Ever wish you’d taken a shot with a wider aperture? Make it
happen in Photoshop using a blur filter and a painted mask.
Backgrounds often ruin what is an otherwise perfect picture.
Even if the subject is perfectly framed and focused, things in the
distance can prove an insurmountable distraction. This is particularly
true when shooting in a crowd - at a sporting event or carnival, say -
as spectators and clutter are often impossible to crop out of your
composition.
Throwing the background out of focus using the widest
aperture that your lens allows is the obvious first step to fixing this
problem. But doing this is certainly not a sure-fire solution to the
issue - even if an advertising hoarding, for example, is out of focus,
it can still be a significant distraction.
Photoshop fix
The Photoshop solution is to create a completely blurred
version of your problem picture. By skilfully combining this with the
original using a hand-painted mask, the subject looks sharp and the
backdrop believably blurred. Here's how it's done in Photoshop Elements
5.0 (although the principle's the same for anything from PSE 5.0 to Photoshop CS6)...
Click the image to enlarge
Open the image blur_start.jpg. Check the Layers palette is
visible (go to Window>Layers if it's not). Right-click on the
'Background' layer icon in this palette, and choose Duplicate Layer.
Rename this layer 'Blur' in the window that appears. Click OK.
02. Use a filter to add blur
Click the image to enlarge
From the Filter drop-down menu at the top of the screen
choose Blur, then Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to the amount that makes
the background look as out of focus as you want it - around 70 should
do the trick. The main subject will also appear blurred, but don’t worry
about this now. Click OK.
03. Create a ghost layer
04. Cheat the system
Click the image to enlarge
There's some jiggery-pokery needed to get the mask to work
as we need it to (unless using Elements 9, where this workaround is not
necessary). Drag the 'Levels 1' Adjustment Layer below the 'Blur' layer
in the Layers palette. Now press the Alt key and hover
the cursor between the 'Blur' and 'Levels 1' layer; when a double-circle
symbol appears, left-click with the mouse. The 'Blur' layer icon will
then move to the right.
05. Get out the paintbrush
Click the image to enlarge
Click on the white rectangle in the Levels layer. Press Alt+Delete,
and the mask becomes black (and the original image is revealed again).
Grab the Brush tool and select a soft-edged brush from the preset
picker. Set Size to 500 pixels and Opacity to 100%. Set the foreground
colour to white (press X). Paint over the background to reveal the blurring beneath.
06. Fine tune the mask
Click the image to enlarge
As you get closer to the subject, you need to reduce the size of the brush (use the [ key as a shortcut), and the Opacity (press the 7 key to reduce to 70%, 4
for 40% and so on). Take your time creating the mask, so you can't see
the joins. Alt-clicking on the mask icon enables you to see (and paint
on) the mask, and to highlight areas you might have missed.
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