READ: A Quick Guide On Acing Those Christmas Bokeh Shots for Beginners

It’s that time of the year again. Christmas lights of all colors, shapes and sizes are in almost every place you go to.

Well, what better way to use those lights than to photograph them for your holiday photos?

Yup, ’tis the season of bokeh! (Bokeh is a Japanese word for the nature of the out of focus area/s of an image. Throughout the years, it has been used as a slang for the blurry lights on photos.)

So, prep up those cameras because here’s a guide on taking Instagram-worthy Christmas photos with bokeh.

3. Distance

If you’re shooting someone and want bokeh on the background, get close to your subject and go far from the lights. This way, the lights will look like blurry circles. The farther the lights, the blurrier it will be.

A photo posted by Will Dunn (@willdunn79) on

You might also want to try zooming in on your subject’s face, for example. This will instantly blur out the background resulting to the bokeh you’ve always wished for.

2. Focus

Focus on your subject, and the lights will instantly become blurred. Not only that, it will also let you use bokeh even as your foreground.

If you’re using your smartphone and have limited control over the camera’s settings, focusing on your subject is the key to creating bokeh.

A photo posted by MF Buan (@withmfb) on

A photo posted by Motophoto KY (@motophotoky) on

However, if you want to capture the blurry lights alone, focus on something else like an empty background rather than the lights. Or if you’re using a digital camera, focus manually to achieve those bokeh.

A photo posted by Robert V (@verbs1989) on

A photo posted by Jake Elko (@lordelko) on

1. Aperture.

The larger the aperture, the lower the f-stop number. The lower the f-stop number, the blurrier the background.

 

A photo posted by Emma Carr (@cyberchickgeek) on

A photo posted by Emma Carr (@cyberchickgeek) on

All these three factors combined will help you ace those Christmas bokeh vibes on your photos.

We’re looking forward to seeing your holiday snaps on Facebook and Instagram!

Do you have anything to add to the list? Tell us in the comments.