 SueSPremium
join:2007-05-16
Macon, MO
kudos:2 | reply to mhhack
Re: To Blur or Not to Blur I am not sure where you wanted this thread to go. Your title suggests you are interested in other input other than just learning how to blur a photo. We can and do use blur in different ways, sometimes just for fun, and I do that once in a while. I think the best use of blur is to get rid of a distracting background or things that do not fit in the overall story. Just blurring an image just because doesn’t always make a photo better. The last image you posted, the lily is the brightest and has the most contrast, so we instantly know it is the subject. The lily pads and water are all part of the story, I don’t see a necessary need to blur the photo.
I used blur in the popcorn ball photo to keep the canisters from taking over the photo, they are a lighter color than the popcorn balls. The photo I just posted in the gallery is blurred to give me a place to put the message.
What are your reasons for blur? |
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 mhhackPremium
join:2005-03-29
kudos:3 | I think I've already answered your question. Sometimes I would like to emulate fast lenses and since I don't have any for my DSLR I'm trying to do it via software. The aim is to try to make some images have shallow DOF and hopefully some bokeh as well. It's really more than just blur, since the process allows for blur gradients, number of aperture blades etc, which I've tried to do in the images I 've posted.
Your Thanksgiving image is OK, but to my eyes doesn't really look like shallow DOF and good bokeh. All that sharp foreground is just distracting. |
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SueSPremium
join:2007-05-16
Macon, MO
kudos:2 | The photo I posted in the gallery is not a special photo, it is just a photo to put a message on and that is the reason for the blur. The room to play with is only a few inches, so of course you won't have the blur that you would have with lots of space behind the subject. My point is that I think one should have a reason to use blur, neither image that you have posted here need blur. |
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mhhackPremium
join:2005-03-29
kudos:3 | Actually I think that both images are better for the blur, but, like all things, each to his own. Happy Thanksgiving! |
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