Special Bokeh Filters: Give Your Photo's a Creative Twist!

by ward.depoorter

9.6K7917

Intro: Special Bokeh Filters: Give Your Photo's a Creative Twist!

These filters are a great way to make your give photography a little creative and personal touch, and they cost next to nothing. The filters work best with fast primes, like a nifty fifty, but you could also try it on a point and shoot camera, if you make the cutout small enough. If you have some vintage glass laying around, these should work on there too and give a really cool look!

STEP 1: Determine Filter Size, and Draw It on the Paper

  • If you have a filter holder like me, just draw a rectangle with the size of your filters using your pencil. Then, draw the two diagonals to determine the middle of the rectangle.
  • If you don't have a filter holder, no problem! You can also do it without. Measure your filter size, and draw a circle with the same diameter. I just turned my lens upside down, and drawed around it using my pencil. depending on the lens you want to use, you may want to think about how you want to attach the filter (rubber bands, tape, ... )

STEP 2: Draw the Shape You Want.

I drew a spiral and a star, but you can draw any shape you want here. Some inspiration: a smiley, Christmas tree, heart, fireworks, ... Just any symbol you want, really, as long as it hasn't too much details because these may not show that well on your photo's. Just make sure that you don't make the cutout too big for your lens, look in the table above to determine what the maximum size is.(Click on it to see it fully) If you are using the round design, without filter holder, als add some little flaps to put under the rubber bands.

STEP 3: Cutting

Cut your shapes and filters out. If you are using the round design, also fold the flaps to a right angle. Your filters are ready to go!

STEP 4: Camera Settings

To use the filters, put your camera in Aperture priority and use manual focus, and any light points in the background will turn into your chosen shape. I used a lego set and some Christmas lights, which made for a great combo.

9 Comments

MalekIkbal 2 years ago

Love that result, I will make it a future project soon, we'll wait for the results hehe

mikehendricks 2 years ago

Your picture caught my attention. When I was a stupid kid, I actually had the metal version of the Yellow Sub. As I recall, you could push buttons and different Beatles would pop up! Yeah, when my family was moving to a different state, I gave it to my friend. Guess it's a mixed bag of memories of childhood friendships on one side and on the other - just another reminder that when younger I suffered too many blows to the head. Good Job on your Instructable!

GrahamRounce 2 years ago

Yet another Instructable that launches straight into the construction without explaining what it is we are supposed to be making!

ward.depoorter 2 years ago

True, I did not think of that. Basically, how it works is as following. Inside your lens, there is a diaphragm (f-number) which can open up and close. If you choose a small f-number, it opens up and you get a more out of focus background. If there are any light points in that background, they will get the shape of the diaphragm. If you thus place another shape in front of your lens, this becomes a second diaphragm, which has your cool shape on the bakground!

GrahamRounce 2 years ago

Thank-you for the explanation!
But... more? What is the general effect, and how is it achieved?

huplescat 2 years ago

That's so cool! I love the effect in the chicken background in particular :) Does it impact the sharpness of the image at all?

ward.depoorter 2 years ago

Thanks! You may lose a little bit of sharpness, but it's negligible. Especially if you are using a prime lens, You should have no issues.

huplescat 2 years ago

Oh great, I'll have to give it a try sometime :)