Selective blurring and more

By Rex Dolby

The Van Wert Area Photography Club will hold its next regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, March 9, at 7 p.m., at 114 S. Race St. in Van Wert.  “Doors” will be the competition theme in prints and “slides” that evening.  (Slides is in quotes to signify that it is an old term that now has come to mean  “putting images on a jump drive for projection”.)    Prints no larger than 4×6 inches are also acceptable, and in either case, the photographer may enter no more than four images. Those participating are reminded that they should be prepared to supply information about the camera settings and other details of the shot.

If you are using a camera with a fixed lens, or you’re not carrying multiple lenses, then doing something in your editing program to make the subject stand out is a good option.

The good thing about the Gaussian Blur is that it isn’t complicated to apply. Its disadvantage is that it produces the same degree of blur over all the area specified, which is not quite how your eye sees it.

A more life-like blur is the Lens Blur.  Background near the subject is in fairly sharp focus and the areas progressively farther from the subject are more out of focus. The steps to achieve this goal, however, are neither few nor easy. Depending on the editing program, you may have a guided help and/or one you can read. It may be helpful to have a printed version on your iPad or phone so you don’t have to click back and forth to do the steps.  If reading isn’t your thing, try doing a search on YouTube on Adding a Lens Blur to a Photograph with your editing system.  I’ve found it beneficial to view the video on one device, pause it, and duplicate the step on the computer. This method allows you to back up and replay if your results didn’t match the video.