Digital Camera World - UK (2022-02)

Before

After

Master the Depth Of Field Blur Filter

Blur backgrounds and create super-realistic

fall-off using this simple Affinity Photo effect

How to get the

toytown look

Tilt-shift blur effects are often used

to give images a toytown effect like

this, making the scene look like

a miniature model village. The

technique works best on wide scenes

and cities captured from a top-down

view. Simply apply the Depth Of Field

Blur Filter, choose the Tilt-Shift

mode, then adjust the blur area so

that a sliver of the scene remains

sharp with blur above and below it.

To enhance the look, try boosting

colour and contrast using a

Vibrance Adjustment Layer.

James

Paterson

With over a decade’s

experience as a writer

and photographer, James

is also an accomplished

image editor – and an

expert in Affinity Photo.

hether you want to blur a backdrop,

adjust depth of field or draw attention

to your subject, Affinity Photo’s Blur

Filters can help. Of course, nothing beats

natural, in-camera blur, but if you decide

afterwards that parts of a frame would look better out

of focus, then Affinity Photo makes it an easy edit to do.

There are also times when blur can be an essential

editing tool. Here we’ve created a simple composite

by cutting out the penguin and dropping it on a

snowy image. The problem, though, is that our

new background is too sharp. Thankfully, we

can use the Depth Of Field Blur Filter to create

realistic blur, so that it looks more natural.

In this project we’ll look at the key features of

the Depth Of Field Blur Filter, and you’ll find a full

walkthrough of the compositing technique in the

accompanying video. The great thing about the filter is

how it doesn’t just apply blur, but also lets you control

the plane of focus and the transition between sharp

and blurred areas, like adjusting your focus point and

aperture while shooting. Here it allows us to create

stronger blur as the scene recedes into the

distance, just as it would in-camera.

Find out more at affinity.serif.com/photo

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