Being able to control where the viewer’s attention is focused is something that’s a great skill to have as a photographer. You can easily blur out distracting elements of your photograph by using Radial Focus blur, a quick technique that the folks at Phlearn demonstrates in the video below. The effect is achieved using the “Step and Repeat“ technique.
[REWIND: HOW TO ADD REALISTIC BOKEH IN PHOTOSHOP]
You simply start of by duplicating your background layer by hitting CMD+J.
After you have done that, you hit OPTN+CMD+T to transform your layer. While you are in Photoshop’s transformation mode, move the little anchor point of your layer that is by default in the center of the frame, between your subject’s eyes.
This step is very important, if you leave the anchor point in the middle, you will end up with an image that’s just sharp in the center.
After moving the anchor point continue by scaling your layer up just a touch and then rotating it slightly clockwise.
Depending on how slight these transformations are being performed, you either end up with a more or less blurred picture.
Now this is the step where the magic happens: you use the REPEAT command by hitting SHIFT+OPTN+CMD+T 5-10 times.
When you are done with creating your layers by using the REPEAT command just simply play around with different opacity settings until you get something you like.
An easy, yet powerful technique to improve your pictures in Photoshop and maybe even draw attention away from mistakes you made shooting them in the first place.
If you want to learn more about Photoshop and how to use it to its full potential, make sure to check out Phlearn’s Photoshop 101 and Photoshop 201 tutorials in the SLR Lounge store.
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