Digital SLR Photography - UK (2020-01)

Adobe Photoshop CC

Create a fake bokeh effect

CAROLINESCHMIDTSHOWS Y O UH O WTOG I V EY O U RP O R T R A I TS FESTIVE

SPIRITANDATMOSPHEREBYUSINGFIELDBLURTOCREATEFAUXBOKEH

B

OKEHIS THATsmoothnessyouget

froma shallowdepth-of-field,butit can

bemadeevenbetterbyincorporating

smalllightsthataretransformedintoartistic,

colourfulspots.It’sa greattimeofyearto

capturethemin-camerawithplentyoffairy

lightsandartificiallightingat nightto

combinewithwideapertures,butit’snot

alwaysfeasibletoincludebokehlikethis

unlessyou’vea lenswitha largemaximum

aperture,suchasf/1.4-f/2.8,andanarrayof

lightsaroundyoursubjecttoblur.Youcan

addyourownlights,asin ourearliertutorial,

butyoucanalsorecreatetheeffectin a more

controllablewayusingPhotoshop.Tomake

theprocesseasierandtheeffectmore

authentictolookat,choosea portraitthat’s

beenphotographedwitha shallowdepth-

of-fieldsotheimagealreadyhasa blurred

background.You’llalsoneeda selectionof

imagestooverlaythathavehighlightsyou

canexploit.It couldliterallybeanything–

a still-life,dappledlightin a woodland,a night

scene,streetlamps.Thedarkertheimages

areandthemorenoticeablethehighlights,

theeasiertheeffectwillbetocreate.

ORIGINAL

4

COPYTOYOURPORTRAITGotoSelect>All,

thenEdit>Copyandclickbackontoyour

portraitimage.ClickEdit>Pastetoapplythe

bokehlayerontop.UsetheMoveTooland

Shiftkeytoresizeandpositionthebokeh

layeroverthesubject.In theLayerspalette,

selecttheBlendModedropdownmenuand

selectScreentorevealonlythebrightbokeh.

5

EDITTHE BOKEHUsetheMoveTooltodrag

thebokehwhereyouwantit tositon

yoursubject.Adda LayerMaskandusethe

BrushToolwithblackpainttoremoveany

unwantedbokeheffectfromthesubject’s

faceandanystraightlinesfromwherethe

edgeof thelayersoverlap.Reducethelayer’s

Opacitytoo,if needed.

ROBE

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PLASH

46 Digital SLR Photography Januar y 2020

1

SELECT YOURSHOTSWithyourportraitopen

in Photoshop,makeanybasicadjustments

youneedtodobeforeaddingthebokehas

a finishingtouch.Onceready,openyour

firstbokehimage.HereI’vechosena night

scenesotheimagealreadyhasgreatcolour,

contrastandlight.Toblurtheimage,select

Filter>Blur>Field Blur.

2

USEFIELDBLURStartbyadjustingthe

FieldBlur’sBlur slider until the image is

unrecognisable and a smooth blur of colour

but with some visible definition. You can

also try moving the dial in the centre of the

image, as opposed to the slider, if you prefer.

However, don’t click elsewhere on the image

or you’ll create multiple blur spots.

3

ADJUST THE EFFECTSUndertheEffectstab,

movetheLightBokehslidertotheright

untilyoustarttoseeroundbokehspots

appear.Don’tpushit toofarsothespotsturn

overlybrightandwhite.MovetheBokeh

Colorslidertoincreasetheirvibranceand

adjusttheLightRangeuntilyou find a good

tonal contrast. ClickOK.

6

RINSEA N DREPEATFor every new bokeh

image you want to add, repeat steps 1-5.

Sometimes you may find using Levels to

darken areas around the highlights helps to

separate the bokeh before blending it with the

portrait. Remember to resize the bokeh too;

the bokeh should be larger in the foreground

than it is in the background.