Morning Dew Plus Grass Equals Great Bokeh

Morning Dew Plus Grass Equals Great Bokeh

Having a creative mind is a wonderful gift. Whatever your discipline, you love the thrill of making new things out of nothing. Sometimes when the creativity slows it can land you in a rut. When this happens to me, I like to grab the camera, and head out in the backyard for some dewy grass exploration.To get the best shots you need to be at ground level, so be prepared to get a little wet. I like to use something to kneel on. My go to knee pads are usually two disc golf frisbees since they are always readily available in the yard.

For the best results you want something with a shorter focal distance, or at least the ability to zoom in tight on the tiny drops of water on the grass. Auto focus can have a heck of a time finding points with all the glistening light, so you may employ a tripod and manual focus.

While most people grab a fast lens with an f/stop of 2.8 less when they want to capture bokeh, you really will be fine with f/4 from this close. It's actually fun to play with the different stops to see how the bokeh balls change. You should always be learning and experimenting.

Do some exploring to find grass blades that stand out a bit, or have exceptional water drops on them. If you are lucky you may find some willing insect models, or even a fungi. Don't be afraid to stage some shots for more interest. I probably could have boosted the appeal for these photos with some Lego mini figures. Don't worry if it's been done. It has pretty much all been done, but not your exact way so go for it!

These photos are also very fun to play with in Lightroom. Using gradient and radial adjustments I will try and sculpt the light and bring in splashes of alternate colors. Usually this is when the shots start looking a bit magical.

In the end I feel that I have once again created something out of nothing, and uplifted my creative spirit. Of all things in life, the creative mind is an important thing to nurture. I hope I never lose motivation to create. Check out some larger versions of the featured photos, as well as some additional ones below in the gallery.

By the way, I don't say the word "bokeh" right at all. If you are wondering the correct way to pronounce it check out How to Say Bokeh by Wouter du Toit.

Michael B. Stuart's picture

Michael B. Stuart is a photographer at Stu Stu Studio in Lewiston, New York. Besides shooting weddings with his wife Nicole his specialties include long exposure, abstract monochrome creations, architecture, and bokeh. Work has been featured online by Adobe, Flickr, Google, and 500px with the most popular photo receiving over 950 million views.

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9 Comments

Super cool shots! I wonder if it's possible to recreate the effect with a spray bottle too.

Yes, you totally can; I used some candy little bottle once to spray a spider web. refillable, small and portable.

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to try that!

Thanks Alex!
Or I can just spray out of my mouth from a water bottle like that viral BTS post on Facebook in front of the couple. Ewe!
Good call though for sure. You could then use sunset light as well which might really give some great colors. Have to make sure to cover a good chunk of the background area too for all the sparkly light catches.

I'd like to share a image; I used an old coolpix4600. I love that camera. https://www.instagram.com/p/yXIPS2k-Dn/?taken-by=manuel_alarcon

I literally clicked into this article because I initially read the title as "MOUNTAIN Dew Plus Grass Equals Great Bokeh" lol. I kept reading the article wondering when the Mountain Dew was coming in.

I think either way you're onto something. I'm lacking Mountain Dew in my writing, and their marketing has beat Mother Nature out in MEO (mind engine optimization). And yes, pronounced like that. :)
Thanks for reading!

I'll be damned! These are magic mushrooms :D