Shaped Bokeh DIY Project

I was introduced to the idea of shaped apertures while researching Lensbabies. I then found this link almost six months ago. Tonight I finally made some shaped aperture cover things. The shapes of the little covers turns anything bright and out-of-focus in your image into the shape cut out. Most people do hearts.

You will need black cardstock (I only had colored...), scissors, a lens, a compass, a ruler, and a pencil.

The size of the shape/hole you cut out is dependant on the lens you use. The way to determine the size is to take your focal length and divide it by your maximum aperture. In my case I have a 50mm lens with an max. aperture of 1.7, so the hole can be no bigger than 24.4mm.

My first shape is a square, inspired by a 80s Volkswagen Jetta ad. The front of your shaped aperture cover has to be big enough to fit over your lens.

This is the square one completed and "mounted." The ugly black was my attempt to prevent light coming in the sides and ghosting. My later covers have "hoods" to cover the gap.

This is my triangle cover. As you can see the "hood" looks a lot better. This size of the "hood" is the perfect length as too long and you loose the shaped bokeh effect.

This is my asterisk cover, inspired by the meter-lock indicator of the camera it is on. The "hood" on this one is a tad too deep.

Here they are all together.

The Coast in Color

I believe these photos are on Rite-Aid 400 film, or the lab made my Kodak super contrasty. Taken on the Oregon coast at a turnout.

 

Time for Some Color

I am not a fan of having to get color processed. It costs a lot more to me than developing black and white as I use my school's darkroom for b&w. I also only have used consumer color film, Kodak Ultramax 400 and Rite-Aid 400. Kodak Ektar 100 is on my wishlist of film to try/use.

I missed the focus a  bit and this is a third-party zoom so it is soft anyways...

I love the bokeh on this lens.
SMC-K 55mm f1.8

Vacation Snaps

I am slowly developing and printing all my black and white. These are all scans of prints as I am too poor for a real film scanner.

New Camera! Pentax ZX-5n

I got a sweet deal on this camera, it was only $40. It is an auto-focus film SLR. Because I cannot afford a digital SLR...

 

Casual Violets

When ever I load film in the living room I use these violets to get the frame to zero.

Night Shots

This is my brother's Volkswagen GTI. When I make some more prints from the series I will post them.

Illumination

Left this in the fixer for an hour, it turns colors...

Excuse my dust...

To The Lighthouse

Excuse me for being really lame lately and not updating this, although no one really looks at this... Here is a shot from my summer vacation to the Oregon\California Coast.