Photoshop Bokeh anyone?

T

TragicDante

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Jonathan
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First of I’m no purest, I embrace technology like a hot cup of chocolate. I just think we need to step away from the Photoshop solves everything mentality. On a recent horse shoot I had on several occasions horse owners say “Ill just stand here and you can take me out later” I find this amusing, yeah sure I’ll spend six hours in cs3 masking out your hair from a complex maze of shrubbery in the background. Or you could simply step out of the shot! Last week I had a friend say, I love that photo you took, what version of Photoshop do I need to achieve that, “how do you get good Bokeh in Photoshop”? mmmmmmmm

I think a lot of people tend to put Photoshop at the front-lines, and leave aperture, shutter and ISO wincing away in a corner in fear of a stray bullet. I’m certainly not the worlds greatest photographer, far from it, but I do believe in basic camera aesthetics before you get bogged down and up to your ass in Photoshop actions.

In contrast I do enjoy getting lost for hours in Photoshop, fooling around with various plug-ins and actions, but people who have just purchased a new camera ask me how to clone out a tree in a dodgy copy of LR3 they just obtained from a torrent site, without even knowing what focal length the lens they are using is, it’s really quite worrying.

Photo manipulation is not a bad thing, greats like Ansel Adams worked tirelessly on post pro, but he also spent six days in Yosemite waiting on the right light! Sometimes spending time with younger photographers, and I’m only 30 myself, it’s a swirling schism of HDR in camera, 1080p video and the new beta version of Lightroom, very rarely is the word exposure even mentioned. When recently asked “how do you get good Bokeh in Photoshop” I simply answered, you don’t!

www.jonathanmclaughlinphotography.co.uk
www.tragicdante.deviantart.com
 
You can not change Bokeh It is the result of the shape of the aperture.
 
isnt the idea of being a photographer is to take a good picture and not have to take people/things out of pictures a lot??

i prefer to do a good picture and minimal editing except colour.

just a thought.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
You can not change Bokeh It is the result of the shape of the aperture.
Click to expand...

or the size of the aperture reference to focal length and focussing distance

with a 100mm lens and the subject at 2 metres with the background 30 metres away at f 2.8 you should get a good bouquet
 
Good post :)
I try to get it right in camera simply because I'm pants with photoshop:D
 
I try to get it as right as I can in camera as postprocessing is a bore.
 
mrcrow said:
or the size of the aperture reference to focal length and focussing distance

with a 100mm lens and the subject at 2 metres with the background 30 metres away at f 2.8 you should get a good bouquet
Click to expand...

Not so... it is the quality of the out of focus parts not their quantity that is described by bokeh.
Though I not sure what a bouquet of flowers might have to do with it...;)
 
Really interesting thread.

As mentioned on another thread I have been taking amateur photography seriously for just over two years. In that time I went from taking as many shots as I could as after all it is digital and does not cost anything to click the shutter. To looking through the viewfinder and thinking, hmm I can change that in photoshop, to taking very few shots and concentrating on getting everything right at press the button stage.

I now feel I am taking fewer but better photographs, but always open them up in photoshop to tweak.

Regards

Chris
 
In the early days everyone spends loads of time working on images in PS, and then when you get busy as a photographer you make damn sure you get it right in camera and only tweak things in PS or doing your really creative bits in PS.

When clients ask me to 'put things right in camera' I say 'sure, that will be £25 per hour, just let me know which images you want me to work on.' Funny how that focuses the mind to move to the position I suggested, or whatever else it is.
 
I'm still fairly new to DSLR photography and haven't even ventured into photo manipulation yet. So perhaps I'm the least qualified to comment.

Anyway, picked up latest copy of Digital Camera yesterday and the free disc contained, amongst other things, "Add bokeh to a portrait: create your own custom brush and use layers and blending modes to create stylish background blur".

Getting my subject to jump out of the blurred background is one of the things that has given me most satisfaction out of everything that I've learned so far. I'm completely unmoved by being able to recreate something similar with Photoshop. Each to their own, I suppose.
 
Like the majority, I try and keep PS to a minimum. White balance in Canon DPP, then crop (if required), adjust levels and unsharp mask.
 
to answer your question you want filter>blur>lensblur. id apply a gradient to the layer mask and then mask out any overlap on the subject.or just carefully feather the mask.

To reinforce what others have said, get it right in camera, but obviously for the times where you have an otherwise cracking image and realise after that you want to to do this then photoshop to the rescue.
Its all part of the learning curve.

I spend a lot of time in photoshop, but its part of my style. dont be too put off by suggestions to avoid it, i think there is a difference between getting it right in camera and spending a long time in photoshop doing what you want and getting it wrong in camera and spending a long time in photoshop. You are doing different things in photoshop then and thats what matters.
 
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