Lessons in DSLR Workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop

Chapter Seventeen. Photographic Effects with Photoshop

Photoshop allows you to emulate classic photographic effects without investing in camera attachments such as filters and soft focus lenses. Selective focus, for example, is a time-honored way of directing the viewer’s attention. I’m a real devotee of controlling the area of focus, and I’m also of the opinion that focus is overrated. Not everything needs to be tack sharp to create interest for the viewer.

Photoshop has a powerful set of blurring filters: average blur, blur more, box blur, Gaussian blur, lens blur, motion blur, radial blur, shape blur, smart blur, and surface blur. My eyes are getting blurry just thinking about all the possibilities. My primary blur filters are Gaussian blur, ...