If you read my last post, you’ll know that once again I’ll be attempting a Project52. This time there is a twist, I’ll be trying to complete it with my iPhone. If you want to know why, you can read my last post. The project officially started on the 6th of January, and for Project52 week 1, the theme was bokeh. If you want to follow along, you can join in here.
I will also be creating a gallery of all the images I create as part of the project. I’ll add a link to the menu on the left and add each new image weekly.
Bokeh
When I saw the theme for the first challenge, I knew it really would be a challenge with an iPhone. Before I get into why it would be a challenge, It’s worth giving a quick definition of what Bokeh is, for those that don’t know.
Bokeh is defined as “the effect of a soft out-of-focus background that you get when shooting a subject, using a fast lens, at the widest aperture, such as f/2.8 or wider.” Simply put, bokeh is the pleasing or aesthetic quality of out-of-focus blur in a photograph.
Taken from “Bokeh for Beginners” , an article on Nikon USA’s Website
As stated above, the biggest factor in getting good bokeh is the lens aperture. However, other factors also play a role. These include sensor size and the distance of the subject from the background, among others. While the lenses on the iPhone are good and have a wide aperture, the sensor is quite small. This makes it difficult to get good bokeh, even at a wide aperture. If you want to observe how sensor size affects bokeh, take the same shot with a full frame camera. Then, use a crop sensor camera and look at the difference.
How I Took the Shot
This shot was taken in my home office. The X-T5 was set up on a Platypod on the desktop. using the Platypod Handle to get the right height. My 40″ monitor as a backdrop and I spread a string of rice lights I had laying around over the screen. I then lowered the ambient light in the room to a level that hid anything I didn’t want in the image.
I took a few shots from different angles and levels until I had a few I was happy with. These were then added to Lightroom and once I picked the ones I was happy with, I processed them using Lightroom and did some denoise in Topaz Photo AI.
The finished image is then exported to Photoshop. I export my images using Greg Benz’s Web Sharp Pro Panel. The export settings are 2048 pixels for the long edge. I use the WebP format. This gives the best combination of smaller file size and better quality.
Using the Whole Week
When doing these challenges, I have habit of uploading the first shot I’m happy with. On this occasion, I took the whole week. I had already completed a shot I was happy with but I held off on uploading it for the challenge.
I knew I was taking a trip to London for my #dayjob on the Friday. I took my camera and iPhone with me. I spent some time looking for other shots that might fit the theme for the week. On this occasion, I didn’t find anything. Holding off on the upload did make the final image feel more considered and deliberate though.
I hope to carry this approach on through the project. It makes the process feel less rushed and more considered. My usual approach is to get an image I’m happy with and upload it right away. I feel that I miss opportunities this way. I stop looking for images once the weekly image is done and uploaded.
Project52 Week 1 Conclusions
While the subject matter and image are simple, I learned a lot. This challenge was more about learning technical details and patience. I learned a lot about the iPhone camera. More importantly, I learned to slow down and be patient. Looking for more images when I already had one is new to me. It’s something I think I have struggled with, but not really realised.
Thanks for taking the time to look at the image. I hope you find the backstory useful as well. Please check back next week for next weeks image. The theme for week 2 is Silhouettes.
Until next week.
