Blurring the background

[wijmenga]

Hi Sam,
Thnx for the suggestions .
Thanks to Babine, I tried the neural filter Colorize to color the background trees en buildings in the Gerrit and Adrienne picture. It’s a great way to start.

I made a layer mask from the happy couple before colorising the background. Adjusting the background is a piece of cake now. The next challenge is to blur the background a little bit (to create some depth). Blurring with a masked layer is not possible I noticed. and the foreground must stay sharp of course. Any suggestions?

 

[IamSam]

The next challenge is to blur the background a little bit.........Any suggestions?

Sure!

There are a few ways to blur backgrounds.

The usual manner is to make a copy of the main image, add a layer mask to the copy, isolate the subject on the layer mask, then add a Gaussian Blur to the layer. This works but you lack the ability to control the blur. As you stated, we need to be able to lessen the blur (maintain sharpness) in the foreground.

Here's the only way I will blur backgrounds.

Copy the original subject layer. We can call it Copy 2.
Convert the Copy 2 layer into a smart object.
Add a layer mask to copy 2.
Isolate the Subject on the layer mask
Add a Gaussian Blur smart filter and adjust. The smart filter come with it's own layer mask.
Use the Gradient Tool (or Brush Tool) to add a a gradient to the smart filters layer mask. This gives me the ability to control and edit the blur!!

Original.


Copy 2 converted to Smart Object and Gaussian Blur Smart Filter. Over exaggerated blur for the demo!!! Note that the foreground boulder she's sitting on looks abnormal!


Adjusted foreground blur using the Smart Objects layer mask and the Gradient Tool. I can also use the Brush Tool for this as well if needed.



Because I have used a Smart Object and filter, I can always adjust/edit the blur!! I can also double click the smart object thumbnail and make adjustments to the image itself!
And because I added the layer mask, I can always adjust areas of the subject if needed.
And because I have a layer mask for the smart filter blur, I can also adjust that separately as well without affecting my Subject 2 layer mask.

 

[JeffK]

Another option, since you've already dug into Neural Filters, there's also a Depth Blur tool you can take advantage of.
You can choose to focus on your subject, alter your focal distance, and your blur strength.
Just play with the sliders to see where they get you...

 

[IamSam]

there's also a Depth Blur tool you can take advantage of.

Nice. Since I'm running an older Ps version without this option, can you show if this is editable? Or is this a one time destructive adjustment?

 

[JeffK]

Nice. Since I'm running an older Ps version without this option, can you show if this is editable? Or is this a one time destructive adjustment?

You can convert the image to a smart object before you edit so you can return and adjust your settings.
But there's also options as to how you want the edit to be displayed in the layer stack as
- a new layer
- a new masked layer
- a smart filter
- or even a new document
The options are in a pop out menu at the bottom right under "Output"

 

[wijmenga]

Hi guys,
Thanks for the alternative ways to blur the background. I will dive into the options and let you know what the results are .

 

[wijmenga]

Hello,
Here's my complete picture of the colorized photo of the happy couple Gerrit and Adele. The foreground is now sharp together with the weeping willow. I made two masks and blurred with gradient the background. I followed the suggestion of Sam. The method with depth blur (Jeff) is also ok but the focus was not fully adjustable for the weeping willow.

Thanks again

 

[JeffK]

Hello,
Here's my complete picture of the colorized photo of the happy couple Gerrit and Adele. The foreground is now sharp together with the weeping willow. I made two masks and blurred with gradient the background. I followed the suggestion of Sam. The method with depth blur (Jeff) is also ok but the focus was not fully adjustable for the weeping willow.

Thanks again

Just to prove it to myself since I hadn't made use of this method before, I composed both your above screenshots, then used depth blur on Neural Filters for the background, but output it to a new layer with a mask. Then I masked the weeping willow so that the couple and the willow were both in focus.
(Lo-res quality since this is a screenshot of a composed screenshot.)

 

[wijmenga]

Ok, both methods are fine to use. They vary little.