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