Change of plans!

I decided to put off the flash because we didn't have any batteries for it! I'll pick some up at Costco tomorrow and then I can play with it to my heart's content.

In the meantime, I decided to try again with the bokeh/defocused lighting. Had the brilliant idea (one of those head-smacking moments) that I should just turn the autofocus OFF and manually make it all blurry. Duh, right?

So here's how it worked: (All shots are f/1.8 ISO 100 and 50mm, except where noted)

1/15 sec

1/8 sec

Much better, eh?

I was finally able to get the octagon shapes, but at a wider aperture than Peterson describes. I had to experiment before I could find it. f/4.5 SS 1/2 sec

So that was good. I was happy I could figure it out. So then I decided to try some shaped bokeh. It isn't fabulous, but I am pleased with this first try!
1/4 sec

1/6 sec

.3 sec

.3 sec


Favorite picture of this week is a kind of wierd shot of Callie at the Mad Science demonstration at the science fair. It's a slow shutter speed to show motion and I kind of like it - I think it has an almost impressionist look to it:

f/4
ISO 100
55 mm
1 second