Â I don’t know if you can tell from the picture below, but I have my backdrop facing a window. Â I am actually had to open the door wall and take the picture from outside.
I pinned and taped the lights into the shape that I wanted to. Â You will probably want to have your subject stand in place so you can figure out where to place the lights.
After that you can start taking pictures. Â But your heart “lens filter” on your camera, and focus on your subject. Â Focusing on your subject makes the lights bokeh, and the lens filter turns those into hearts.
I think you could do some really cute pictures with this set up. Â Annabelle really wasn’t feeling it and just kept moving around and asking when we would be done.
[bctt tweet=”Learn how to make #bokeh hearts just in time for #valentinesday! I’ve got a simple tutorial #otb. #fun ” username=”A_Sprinkleofjoy”]
I hope I’ve inspired you to try this out!
Also, if you are unsure of how to use your DSLR I have a super simple series of tutorials teaching you all about it! You can also find a link on the side bar (its the button labeled Take Better Photos with your DSLR).  It’s free, and you don’t have to sign up for anything, so check it out! 🙂
