Last Updated on 12/28/2017 by Mark Beckenbach
Bet you didn’t think you can shoot bokeh anywhere with this.
The bubbly and dreamy look of bokeh remains a coveted effect in photography, especially when it comes to portraits. A typical way to achieve this is to shoot in a location with lots of bright lights in varying sizes and colors. But with this simple trick, you can shoot bokeh-licious portrait anywhere, even in the comfort of your own home!
Whether it’s for interesting textures in double exposures or adding a touch to mood to a portrait, bubbly bokeh remains a favorite and commonly used effect by many photographers. If you’re yet to try this look in your photos but don’t really have a good location in mind, you can achieve it at home (or any location, actually). All you need are some battery-operated dewdrop lights, as mentioned by a photographer simply called J.T. in his video below.
Christmas lights, whether warm white or multi-colored, also work great, even the ones that are bigger than what’s suggested in the video. This makes the holidays one of the perfect occasions for bokeh portraits! What’s great about the dewdrop or fairy lights mentioned in the video is that they’re powered by 3 AA batteries, making them perfect for indoor and outdoor shoots. They also come in copper wire, making it easy to shape them or even wrap them around objects. Some models are even waterproof and have a remote control for choosing colors and other modes.
New to the bubbly concept and not quite sure about how it works? You might want to head over to this quick primer on depth of field, bokeh, and focal lengths.