BLUR THAT BACKGROUND…IN PHOTOSHOP Photography Tip #18

When I began to acquire a serious interest in photography, I knew nothing!  I mean that! I didn’t know the first thing about composition, perspective, lighting, exposure, and dozens of even more complex photographic techniques.  As time passed, I learned.  And, I continue to learn thanks in part to many of you!

I’ve realized something very important about learning.  If you really want to learn, you have to be willing to admit that you don’t know!  It sounds simple – but, it’s not so easy to do.  That’s why in a recent post about using the Healing Tool in Photoshop, I simply asked Bob Zeller to walk me through the process…and, he was gracious enough to do just that!  In fact, he made it so simple that I thought there may be others wanting the same type of instruction.  So, I’m introducing this tip using step-by-step instructions that, hopefully, will help anyone wanting to learn.

The photo below happens to be one of those early shots taken before I really knew anything about photography!  This is literally a prime example of someone picking up a camera, pointing it at an object, focussing, and shooting.  One of the first lessons I learned about shooting flowers is to shoot them from a low perspective, as opposed to a perspective from above as in this shot.  You see, when you take the shot from above it becomes nearly impossible to blur the background.  This is a beautiful image, but the background is somewhat distracting.  If you have images similar to this one, all is not lost!!  Thanks to some crafty editing software, much can be done to enhance this image. But, how?

The following images demonstrate the flexibility you have with a photo such as this. Let me walk you though exactly what I’ve done here.

1. First of all, this image is straight out of the camera with no editing to the shot other than the background blur.  The image is somewhat washed out by the sun, but serves as a good example for this tip.
2. Next, I uploaded the image into my editing software.  I use Photoshop Elements 8.  If you use something else, I believe the process will still be very similar.
3. Once uploaded, I clicked on the Selection Tool (the Selection Tool looks like a wand with a dotted lasso at the end – it’s the 8th icon from the top of the tools column to the left) and began to pass it over the background until the entire background had been selected.  The area selected will be indicated by a dotted line surrounding your selection.  This can be tedious at times because the tool will occasionally select an area inside the flower.  So, be careful.  If that continues to happen, I have found if I take my paint brush and select a matching color – I can trace around the edge of the flower.  This will serve as a retaining barrier for the Selection Tool.  If you still have problems with the selection tool bleeding into the flower, reverse the procedure and select the flower.
4. Once the selection is complete and you’re certain that no area of the flower has been selected, you’re ready to proceed.  Now if you found it necessary to select the flower because of selection bleeding, you will need to invert that process so you actually blur the background and not the flower.
5. If you need to invert the selection, go to the Select drop down menu and select Inverse.
6. Once your background has been selected, go to the Filters drop down menu and select Blur.  Then select Gaussian Blur.
7. When Gaussian Blur is selected, a box will open allowing you to adjust the pixel level.  Make sure you have checked the Preview box if it has not been selected by default.

Original

Gaussian Blur - Radius 10 Pixels

Gaussian Blur - Radius 20 Pixels

Gaussian Blur - Radius 30 Pixels

Gaussian Blur - Radius 50 Pixels

Gaussian Blur - Radius 250 Pixels

I quickly learned that shooting flowers from above was not the best way to present the beauty of the flowers.  Ideally, you want to move to a lower perspective which will allow the background to be further away, giving you the opportunity to select a large aperture which will blur the background naturally.  I talk about Depth of Field in this Photography Tip.

Blurring the background in Photoshop doesn’t completely correct the depth of field issue here.  As you can see the more you blur the background, the more the flower seems to take on a “floating” appearance.  This happens because the stem is hidden beneath the bloom.  But if you stay with a minimal blur, the distraction of the background is effectively lessened.

Once your background is blurred, you’re ready to do any amount of further editing to create whatever you might have in mind.

A Simple Crop Is Added

 

 

I hope this helps your editing efforts.  If you’re like me, you tend to use the editing tools most comfortable to you, completely ignoring all the other options.  Let me encourage you to explore and experiment!  You can always retrace your steps and start over.

Happy editing!!

~ by photographyfree4all on February 15, 2011.