DIYPhotography.net

We all love a photo that tells a story. In stories we talk about sub plots. Subplots can relate to the main plot and enrich in it many ways.

It can prelude the main plot and help create emotional attachment to the characters. It can contradict the main plot and provide irony. It can resonate with the main plot, making its point stronger.

In photography we have subject and background (or far plain). The background can relate to the subject, in similar ways that a sub plot relates to a main plot.

To illustrate that point I decided to use images with shaped bokeh.

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Here is an interesting question - please hit me in the comments with your answer -  Where do you put the lens cap when you are shooting? (My answer at the end of the post, if you care).

I use to lose them all the time, which was no biggie. Then Nikon started to ship their lenses with fancy lens caps and losing one cost an arm and a leg. (OK, really just a finger nail, yet...).

I got a mail from Benny Johansson telling me about his newest invention. The invention that make your lens cap never to go away. Click to continue ›

We have covered Macro Lenses before, from optically flawless reverse mounts to the questionable-yet-so-much-fun DVD iPhone Lens adapter.

What we never did before is to convert some headlight to macro tilt-shift lens. Till we got a mail from David Koch, that is. A mail with a precise prescription.

Now, this will work only with super expensive headlight, so you may want to check your local scrap yard /old auto yard before you dive into this project. Click to continue ›

Look at the picture on the left from Gilad Ben Ari. Click on it to really see it larger.

Something just does not add up. There's a noticeable blur on the red in the bottom half of the image. I asked. It is not photoshopped. I'll say it again. NOT PHOTOSHOPPED. 

Take it as an exercise; try to think what makes the blur before reading on.

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UPDATE: Pat Joyce jest released a complete set of instructions for this mod.

It happened to all of us. At one point or another our beloved glass falls on the floor and dies. (Yes, by glass I mean lens - we're trying some hard photo talk here on DIYP).

If you had a UV or Haze filter on the lens glass, you may have protected it from any minor damage. If you tried some camera tossing and missed, you'd better collect your insurance money. Or waitaminute. As Miracle Max would say the lens may only be mostly dead.

Pat Joyce came up with a neat way to convert that broken glass into a fisheye lens (ok, ok, you can buy one if you don't want to hack it). Click to continue ›

A while back, I asked your advice. I was contemplating between two lenses and did not which one to choose. I was being torn between the Nikkor 60m/2.8 and the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D.

I was leaning towards the 1.8 (AKA sharpy) and your strong response helped me to make up my mind. So first of all - thank you all for some great advice.

After a few months with this lens, I would like to share my experience with the lens. Now, don't expect a Ken Rockwell kinda review, Ken does this much, much better then I can. Instead, I'd like to talk a bit of the general experience that I had with the lens.

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Long while ago I published the Create Your Own Bokeh article which was one of the most fun articles this site has seen. I then followed up with some of the uses of this technique and DIYP Flickr pool had a fine hour with great and creative images that used this trick.

One of the questions that keeps popping us is "can you give some more details instructions on the process of making this this filter?"

Well, your prayers have been answered. Shannon Beauford created a complete guide on behind the scene of Creating Your Own Bokeh.

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The following article is a guest post by Dwight Duckstein.

I purchased a used Nikkor 70-200mm, 2.8f lens – the old style that didn’t have a tripod ring. Not wanting to spend even more money on an aftermarket ring that would interfere with the A ring, I decided to make my own. Granted, the materials cost me some change, but it is designed the way I want it, and it works. Your dimensions may vary, depending on which lens and which camera you mount it to, so I am not providing much dimension detail here.

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Every once in a while comes that moment when you decide to get a new lens. For me this moment arrived about three weeks ago, when I decided that I deserve a nice photography treat my wife finally said yes, you can buy what ever you want, just stop talking about lenses all the time. (If you just want to learn what my winning lens is, go here and look at the second lens).

I would like to share the process I went through for selecting my next lens to purchase. I am not sure if the process was the best process that one can do to choose a lens, I post it here to help others in their choices. Please hit me in the comments if you find this process can be improved. So here is the tale of the duel between Sharpy (85mm/1.8) and Shorty (60mm/2.8 macro). Click to continue ›

Bokeh is an adaptation from a a Japanese word meaning blur. In photography this term is used to describe the quality of the areas in the picture which are not in focus.

When referring to Bokeh, we can distinguish some of it characteristics:

- Is the light/dark gradient smooth or sharp?

- What shape will a small dot of light take what it is in the Bokeh area? (mirror lenses for example, create a bagel like Bokeh)

We can play with those two variants to create a special Bokeh.

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