From Where Do The Blurry Bubbles Appear?

In all the years I’ve taken photos at the Saturday Farmers Market, I’ve never photographed kids playing with bubbles. I thought the idea was too routine, little more than an opportunity to get a smiling child. Not that a smiling child isn’t important—they are.

Today, I changed my mind and decided to go with it. This is the result.

The colored-bubble effect comes from the bubbles being backlit and a very narrow depth of field using a telephoto lens. I’m sure I looked the fool as I ran in a large arc, trying to always be downwind from the bubbles and cursing myself for not staying put long enough for the wind to shift in my direction.

I also had to find an open angle between the main subject's parents and siblings, as they weren’t aware of me standing 25 feet away with a telephoto lens with a very narrow focus point.

Out of the almost 100 frames I shot, only two had the right angle, a significant volume of out-of-focus bubbles, and a set of subjects that played well with the idea.

One is My Final Photo for the day. The other is above.

My Final Photo News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my photography and commentary, become a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe to The Westerville News and PhotoCamp Daily. My Final Photo News also recommends Civic Capacity and Into the Morning by Krista Steele.