STEP BY STEP

Blur the lines

1 Duplicate your shot

Open our woodland start image and duplicate it by pressing Cmd/ Ctrl+J. The ‘Background copy’ layer should be on top. Next, go to Filter> Blur> Motion Blur. Set Distance to the maximum 2000 Pixels, and alter the angle to 90° to suit the vertical lines of the trees. Change this angle for different types of scene.

2 Replicate the effect

Select the blurred layer and duplicate it using Cmd/ Ctrl+J. We did this twice for our finished image, but you could always add more for a bolder effect. Select the layers that you have just duplicated one at a time, and set the blending mode of each to Overlay. Don’t despair if it looks hideous at this stage!

3 Get in order

Change the opacity of your original layer to 25%. You’ll see that foliage detail of the woodland merges pleasingly with the blurred layers. Drag the ‘Background’ layer to the top of the stack. When experimenting with your own images, alter the opacity levels and layer order for different results.

4 Boost the colour

There are several ways to make your final image more impactful. We chose to boost Vibrance. This adjustment increases the intensity of subtle colours, but is more restrained with well-saturated ones. Go to Image> Adjustments> Vibrance and change the Vibrance to +25 and the Saturation to +15.