Dec 21, 2011

Wednesday

The only upside of rainy days in the city is taking dreamy out of focus iPhone shots... What I really needed to do here was stand right in the middle of the street, but I was getting enough stares as it was on the corner. ;) I just can never pass up the opportunity to bokeh the great buildings of this city.


Many of you have figured out how to do this, but in case you still want to know how to create iPhone bokeh, there are two methods that are pretty much the same idea. The quick and dirty method is to compose your scene, focus on your hand close-up (sometimes I use the tip of umbrella when it's raining...) and quickly take away your hand and press the shutter before the iPhone has a chance to refocus.

The other is to use the iPhone's AE/AF lock. For this, I will try to focus closely on something around the same exposure as the scene, then hold down that part of the screen for a second or two. You'll then see "AE/AF lock" pop up on your screen. Then bokeh away! Fun fun.

15 comments :

  1. Gorgeous Alice! Might need you to teach me bokeh in person. :) I just attempted both methods..to no avail. #fail

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  2. Hah! I always get a good laugh at how good you are at this. =P

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  3. Lovely shot! Golly, I want an iphone now...

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  4. I did NOT know that 2nd method :O mind blown...

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  5. omg, i'm so giddy over the iphone AE/AF lock! i never knew it existed til now, ha! great bokeh city shot, as always!

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  6. i've been to new york only once, but i loved it - and in your pictures i always find little pieces of memories :)

    wonderful shot!
    also love the community garden series...

    have a nice day
    salma

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  7. I don't own an iPhone yet, but this sound interesting :-)
    NYC is always beautiful, even more in your photos.

    silkchocolate.blogspot.com

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  8. This method is also great for night shots, of city lights. I get lots of funny looks when focusing on my finger (using my compact camera).

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  9. I get so much accidental bokeh with my phone and love it...tis the season!

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  10. Aww so gorgeous, as always!! :D Thanks for the tip! I've always been able to get out of focus shots but those weren't intended lol. Curse (?) after having dropped my iPhone so many times :(

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  11. Thank you! I always wondered how to do this. Can't wait to try it out.

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  12. thanks for sharing this trick! always love your city bokeh shots! the best!

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