Step 4 From a point considered the focal plane, (the area in focus) Select the gradient tool, and choose the gradient that flows from black to white. So we need to create a gradient mask that will generate that effect. Remember that blurring due to DOF is a gradual change from sharp to unsharp. Just amazing!įrom the Selection menu, choose to Save Selection. You may wish to use the Pen tool, but I found that Adobe Photoshop CS3's new "Quick Selection" tool allowed me to get most of the shape in about five seconds. We want the full bottle to be in focus, so we're going to create a mask that we'll use later to cut a hole in our blur effect.ĭuplicate the layer, add a layer mask, and fill in the area over the bottles in black.Ĭreating a mask can be accomplished in many ways. Compare the two and see how they differ and hopefully find a reasonable method of emulating a lens blur effect.Apply Lens blur to another copy of the original image.Apply gaussian blur to a copy of the original image.If you have questions how to perform certain actions I would highly encourage you to look up the relevant procedures in the vast library of techniques found on this site. Although I believe I give enough information to get through the process, to explain in full detail how to perform every action would be unwieldy and detract from the point of this tutorial. I will state up front that several techniques are used in the process outlined below. OK, so to recap, we're going to assume that we have an image that suffers from a large DOF and try to bring that down to a more narrow DOF so that the main subject will stand out from the foreground and background. We will address this important idea as well. as if you cookie cut the subject from a smoothly blurred background. So to get a realistic final image you cannot simply apply a blur and cut out the part you want to be sharp. The blurring gets stronger as the distance from the focal plane increases. )Īn important thing to note before we start is that the blur that results from a good DOF is gradual. Although not new, Adobe Photoshop included Lens Blur with CS2, I think many have probably never given it a try. But we'll take a look at Adobe Photoshop's Lens Blur filter and see how it stacks up to the original photo and to Gaussian blur. This gives a nice soft blurred effect useable in most cases. Most all photo processing tools have some form of tool for adding Gaussian blur to your image. The most obvious tool of choice for most applications of a blur effect is the Gaussian blur filter. So, it is here that we turn to post processing the image to give it the look we desire. Or perhaps you decided at some later time that a stronger DOF would be best for your image. Many zoom lenses, for example, do not have the ability to open up far enough to give the depth of field you might want achieve. One could be that you captured a a once in a lifetime event, but your camera was set to less than optimal settings.Īnother reason could simply be that the lens you are using does not have the capability to give the effect you are looking for. If the first image is so much better, why use would you ever bother using settings on the camera which would not give you the results you want? Well there may be several reasons. It would be nice to keep the person's interest on the main subject. Your eye tends to be drawn to the detail in the front handle of serving tray, the back handle, and even back to the leaves seen through the window. The second image is the same set-up but with an aperture of f/22 ensuring maximum depth-of-field. Your eyes are easily lead to the main subject - the bottles of oil and vinegar. Nonetheless, it's good to know how to do this for the times you might need it.In these two images the first is a shot taken with a 50mm lens at f/1.4 so depth-of-field is minimal. The real key to the entire puzzle is creating a depth map since depth of field blurring depends on the spatial dimension of distance to the lens, which is unfortunately the dimension lost when creating a two-dimensional photograph, we need a way to recreate that information for Photoshop, which this tutorial teaches. While it's a great effect that's certainly handy to have in your bag of tricks, if you do like the look, I recommend picking up a short telephoto prime if you plan on using it often, as you probably don't want to go through the entire Photoshop process each time. This helpful tutorial from PiXimperfect will show you how to fake that shallow depth of field effect using Photoshop. Either way, there's no arguing the subject-isolating benefits of a well-blurred background. Maybe it's because you shot at a narrower aperture due to the sun or maybe you only brought a travel lens. Sometimes, you just don't have an ultra-wide aperture telephoto lens with you to get that sweet, buttery background blur.
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