Even though you’re only shooting with the crappy camera built into your smartphone, Photoshop CS6′s new Blur Gallery will easily make it look like your shots came from an expensive DSLR.
Properly faking a shallow depth of field usually involves creating and strategically masking multiple layers with various levels of blur on each of them. But in Photoshop CS6 you just specify what in your image you want kept in focus, and adjust the shape and size of the area around it that’s not blurred. That’s it. Just a few clicks takes you from an amateur photog to a fake Ansel Adams. [YouTube via PetaPixel]
Isn't this just like bokeh plugin 2 from alien skin?
+1
good tool but its been done before so no story here
And seriously, who is going to buy cs6 to fiddle with their iphone shots?
agreed, good for pirate users though..
Price of Photoshop CS6 = expensive DSLR
I thought CS6 was moving to subscription based? So it might not = an expensive DSLR, then again, Why spend so much money on Photoshop if you don't have an expensive DSLR.. (not to mention the ongoing subscription cost might = 10 expensive DSLR's
Also if you mistake shallow DoF for a shot from an expensive DSLR, you probably aren't the target audience.
^ Right on the mark mate! Just like faux tilt shift.
The reason this feature is a plus for pro photographers is because:
There are risks using a very shallow aperture while shooting a moving subject, namely, you can miss perfect focus because the depth of field is so narrow. By being able to shoot a portrait or action scene at a comfortable aperture, say f8, this frees the photographer to concentrate during shooting on the image's content, composition, lighting, etc.
That said, there is a certain thrill in capturing an image using a wide open aperture and getting "real" background blur or bokeh. For this reason, I wouldn't personally use this feature, unless it was to save an image that was too boring or distracting with its existing great depth of field.
Pho.