twinkle light bokeh

i've always wanted to try the pretty holiday twinkle light pictures - with the big, round, sparkly bokeh. well, i looked up how to do it & thought i'd try my own set up. i got a couple boxes of white lights, a white sheet, chip clips, and threw it together over the backboard of our bed. sounds MUCH easier than it actually was...

first, i needed more light. it's so dang dark here all day long. i tried a piece of cardboard for a reflector, but my assistant was crabby & my subject kept swatting it. my bed was the only place that worked for a backdrop, being it was the only place i could attach the sheet and lights AND have grady far enough away from the lights to make the bigger round bokeh. but it was not tall enough so i had to take a super-duper close up so the lights covered the background. grady was not in the mood for pictures (what's new), so he gave me approximately 90 seconds - moving the entire time, doing his own thing (even after bribing with chocolate!!! come on!). seriously, when do children start following direction? lol.

so, this is what i got. two whole pictures, and only ONE in focus. oh well. the smile on that cute face is still priceless <3

well, i now know what i need to work on for next year, since i have definitely lost all patience to try again this year... :)

grady says "oh that's a cute one"!