Fishie's Tutorials Series: Part 3

Following up the previous tutorial, today's tutorial is going to teach you how to get star-shaped bokeh! (Or heart-shaped and any other shape you want :)

You may have come across photos like this on the Internet and not know how to create this, because bokehs are usually round, pentagonal or hexagonal, depending on the lens and the aperture size. With only the lens itself, it is not possible to get these "customed-shaped bokehs". However, it is actually pretty easy to achieve all these shapes, without purchasing any "bokeh kit". :D You can simple make a DIY Bokeh Shaper! (I came out with this name HAHAHA)

Photos from last year because I haven't fixed my tree hehehe.

Taken with Canon 650D with 50mm f1.8. No edit.

First of all, you will need a lens with a large aperture. I'm using my 50mm f1.8 lens. It is important to use a large aperture to achieve this effect. I had tried using the normal kit lens, and instead of getting heart-shaped bokeh, I got more of a vignetting effect, which is not the desired outcome.

Next, you'll need the following materials:

• Black paper
• A pair of scissors
• Penknife
• Ruler
• Scotch tape
• Double-sided tape
• Compass (optional, but recommended! It makes drawing circles so much easier)
• Shape-punchers (optional. And I don't really know their name but they are the yellow & pink thingys)

Step 1:

Roughly measure the diameter of the widest part the lens. For my 50mm f1.8 lens, it is around 6.6 cm. Divide it by 2 to get the radius. Then, using the compass, draw a circle with a radius of 3.3cm on a piece of black paper. Cut it out using a pair of scissors.

Step 2:
Using the shape-puncher, punch a shape in the middle of the circular piece of paper. (You may need to fold the edge of the paper inward so that the shape-puncher can reach the middle of the paper.)
OR
Draw a shape in the middle of the paper and cut it out using penknife / scissors. Make sure to place some scrap papers under so you don't damage the table or the surface which you're working on!

Step 3:

Cut out a piece of rectangular paper by the dimensions of 25 cm x 4.3 cm. Make a small mark at the 21 cm spot. I obtained 21 cm by calculating the circumference of the circle, and rounding it up to the nearest whole number. For the 4.3 cm part, it is the height of the lens.

Step 4:

Roll the rectangle up into a cylinder. Secure the 2 ends together at the 21 cm mark using double-sided tape or scotch tape. This is the part which you will put onto your lens when taking the photo.

Step 5:
Attached the circular piece of paper to the cylinder you made just now. I used scotch tape, but you can use double-sided tape for a nicer finished look. :)

And there you have it! Your very own DIY Bokeh Shaper! Just set your lens to Manual Focus, place this over the lens, and you have bokeh in the shape you want!

For a quicker method, you can skip Step 3 to 5. Instead of putting the "hood" on the lens, you have to hold the circular piece of paper in front of your lens when taking the photo. It works as well!

And yeah, this is the end of the tutorial. I hope you have fun making this DIY Bokeh Shaper, and taking photos of bokeh in different shapes. :)

- Elsa