If you want to get beautiful photos with a blurry background, which makes expensive optics for professional photographers, then it is better to use Photoshop. This article will introduce two ways to make a beautiful blurred background in a photo using this program.
How to blur the background in Photoshop: method one
The first method will be much easier than the second, but it looks less high quality and is suitable for large objects and clear lines. If the model in the photo has hair flying, then it will be difficult to bring this plan to life.
To make the blur look natural, you need to remember some principles of focal planes:
- The main subject in the frame always remains clear and sharp;
- Objects are blurred more if they are further away from the object. All elements near the subject are less blurred.
Go to Photoshop and open a photo. Now you will work with the tools on the left panel.
Find the Blur Tool or Blur Tool. It is presented almost in the middle of the panel and is indicated by a droplet.
You need to adjust the size and intensity of the instrument. At the top you will see the line “Strength”, set the slider in it to about 70-80%. Set the size yourself, depending on your photo.
Start painting with the tool around the main object, try not to touch the model. If necessary, enlarge the image and work carefully.
As a result, you will get a soft blur that does not touch the main object.
How to blur the background in Photoshop: method two
With the first method of execution, you cannot set the blur direction, and if you still use the tool poorly, then the work may turn out to be sloppy. For a more professional look, try using the pen tool.
Pay attention to the left side of the toolbar, click on “Pen”.
This tool is quite easy to use, it just takes a little practice. You have to put dots and then curve lines from them. Outline your entire model in the frame in this way.
Once you are done and complete the circuit, right-click on the path. In the pop-up window, select the line "Make Selection" or "Select".
In the window that opens, set the value to “0” and click “OK”.
Now pay attention to the right side of the program. You need to remove the lock icon from your layer. Just click on the icon once.
After that, take another tool on the left side of the screen. It's called "Select". Click again on the path with the right mouse button and click on the line “Layer Via Cut”.
Immediately you will have a second layer on the right side of the window, go to the bottom one by simply clicking on it with the mouse.
Then click on the menu "Filter" or "Filter", in the drop-down list, click "Blur" or "Blur". Now you have to choose the type of blur. They differ in direction, for example, you can make a slight blur of the background in an upward or sideways movement, which will add dynamics to the frame, a regular blur without any movement is also available - it is called “Gaussian Blur” or “Gaussian Blur”.
In the same example, “Radial Blur” or “Circle Blur” will be applied to make the edges of the photo curl nicely around the model.
Set the blur value to 1-4, depending on your goals. If you want a soft blur, then 1 or 2 is fine.
Take a closer look at how the background on the sides is now twisting into a ring. All you have to do is edit the photo.
Finish your editing with color grading and any artistic effects. To make the blur look more natural, you can take the Archive Brush tool and bring some of the elements around the model back to a sharper look.
If you are wondering how to make the background blurry so that only the most important element in the photo is highlighted with focus, then you have come to the right place.
Blurred background and foreground. My photo. F2.0, 50mm, ISO 200, 4000", Helios-81n, Nikon D40
Blurred background in a photo can be done in two main ways.
1. Using camera settings
2. With software
Of course, a more natural and natural blurring of the background occurs when shooting directly. In order to blur the background as much as possible with the camera, you need to adjust it.
An example of a photo with a blurred background
How best to set up your camera
1. You need to open the aperture as much as possible. The aperture is usually set to the F number. It is very convenient to take photos with a blurry background in aperture priority mode, which is indicated as A or Av. Open - means to reduce the F-number. For example, the aperture value of F3.5 is larger than the aperture value of F5.6. If, for example, F8.0 is set on the camera, then to open the aperture, you need to lower it to the minimum allowable, usually it is F5.6, F3.5, F2.8, or, for those who are lucky, you can even set F1.8 on fast lenses and F1.4. For example, I printed “Here is the background” on a piece of paper, and in order to blur it, I shot it first at aperture 1.4, and in order to show it more, I shot it at aperture 16.0
Effect of aperture on depth of field and background blur
2. You need to unscrew or set the zoom as much as possible. The longer the focal length, the easier it will be to blur the background. To do this, on a digital camera, make the maximum approximation, and on a reflex camera, simply move the lens to the focal length with the maximum number. For example, if you have an 18-55mm kit lens, the best way to blur the background is 55mm. On an ordinary soap dish, sometimes, you can simply turn on the macro mode, while the lens will set itself to the maximum focal length.
An example of a photo with a blurred background
3. And, finally, get as close to the object as possible. The closer the object is to the lens, the stronger the blur will be. In this case, the lens will focus closer and closer. Just make sure that the frame is well composed, otherwise you can shoot something completely different from what was planned.
An example of a photo with a blurred background
bokeh
Of course, many have heard about bokeh. Bokeh is the nature of the blurring of the background, including its intensity. If the lens blurs the background well, then the lens is said to have good bokeh. There is a lot of debate about the beauty of bokeh - which lens is better or worse. Bokeh has its own plasticity, distortion, twisting, etc., the feeling of bokeh beauty comes with experience and everyone has their own. More details in the BOKE section,
An example of a photo with a blurred background. soft bokeh
In pursuit of bokeh
The pursuit of better bokeh is all about comparing a huge number of shots, all sorts of arguments in favor of one lens or another, which leads to the pursuit of fast and telephoto lenses that cost a lot of money. Only 3 main physical parameters really affect the strength of the blur and the creation of bokeh:
1. The optical aperture of the lens, it is also the aperture
2. Lens focal length
3. Focus distance, the distance between the camera, the subject and the background.
Based on these parameters, you can easily decide which lens is best suited for a particular shooting.
Which lens blurs the background the most?
Coming out of the previous thoughts, the lens with a large focal length and large aperture will blur the background the most. For example, fifty dollars blur the background well - lenses with a 50mm focal length and a large aperture of F1.4, short telephoto lenses like 135mm F2.0 blur the background even more, 200mm F2.0 telephoto lenses are even stronger, and so on. But the longer the focal length and the greater the aperture, the more expensive the lens. Therefore, usually amateur photographers stop at half a 50mm F1.4 or a dark but telephoto telephoto like 70-300mm F4.0-5.6. Which lens is best for you - it depends only on your personal considerations.
An example of a photo with a blurred background
More thoughts on blur
If you delve into the subtleties of what affects bokeh more, then it is difficult to achieve a consensus, but please note that sometimes the focal length affects more than the aperture of the lens. Also, the blurring of the background is indirectly affected by the size of the sensor for the same lens. So on full-frame cameras they say that the blur is stronger with the same lens. The depth of field of the lens does not change - this is a physical quantity. So what's the catch? And the catch is that the focusing distance of the lens changes to compose the same frame. And of course, the farther the background is from the subject, the more it will blur. By the way, short-focus lenses with a large aperture are still better at blurring the background, which is close to the subject.
Photo with blurred background. You have to be careful with blur. Photo TFCD
Photoshop will also help.
If the picture is taken and you want to blur the background, then Photoshop or another program will come to the rescue. There are a lot of blur methods and I will not dwell on them.
What is foreground and background (distant) blur?
Conclusions:
To achieve maximum blur, you should shoot at the maximum aperture and maximum focal length. In this case, the further the distance between the background and the object and the closer the distance between the camera and the object, the more the background will be blurred. If the camera cannot provide normal blur, you can finish it in Photoshop.
Who asked to make a lesson on the topic "How to blur an image." At first I wanted to make a primitive one, but that's why I changed my mind and decided to release more practical lessons that will help not only beginner "photoshoppers", but also photographers. This article will use some terms from the language of photographers, which is why, at the end of the article, I will make a mini-dictionary for those who do not understand their meaning. New words in the vocabulary have not bothered anyone yet.
Why do you need to learn how to blur the background in a photo? The question is how to blur the background very relevant, and it is asked by many beginners who have just picked up a DSLR. A blurry background makes the photo more mysterious, or something. And most importantly, highlights the main object! But, frankly, I'm not a fan of this method, I'm for "natural" bokeh. But, if your lens does not shine with “bokeh” (for example, like mine), then there’s nothing to be done, you have to “get out in such ways”.
So, let's get to the lesson itself. I want to say in advance that we need basic concepts about how and with masks (I give a link to a lesson from another site, since everything is perfectly written there, and I no longer see the point in writing something about masks).
Open the photo in Adobe Photoshop.
Make a copy of the main layer (you can do Ctrl + J). In the future, we will work with a copy of the layer.
Now we go into "Filter" - "Blur" - "Gaussian Blur ..." and set it to about 5.5 pixels. (you can do more, you can do less, it depends on the situation and on what degree of blur you want to achieve):
Now turn on the copy mask of the main layer. This can be done by clicking on this button while holding Alt:
And when the mask is successfully created, select the thickness of the brush and “paint” the background:
And in the end, we should get something like this:
The photo I chose was not entirely successful, because here it’s hard to calculate at first glance where you can make bokeh so that it looks natural.
And yes, this method is not ideal, but either we learn how to make bokeh while shooting (if you have a DSLR). But for that you have learned blur the background of a photo in photoshop.
Here, I want you to even compare what YOU got, and real bokeh (I took a random photo from my collection):
One of the most popular questions from beginner photographers is how to get a blurry background (blurred background) in a photo. This is understandable, as a blurred background gives the photo a more interesting look, emphasizing the subject. A photo with a blurred background immediately looks much more professional and more artistic.
Let's start with the fact that in photography, for a blurred background, there is a term Bokeh (emphasis on the last syllable). Despite the fact that the word sounds in the French manner, its roots lie in the Japanese language. True, the term Bokeh is usually called not just blur, but the artistic component of blur. For example - "This lens gives beautiful bokeh, but that one is very simple."
- Turn on the "tripod" checkbox
- Set the mode to manual or aperture priority
- Change combinations of parameters - distance, focal length, aperture
- Click on "Take a photo!", since the effect of the aperture value on blurring the background of the photo can only be estimated by the result. You won't see it in the viewfinder.
Summing up
In order to get a blurry background in a photo, you need to get a shallow depth of field relative to the subject. And for this you should:
- Maximum aperture opening
- Zoom to maximum zoom or use a telephoto lens
- Be as close to the subject as possible and move the background as far away from it as possible.
Try and experiment! Remember that blur depends from the aggregate the three options above.
You can get exactly the same result with different combinations of these three parameters.
If you don't have an expensive fast lens where you can set f/2.8 or less, try to compensate for this with two other parameters - shoot from a closer distance, at maximum zoom.
Of course, everyone who is fond of photography has seen stunning portrait shots where the background is blurred, but blurring does not affect the sharpness of the image of the main subject. If done correctly and all the conditions are met, these types of photos are not that difficult to take, but beginners can find it difficult to get pleasing portraits with a blurry background, especially if they are not familiar with the relevant techniques.
And it's not even about using premium lenses that give you an edge in this technique by being able to shoot at the widest aperture possible. Even outside of a lens brand, you can get great results if you follow some of the tips that professional photographers share in their portrait photography workshops.
Shooting with a blurred background is directly related to such a concept as the depth of field of the depicted space, or simply the depth of field.
DOF is the range of space where everything will be sharp in the image. The depth of field can be very deep - that is, the entire picture is completely in focus (both foreground and background).
by Julia Krasovskaya
And maybe, on the other hand, and very small, literally a few millimeters, which, in fact, provides background blur.
We already wrote about the technical component of the IPIG in the photo lesson. Today we will talk about something different.
Control
Some DSLRs have a depth of field preview button. Usually it is called DOF preview. When you press this small button, you can see in the viewfinder the focus area where the sharpness zone will be. But even this improvement is not a panacea. It is not enough to have knowledge of how to achieve your goal technically, there are a few things related to setting up the frame itself that will help the photographer to get a portrait with such a blurred background that is desired by design.
Remember the following recommendations to be aware of how your actions can affect the final result, and the desired effect will serve as a reward for all the efforts spent.
How, after all, with inexpensive optics to get photos with a blurry background? What do the professionals advise?
Distance between camera and subject
Blurring the background depends on how far away you are from the subject. Shooting from 10 meters will give a relatively large depth of field. Get closer to the object
and you will greatly reduce this range and get a more blurry background.
by Evgeni Attsetski
Distance between model and background
If your subject is close to , such as leaning against a wall, a tree, or standing close to something that serves as a background, be prepared for the result to be a photo with a well-defined background. Move your subject a little further away from the background, literally 3-5 steps from the same brick wall, as soon as it leaves the focus area, and you can get a nice blur. This is clearly seen in the portraits taken against the backdrop of flashlights. The closer the model is to bright bulbs, the more clearly they are visible, the farther you move away from the lights, the softer and blurry "stars" you can get.
by Pawel Koyfman
Lens focal length
The formula is simple and very effective. As the focal length of the lens increases, the depth of field decreases. Recently, wide-angle lenses have become increasingly popular for portrait photography, but this is not due to better elaboration of the background and blur effect, rather, because the use of a wide-angle lens gives a slightly new angle of view on a portrait photo shoot in general.
Traditionally, lenses with a focal length of 50 mm are used for portrait photography. You'll get great background blur if you shoot with 100mm lenses. Perhaps the most popular portrait lens is the 85mm. But even zoomed telephoto lenses, such as 70-200, are widely used, and pictures taken with them are successful.
Aperture setting
But the first thing you should still take care of when you work with depth of field is the aperture setting. Using the methods above will improve your shots, but a wide aperture lens is the best tool for blurry backgrounds. Professional photographers have very expensive f/1.2 lenses in their arsenal, but you can get good shots with less expensive f/2.8 lenses, for example. The wider the aperture can be opened, the greater the depth of field available in the photographic image.
Use all known and feasible resources for yourself, then encouraging results will not be long in coming.
