Soft Focus Trick

One of my favorite photoshop tricks is the Soft Focus Trick. This is a good effect for wedding photos and senior photos.

Start with a photo that is cropped to your satisfaction. For information on cropping check out Easy Cropping Trick.

Step 1. Use the [Ctrl] [J] shortcut to make a copy of the image.

Step 2. Make sure "Layer 1" is selected in your "Layers Pallet". Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

Step 3. Your radius setting will vary from photo to photo. Set the radius so that the image is burry but you are still able to see some detail of the subject. Click OK

Step 4. At the top of your layers pallet you will see "Opacity: 100%". Click on the drop down and slide your opacity down to just under 50%. As you move the slide watch your image go from blurry to soft focus. (Tip: Printed images tend to look a little more blurry than they do on the computer. Be careful not to leave it to blurry.)

I added the Black and White trick to finish out this image. I think it compliments the Soft focus nicely.

Please remember to leave your comments. Also if you have a trick that you would like to see featured on this blog please let me know.

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