... or commonly known as "depth of field"
Sometimes you get the shot, sometimes you don't. In this scenario we follow a photo shot for a very specific use, and how the raw shot needed some manipulation to achieve what the designer envisioned.
We only had a few moments to grab the shot
Each year this event presents nearly 100 trophies in assorted sizes to winners in the Technology Student Association annual competitions. We knew what we wanted in terms of a header image for the web site, but were only given a few moments to grab the shot. The concept was a tight shot of the trophies lined up, running off into oblivion. Working very quickly, we were able to grab these three shots
As expected, none of the shots really hit home. The left photo didn't really communicate the scope of the awards, so it was scrapped. The right photo had too much head-room, and the angle ran toward the bottom of the shot... scrap that one too. The only viable shot is the one centered, and it needed lots of work. Where to begin?
Since the goal was to make the row of trophies fall off into an out-of-focus oblivion, we turned to that task first. All the other retouching could be put on hold until the initial concept was proven.
Step One: The Blur Layer
This step is easy, you've done it a hundred times. We needed to duplicate the layer to get a working copy of the image. Drag the layer to the "New Layer" icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette to generate a copy of the background.
Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur: was then applied to the layer, sliding the amount of blur higher and higher until we achieved the amount of blur we wanted. Now the entire layer was blurred.
Step Two: Masking the Blurred Layer
To create the depth of field, or "focus fall-off" we'll use a gradient in a layer mask.
1) Restore default colors (Tap "D")
2) Click the "Layer Mask" button on the bottom of the Layers Palette
3) Click the new "Mask" thumbnail next to the blurred layer thumbnail
A double outline will validate that it is now active
4) Select the Gradient tool (Tap "G")
5) Drag with the Gradient tool from the right-hand to the left hand of the window.
You should achieve a nice smooth gradient just like the one pictured above.
If you did NOT achieve the above, then open this step-by-step.
Now, we'll fine tune our Layer Mask...
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from the Editor:
I was delighted that day back in 1989 when Peggy Killburn called to ask if I could handle one more speaker in my "Great Graphics Tips & Tricks" session scheduled for the 1990 Macworld Expo. "Yes" was my response to her request to add Russell Brown to my panel. After all, we loved Adobe's young "Illustrator" program, and were quite anxious to try out their upcoming new product called "Photoshop." After seeing his demo, I was convinced Photoshop would be big. So the next month we added "Photoshop Tips & Tricks" to our regular DTG Magazine uploads to Compuserve, GEnie and AOL. The rest is history.
I only regret that I didn't trademark the name.
Editor / Publisher: Photoshop Tips & Tricks, DTG Magazine.