4
ADJUSTTHEDISTANCEPlayaroundwiththe
Distance slider until you find a suitable
level of blur. The higher the number of pixels
that are blurred, the stronger the streak or
colour will be and the less recognisable
the original scene will look. Around 200px,
depending on the size of your image, is
usually a good place to start.5
APPLYYOURGRADIENTToselectivelyapplythe
effecttoonlya portionof theimage,click
theAddLayerMaskiconat thebottomof the
Layerspalette.ThenusetheGradientToolin
thetoolbar,settoForegroundtoTransparent,
to click and drag from top to bottom or
bottom to top of the image (make sure you’re
working on the new Layer Mask).6
PLAY WITHTHEGRADIENTWhatever areas
are rendered black on the Layer Mask
will reveal the original scene, hiding any blur;
areas of white where the gradient hasn’t been
applied will be blurred. Experiment with how
you apply the gradient and blur – it can be
a soft transition or hard switch, or you may
prefer just having the blur in the middle.December 2019 Digital SLR Photography 45
PROTIP
GOFULLBLUR!
If youprefertheoveralllookof
motion blur without static
elements,applythesestepsin the
samewaybutexcludetheLayer
Mask and Gradient Tool.