Creating a blurry background in your photos can sometimes add a dreamlike element to your images. Along with that, the background in images can sometimes be distracting, so making the background blurry will put more of the focus on the actual subject of the image.

There are a variety of different ways to create a blurry background. Using a long focal length when taking a picture will give the background a blur. The longer the focal length, the more blur you will get. An 85mm lens or anything longer will be the best way to create the desired look, however if you don’t have that option, it is still possible to get a blur using a different lens.

The aperture settings are another way to create blur. With a wide setting you will get some blur in the background. The wider the aperture, the more blur you will get. A good starting point would be f/3.5, but you can go lower if needed. Along with that, simply changing the positioning of your subject can help add some blur. The further they are from the background, the more blur you will get.

Finally, it is possible to add blur in your photos using an editing software such as Photoshop. However, it is much easier if you create the blur before you go to edit your photos. If the aperture and everything else did not give you the level of blur that you wanted, then using Photoshop can definitely help you get there.

When adding blur in Photoshop, you are going to want to duplicate your layer, and then select blur, then Gaussian blur. Once you have done this, you can play with the settings until you have achieved the look you want. In Photoshop though, you will most likely blur your entire photo, so you will need to add a layer mask in order to get the blur off of your subject. Using the brush tool, you can erase the blur.

Be sure to stop back again tomorrow for another blog post! Feel free to share your thoughts with me, and to share my thoughts with the world!