Bokeh filters (A wierd request from me)

Jaffster

Jaffster

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I've been booked for a wedding in November and I went to see the couple last night to go through shot lists and meet them before the day, get some ideas etc.

The grooms brother died last year and at the time there was alot of butterflies around, thus the wedding having a butterfly theme and the grooms mother having a love for butterflies.

It got me thinking, as a nice added touch to the shots if I could get a bokeh filter shaped like a butterfly. Would this be tacky? I did mention it to the couple and they sounded really enthusiastic about it.... but it means that the shots I take with 50mm will have butterfly bokeh and if they don't come out very well that I'm gonna be kicking myself.

I also went on to the bokeh filter website and it says that they're no longer taking orders?
 
Forget getting them made specially. You need a sheet of black card, a stanley knife and a steady hand. Get an adapter ring for cokin p series and it provides a good flat surface to blue tack the card to. Your shape can be as big as the aperture you're using, so if at 50mm f1.8, that's about 28mm across. I think that assumes the shape is in the same place as the aperture diaphragm so I don't know what allowance you could make for it being in front of the lens...

If you're concerned about how it will turn out, start experimenting now. See what effect different shapes and sizes cause. If it were me, I'd try it out in the venue you'll be taking the photos in, then show the couple and see what they think. I reckon it would work best with simple backgrounds with a few points of light. Candles, fairy lights etc.
Bare in mind that the sapes cut down the amount of light you let in, so if you set the lens to f1.8 you might actually be shooting at 2.8, 3.5 which might cause you problems if it's low light.
 
I planned to use it just in the evening after the ceremony as the location has a lake with some nice lighting overlooking it so I think would make for some wonderful bokeh and give the pictures a nice feel.

I just didn't know if this would be maybe frowned upon by others.

I will, of course, have the flashgun ready to try and compensate for any loss of lighting into the lens because of the filter.

Thanks all.
 
If it's something the client wants, then it's something the client gets.

Another idea for you (I'm good at making work for people!)

You could find a nice butterfly image and using the opacity control you could overlay butterfly images where and when you want them. I've done it with rings and flowers when designing an album and it's not too tricky.

Could be a nice classy way of introducing the butterflies and still being free to shoot what you need on the day?
 
Jaffster said:
I planned to use it just in the evening after the ceremony as the location has a lake with some nice lighting overlooking it so I think would make for some wonderful bokeh and give the pictures a nice feel.

I just didn't know if this would be maybe frowned upon by others.

I will, of course, have the flashgun ready to try and compensate for any loss of lighting into the lens because of the filter.

Thanks all.
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It sounds nice so give it a go! It's like a lot of these things (selective colouring in B&W for instance), they're nice until they become overdone.

You might find that you get a good effect and they love it!

Practice with it first though - the camera will still meter as usual through the gobo so put it in Av mode and select a nice wide aperture then it'll give you a shutter speed to suit.
 
Jaffster said:
I will, of course, have the flashgun ready to try and compensate for any loss of lighting into the lens because of the filter.
Click to expand...

I've just made one quickly, didn't notice any major light loss, I'll test it more tonight though.
 
AliB said:
If it's something the client wants, then it's something the client gets.

Another idea for you (I'm good at making work for people!)

You could find a nice butterfly image and using the opacity control you could overlay butterfly images where and when you want them. I've done it with rings and flowers when designing an album and it's not too tricky.

Could be a nice classy way of introducing the butterflies and still being free to shoot what you need on the day?
Click to expand...

I am not doing the album, the bride is some artist of some kind so would like to do it themselves, they'd just like the finished images on a CD which really suits me as I'm not very creative when it comes to arty albums.

By opacity control, what do you mean? Putting a butterfly image onto the shots in photoshop and messing with the opacity slider?

All suggestions are welcome, it's my first wedding alone and I want to make this one to remember, the couple are happy for me to keep some images for a portfolio. We went through a shot list last night, they're going to tick off what they want and add in any extras then e-mail it over to me... also sending a contract over to them and a 'child release' form as there will be children present. Just following some good advise found on here.

incapete said:
It sounds nice so give it a go! It's like a lot of these things (selective colouring in B&W for instance), they're nice until they become overdone.

You might find that you get a good effect and they love it!

Practice with it first though - the camera will still meter as usual through the gobo so put it in Av mode and select a nice wide aperture then it'll give you a shutter speed to suit.
Click to expand...

The children will be wearing butterflies (on their backs) and she's asked that I get some shots with the butterflies in colour and the rest in B&W. I'm sure this won't be a problem.

I always shoot in manual according to the Meter on the camera, are you saying that I will need to expose and if so, by how much? Maybe 1 or 2 stops?

PerfectSpeed said:
I've just made one quickly, didn't notice any major light loss, I'll test it more tonight though.
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:love: I've given my better half the task of getting the paper and cutting one out for me as I'm quite heavy handed (camera shake is an understatement).

I'd be interested to see how your results come out as I'm going to experment with mine on the weekend.
 
Jaffster said:
By opacity control, what do you mean? Putting a butterfly image onto the shots in photoshop and messing with the opacity slider?
Click to expand...

Yeah, use the place command scale it to size(free transform) and adjust the opacity to suit, could make some nice stuff like that :)
 
Jaffster said:
I always shoot in manual according to the Meter on the camera, are you saying that I will need to expose and if so, by how much? Maybe 1 or 2 stops?
Click to expand...

If the gobo hole is a similar size to the aperture (around 28mm) then the difference in shutter speed will be very little compared to normal.

Also, since the camera meters through the lens then you will just expose as usual... if there's any loss of light then you'll just end up dialling in a little longer shutter speed than you would otherwise but you won't notice. Don't over-expose to compensate for the gobo; the meter will do it's usual job of telling you what you need.
 
I never knew you could do this!

Will have an experiment over the weekend I think!
 
Those shapes will only show on the specular highlights if you get it right (like the doughnut rings from mirror lens) how well they'll show up will vary on a lot of factors, I suspect your going to be busy enough on the wedding to find it tricky to get right in the limited time you'll have.
You'll have to practice a lot in the same place and time as your doing the shoot to get it just right, then if you geta dull day it's probably not going to show up much.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Those shapes will only show on the specular highlights if you get it right (like the doughnut rings from mirror lens) how well they'll show up will vary on a lot of factors, I suspect your going to be busy enough on the wedding to find it tricky to get right in the limited time you'll have.
You'll have to practice a lot in the same place and time as your doing the shoot to get it just right, then if you geta dull day it's probably not going to show up much.
Click to expand...

We are going to the location on the 17th October with the couple for a look around. Looking at the website they have a lake out front with lighting around it, I'm hoping that some portrait shots taken in the evening/dusk at f/1.7 will make for some lovely bokeh and 'Specular highlights' as you say.

Fingers crossed! I'll know for sure once we've had a good look around the place.

kelack said:
Have you got a lensbaby?

http://www.photographyblog.com/news/lensbabies_creative_aperture_kit/

Just an idea, I've seen the heart one used to great effect and it has blank apertures so you could cut a butterfly one
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Isn't this the same principle as a bokeh filter on a normal 50mm lens? I've seen the lensbaby advertised but never found the need to have one, plus I don't really understand how they work either :lol:
 
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