What's the secret to this pastel, beautifully blurred photo?

Question

I see the effect often that appears in this photo – these two things together: 1) a very strong bokeh(?) where most of the image is blurred 2) some kind of color filter that emphasizes bright pastels for some colors, intense saturation for others

Re: the blur, how is it achieved so that the image looks somehow sharp and soft together, even where it's most in focus? Do you think it was taken as such, or edited in post, and which lens (Petzval?) or editing tools (presets, actions, sliders, filters, etc. – like a sharpness slider, maybe? – if I want to try it on existing photos) would you recommend accordingly?

Re: color, is she simply oversaturating the yellows more than the others, or is she using some kind of filter? The pink, blue, and purple look especially soft, but I also don't know if I'm just projecting that because of the blur.

credit: Cocorosa on http://s600.photobucket.com/user/cocorosa_photo/media/newwwwwwy/top10/samovar-tea-set-1-728x485_zps94376fd3.jpg.html

Answer 1

Certainly not a macro lens at f/5.6. The blurred effect is created by using a very shallow depth of field, which at this distance and focal length is probably going to be about f1.4, f1.8 or f2. The slight enlargement of the hand relative to the body implies a slightly wide lens, so I'm guessing a 35mm 1.4 lens or equivalent, shot wide open.

The soft, pastel colours come from a mixture of soft lighting -something like a window covered with a net curtain, or lighting modified with a softbox up and to the left of the frame, in front of the subject, possibly with a reflector on the other wide. The pastel colours then are a consequence of the colours in the frame and post post-processing technique. Looking at the photographer's other images I suspect they are using VSCO filters in Lightroom to emulate film.

Answer 2

I guest it is a macro shooting photo with a macro lens, aperture f/5.6 to ensure depth of field and in the same time a sharp details in the focus point(s). the soft effect around the cup will raise if it was captured in high exposure or a diffused soft flash shoot, Raising the ISO to 400 or 800.

Of course you could get the same effect in Lightroom. raising the exposure value and with a radial filter decrease the sharpness to the minimum value and maybe some of the clarity. Also raising the highlight may give you a better effect.