Crafting Christmas Party

Got an interesting invitation to a Christmas par;ty recently.  It was a beautiful invitation with a difference.

The starting time was 10 am.  Different than the usual 7 or 8 pm of most Christmas parties.

The invitation has a list of things to bring as well as homework assignments to complete.  It also had an enclosure explaining where to find more information.

There wasn't a hint of donating to charities or buying something the host was selling.

This is a party for us.  It is a party to expand one's mind.  It is a party to grow one's expertise in making crafts that perhaps we have never made before.

I can hardly wait !!!

More Bokeh (Update)

From what I have read on the Web, the canvas for bokehs is the out-of-focus areas usually behind the object in focus.  Until I can solve the depth of field problem with my point and shoot (P&S), I will consider the canvas for bokehs to be any out-of-focus areas.

Lenses in P&S cameras are not designed to do good bokehs.  They are designed to make all of the picture in focus.

Here are several ways to get an out-of-focus canvas:

• Set the P&S camera to "aperture-priority" or AV at the biggest opening - the lowest number.  If the camera doesn't have this setting, use a "macro" or "portrait" mode.

• If the camera has the ability to control the ISO or low sensor sensitivity, set it at the lowest possible setting to get as much light reflection as possible.  Experiment with using a tripod.

• Pick a small object with lots of texture in the foreground to focus on.   Hold the camera as close to this object as possible.   Turn off the flash   

• Make sure the background is far away from the object.  Make sure the background has lots of reflective or light sources (Christmas lights are good).

• Press the shutter down half way to get the camera to focus on the small object.  When it is in focus, snap the picture.  View the picture on the LCD making sure the object is in focus and the background is out of focus. 

• If the P&S has a zoom feature, zoom in all the way and take another picture.  Compare the two.