86 DIGITAL CAMERA^ MARCH 2020 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Combine Motion and
Radial Blurs in Photoshop
Spice up
shots with
motion
effects
2
1
JUST FOR FUNFILE & VIDEO
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disc: http://www.bit.ly/
dc226discT
he impact of a static shot can often be
ramped up by a sense of motion, but
we normally only reserve this kind of
technique for action subjects like cars
or athletes, where a panning or zooming
effect adds to the sense of speed. What may come as
a surprise is you can also apply motion to cityscapes
and architecture shots: it works especially well on
symmetrical scenes with the subject at the centre.
With the help of layer Blending Modes and masks,
you can cook up some eye catching results. The best
way to do it is with Smart Objects, which give you filter
options that remain flexible and allow adjustment
at any stage. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with
their use in Photoshop, as all will be revealed...
Open your image in Photoshop CC (or use Church.jpg
on the disc for practice), and open the Layers panel
(Window > Layers). Make a copy of the Background
Layer by pressing Ctrl/Cmd+J, then right-click on the
layer’s name and select Convert To Smart Object.
Press Ctrl/Cmd+J again to make a second copy of
the layer. This will also be a Smart Object. Switch off
the eye icon on the top layer and click on the middle
one to make it active. Now go to Filter > Blur > Radial
Blur; in the dialog box, set Amount to about 30 and
tick the Zoom and Good options. Click OK, and your
image will get an instant zoom-burst effect.^1
Now click on the top layer, switch it on, and go
to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Set Angle to 90 and
Distance to about 300px, then click OK.^2 Once
the filter has processed, click where it says Normal
and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light to
blend the Motion Blur with the Radial Blur.
To allow some of the subject to come through sharply,
click on the mask next to Smart Filters, and use a black
brush to paint into the church. Select the mask on
the middle layer, and do the same thing.
If you want more or less blur on either of the layers,
just double-click on the names of the Radial Blur or
Motion Blur Smart Filters to bring up their controls.
See the video for more tips.