Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-12)

Adobe Photoshop CC

BLURTHELINESFORCREATIVITY

Rather than replicate an in-camera

technique, put your own spin on it by

being selective with your edits.

Creatively blur landscapes

WHETHER LANDOR SEA,BLURRINGTHELINESINYOUR LANDSCAPEIMAGES

USINGA TOUCHOFMOTIONBLUR CANCHANGETHEIMPACTOFYOUR SHOTS

I

NTENTIONALCAMERAMOVEMENTis an

in-cameratechniquethathasyoumoving

thecameravertically,horizontallyoreven

rotationaltocreatetheimpressionofmotion.

It’scommonlyusedhorizontallyon

seascapestocreatestreaksofcolourfor

minimalistlandscapes,torotatestarsto

simulatetrailswhenyouwanttoavoidlong

exposuresandverticallyonwoodlandsfor

creativeeffect– in fact,youcanapplyit to

almostanysubjectmatterandat thevery

leastcreatesomeinterestingabstracts.It is

a funbutunpredictable technique as it

changes based on your speed and how well

youfollowthenaturallinesin thelandscape

anditsrandomresultsarepartofitsappeal,

butalsomakesit challenging.If youwantto

experimentwiththelookofICM before you

give it a go in-camera, you can replicate it in

post-production with more control.

Here you'll see how you can apply it to a

section of your image using Photoshop CC,

asopposedtotheglobaleffectyoucreateby

addingmovementin-camera,butyoucan

tryit inElements,AffinityProoranysoftware

with accesstoLayers and the GradientTool.

ORIGINAL

1

CONVERTTOASMARTFILTERDuplicateyour

BackgroundLayer(Layer>DuplicateLayer)

andgotoFilter>ConverttoSmartFilterto

turnthatlayerintoa smartobject.Thebenefit

of thisis thatwhenyouapplythemotionblur

later,youcandouble-clickonthe'smart'layer

tore-edittheeffect,ratherthanhavingto

deletethelayertostartoveragain.

2

APPLYBLURBeforeyouapplyanyblurmake

surethelinesin yourimagearestraight,

whetherthey’rehorizontalorvertical.For

thisyoucanusetheCropToollocatedin the

toolbarortheStraightenToolin theOptions

bar.Onceyouaddblur,wonkylineswillonly

beexaggerated.Withthenewlayerselected,

gotoFilter>Blur>MotionBlur.

3

REFINETHEBLURWhenyouopentheMotion

Blurpreferences,theAngle enables you

to adjust the direction of the blur. By default,

it willbesetto0°,idealif youwanthorizontal

movement;if youwantverticalblur,change

thisto90°.The Distance slider controls the

amount of blur, which would otherwise be

how fast you move the camera.

JO

HANNES

PLENIO

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44 Digital SLR Photography December 2019