CONTROL BACKGROUND DETAIL

Many nature images benefit from shallow depth of field, but in brighter conditions maximum aperture may not be usable. Furthermore, in tighter working conditions, distracting detail may be visible. Discrete software blurring can be a solution.

1 SET ADJUSTMENT BRUSH

in Camera raw select the adjustment Brush (k) and alter the size. next select a medium feather and set Flow and Density to 100%. Maximum settings on the latter parameters speeds up the process.

2 ACTIVATE OVERLAY

it is important to tightly limit the blurring effect to target areas. Check the show Mask box to visualise the area covered by the effect once applied. use the Mask Overlay Color control to alter hue and transparency.

3 USE AUTO MASK

Check the auto Mask box. Edges will be detected and eliminated from the brush area, as long as the centre crosshairs do not pass over them. Erase any small errors by brushing over them with the mask eraser.

4 BLUR

Drag the sharpness slider to the left to remove detail. start with a gentle effect and progressively increase the strength. if -100 does not provide enough blurring, create a new brush pin and repeat with half the strength. adjust the Flow and Density if required.