{Spotlight Project} Deepti Creates a Card Using the Focal Zoom with Bokeh Background Technique

Don't forget to join in on our stamp release blog hop fun
after reading Deepti's fun photo tutorial! :o)

Hello, friends! Welcome to my second spotlight feature and I am feeling so excited :) I hope I can inspire you yet again. This time, I am showcasing another technique often done in photography. I have used STAMPlorations' beautiful new release, Bloom Sketches, and VIGNETTE: Retro Mod Shapes.

  

So here's a look at the finished project. The look that I have tried to create is termed as focal zoom with bokeh background. Actually, this is my term. Shery was kind enough to tell me that it has something to do with "depth of field" (DOF) and bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside this DOF. Here we focus on one image and keep the rest of the photo blurred, usually with a bokeh background.

Here is an example from real photography to explain this effect and how I got inspired.

And I have a step-by-step photo tutorial to show how I made this card.

STEP 1

I stamped the poppies on a post-it note with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and fussy cut it to create a mask.

STEP 2

I stamped the same poppies on my card base, placed the mask over it, and with a pencil, made a light mark to define the panel on the card base.

STEP 3

I masked the rest of the card base with post-it notes and started inking lightly along the edges, working my way to the center. I used the Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers Distress inks to indicate the landscape and sky behind my focal flower.

STEP 4

Once I was done with the inking, I created a bokeh effect by randomly stamping the big and small dots from the Retro Mod Shapes set. I used Hero Arts Dye ink Pool, Memento Bamboo Leaves and Memories white dye ink. The stamping involved first, second, and third generation stamping.

STEP 5

Once I was done with the background, I removed the mask and colored the areas in between the flowers and stem with Distress ink and water. Next, I colored the poppies using Sharpie markers. (You can use any markers you like.) I also added the sentiment from the same set.

Here's the finished card once again :) You can see another image of the poppy next to sentiment which was nowhere on the tutorial. Actually, it's a cover up. I accidentally got a small ink spot on that side and I had to hide it :) LOL! The final card was photographed in the sunlight.

That finishes my second spotlight feature :) I hope you enjoyed it and will give this a try. Happy crafting!