Those blurred background photos you’ve seen all over Pinterest. They look mesmerizing, don’t they? But, do you ever wonder how the bokeh effect is done? Here’s how to get a soft out-of-focus background on your next Christmas horse photoshoot:
Step 1: Hang The Lights
Close one set of barn doors and string pieces of bailing twine across the aisle, draping white Christmas lights over them evenly.
Step 2: Prep The Model & Gear
Keep Em Separated
I found that the bokeh effect turns out better if your horse is standing at least 5 feet in front of the Christmas lights. This creates that soft, glowing look. If you want more definition to the shape of the lights, simply stand your horse closer to the lights.
Light It Up
Use a strategically placed off-camera flash to make your horse’s face much brighter than the surroundings. By setting the exposure to your horse’s face, the background will appear much darker than it actually is, creating a black background effect.
Step 3: Take The Photo
Go Long
You’ll see more extreme bokeh with a longer lens because of the decreased depth of field.
Shoot Wide Open
Use the widest possible aperture (or lowest f-stop) on your camera in order to make your horse pop of the background. You can also achieve a similar result by standing further away from your horse or zooming in.
All Ears
I used the All Ears Pro app (and anything else lying around) to capture Dexter’s attention so he could stand on his own.
And that’s it! Pretty easy right? I edited the picture slightly by adjusting the exposure and bumping up the saturation a bit.
