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ArticleHow to blur the background in a photo? Proven ways to edit a photo
There are many methods by which you can make a photo more attractive, and one of them is blurring the background, known as bokeh. It allows you to highlight the most important object of the photograph, while creating an interesting visual effect. How to blur the background of a photo with a camera or editing program?
Blurring the background, or bokeh effect
The bokeh effect is desirable in photography. It is characterized by a soft, blurred background around a sharply focused subject. The word “bokeh” itself comes from Japanese and means “blur” or “blurring.” This effect occurs when you use a shallow depth of field (DOF) on your camera, and light from sources behind or in front of the sharp subject creates blurry, out-of-focus highlights.
An important feature of the bokeh effect is that small points of light in the background take on a characteristic circular form. Specialized lenses, called bokeh lenses, are often designed to further emphasize and enhance this shape, making photographs even more attractive and evoking a high sense of aesthetics in the observer.
How to get a blurred background in a photo?
The soft blur effect is extremely helpful for portrait sessions. It focuses the viewer’s attention on the most important element, as the distant background remains out of the depth of field. The transition between the blurred and exposed parts of the photo should be smooth, with the pixels brightest in the center and darkening toward the edges.
Wanting to make bokeh at the shooting stage, it is worth using a large number of aperture blades shaping the lens as an almost perfect circle. You can also decide to use a so-called gray filter with a gradation of absorption, responsible for a soft blur while limiting the amount of light, in addition, two apertures (working and main), which will control the character of bokeh.
Does a novice photographer have a chance to separate the main area of the photo from the less important background? Of course. All you need to do is properly adjust the lens and focal length relative to the image, and choose your preferred aperture value. The smaller it is, the more blur can be achieved. The optimal solution is cameras with 8 aperture blades, or f/1.4.
How to blur the background in a photo on a phone?
iOS and Android devices offer many useful features for photography fans. Wanting to blur the background on a photo on an iPhone, you can use a dedicated application. For paid solutions, the most noteworthy is LightX, a multi-tasking photo editor.
The first step is to select the appropriate photo from the album. Then, from Tools, select Focus mode. After selecting Mask, all you need to do is outline the background, surrounding the main object. It is not necessary to be very precise in this process. If the effect is unsatisfactory, it is worth zooming in on the photo and eliminating imperfections using Select and Erase. The last step is to save the photo.
Users of Android smartphones can use the Snapseed app. The steps are basically the same as with LightX. After selecting a photo, tap Tools and then Blur. The app will analyze and automatically edit the photo. Hovering over the center point of the blur allows you to move it to any area of the frame, while reducing or increasing the circle will modify the intensity of the bokeh. Among other applications that allow you to blur the background in a photo, it is worth mentioning AfterFocus and Auto Blur Background.
Bokeh is an interesting visual effect, used by both amateur and professional photographers. With it, you can give a previously created photo a new and unique character, as well as highlight the main subject in the photograph.
