Just recovered from fever & food poisoning @ Wasabi.

While waiting for $5 generic remote switch being shipped from Hong Kong, a $45 Dolica Proline tripod from Amazon (can’t afford a Manfrotto at the moment) and a clear night sky, I did some custom shape bokeh.

Bokeh (derived from Japanese, a noun boke 暈け, meaning "blur" or "haze") is a photographic term referring to the æsthetic quality of point-of-light sources in an out-of-focus area of an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field. Essentially, bokeh is a qualitative measure of light distortion in the out-of-focus areas of an image, and is primarily caused by lens aberrations and aperture shape.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

Got this idea from : http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_create_your_own_bokeh

My version :

• Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
• 50mm diameter black piece of paper/cardboard
• custom shape within 20mm diameter
• 52mm UV filter

Instead of putting outside, I’ve decided to sandwich it between the lens and filter (not a good idea if you are constantly changing the shape)

Taken from inside the car.

Taken outside with street lamps

Tools needed:

• Digital Camera [if you are going to use film, you will need to scan all of them ]
• Tripod [not needed but recommended]
• Windows Live Photo Gallery [or any other panorama software]

For this tutorial, I will be using Windows Live Photo Gallery to stitch the photos. Live Photo Gallery is provided free by Microsoft. Please do not mistaken this with Windows Photo Gallery that is shipped with Windows Vista.

Step 1 : Camera Settings

Some digital cameras comes with stitch assist or panorama mode. This function can assist you in taking overlapping photos. If your camera does not have this function, you still can create panorama shots.

Canon PowerShot SD750 / IXUS 75 camera with stitch assist mode.

Note : Since I am using a dSLR, i will be taking pictures using manual mode. The advantage of using manual mode is that you can maintain a proper exposure. (you wouldn’t want some pictures to be dark or too bright). I use the same ISO, aperture and shutter speed for multiple photos taken.

Step 2 : Taking the photo

Take a series of overlapping photo.

In this tutorial, 7 photos will be used

Note : The settings used for the photos above are ISO-200, f/8 and 1/125s shutter speed on a Canon Rebel XSi.

Step 3 : Import into Windows Live Photo Gallery and start stitching

Select the all photos you want to stitch together, then click Make –> Create panoramic photo…

Save the photo.

This is the result after stitching.

Step 4 : Finalizing

Get rid of the unwanted edges. Click Fix –> Crop photo.

You can tweak the exposure and color and save!

This is the final result