Night Shooting - Zooming & Bokeh Techniques

In this experiment I played with the bokeh effect and zooming the lens while the shutter remained open. I used a tripod, cable shutter release, the camera was on Manual focus and manual setting.

In image 1 I tried zooming the lens in and out to create the portal effect.

IMAGE 1: ISO100, f/8.0, 10secs, 23mm

In image 2 I used a wide aperture and distance between the fairy lights and the subject to create the bokeh effect. However, the subject was ill lit and had to be lit by a torch which is not all that becoming but it was all I had to work with at the time unfortunately. To let in enough light to make the shot work I had to slow down the shutter speed substantially to what I had originally planned.

IMAGE 2: ISO100, f/5.6, 1/3, 55mm