Artisticly Blurred background in PS

[Love_Cyber_Cat]

Hi guys!
I was wondering, how can I achieve this kind of background? I tried so many different ways in PS but still can not get what I want. I am attaching a file - part of blurred background and was wondering if anyone would know what I need to do?
Tanks

[PhotosByEric]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

[Notamage]

I'm surprised you haven't gotten any bokeh'd shots w/ the f 1.8 =P

Bad Examples (quickies for work)
Bottom right =D
http://www.longoparts.com/images/11i-clazzmix.jpg

XTi w/ F1.4 50mm

[bolantej]

just shoot at a wider aperture, and you should achieve that look.

[Dan-o]

^^Yep^^ Don't waste time with the PS versions they all look pretty bad.

[Love_Cyber_Cat]

No guys, this all is different. I got a lot of different pictures with bokeh, but it is not the same. This kind a watercolored-blurred look was clearly achieved with the help of PS or Painter! I will look for more examples and post them in a few! ;)

[Love_Cyber_Cat]

OK, so here it is, another picture with that kind of blur.. :)

[sadatk]

The 50mm 1.8 won't give pretty bokeh like that. You'll want a 50 1.4 or 85 1.8

[PhotosByEric]

I'm not 100% sure but I think in your example that it is Bokeh not PS'd in. The light speculars (round light shapes) give it away as a large aperture lens with a good deal of space between the girl and the background.

From a paragraph in the link I provided:
Bokeh characteristics may be quantified by examining the image's circle of confusion. In out-of-focus areas, each point of light becomes a disc. Depending how a lens is corrected for spherical aberration, the disc may be uniformly illuminated, brighter near the edge, or brighter near the center.

Those discs are what I'm refering to.

Eric

[Dan-o]

It's done with aperture not PS. What will take a second to do with your camera will take an hour to do in PS and it won't look nearly as good.

[Notamage]

The foreground is focused on with a large aperature. Since the large AP has a shallow depth of field, the rest is blurred (in front and behind the focal point).

[S.Horton]

I think I know what you mean -- for each photo you attempt to process, you'll have to experiment with lens and other blurs until you have the mix you want for the particular shot.

The blur you use and blend may well turn out to be a few mixed and painted, by hand, and when you blur you may find you want to take the layer and color/contrast it very differently. Don't be afraid to blend motion blur in the mix and/or the watercolor filters.

Play, have fun, you'll eventually get there!

BTW, I agree the shot you posted was very shallow DOF, but add that it would not surprise me if that 'look' in the background was enhanced during PP.

EDIT: If you post a shot you want blurred/enhanced, POTN members might take a crack at it and post what steps they took.

[E-K]

The 50mm 1.8 won't give pretty bokeh like that. You'll want a 50 1.4 or 85 1.8

Well the 50mm at f/1.8 would be pretty close but not once you stop it down ;).

[E-K]

OK, so here it is, another picture with that kind of blur.. :)

You'll notice there are trees in the background with a bright sky behind them. The leaves from the trees filters the light so that you get a number of point sources of lights which results in the dappling in the background when combined with a small aperture

So in other words you need to pick your background carefully if this is the effect you are talking about.

e-k

[SilverHCIC]

Two words here: "Quality Bokeh".
As many posters have already responded, it looks like your examples were created optically, not through PP. The real issue is how do you get Quality Bokeh?
The answer has been partially addressed by the previous posters as well. DOF control through large-aperture exposures will certainly throw the background (and foregrond) OOF. But sometimes the quality is poor. This is a function of the quality of the glass you're shooting through.

There's a reason people spend so much money on high-end lenses. There's a reason eight blades are better than six. Round bokeh is considered highly desirable and pleasing to the eye. Distorted bokeh (oval or eliptical) can result from lower quality lenses.

In the more reachable price range, the 50f1.4 and 85f1.8 do a nice job. If you want to step it up, there are too many options to list, but they can be pricey (50L, 85L, 24-70L, etc., etc.).

But if you must rely on PP, I would suggest you address this from a multi-stage approach. ... A direct blur will certainly seem artifical. Use a layer mask and use the texturize feature first. Then apply a GB with a relatively small radius, like 1.5. ... Play with it until you are satisfied. To reveal the background, use an inverse radial gradient, centered on your subject, setting the opacity to something between 50% and 75%.

-- This technique almost always gives a better result than a straight GB on the background, because the result is not uniform over the entire image. The radial gradient layer mask applies a graduated effect, which is what generally occurs with an actual image. Have fun!!;)

[S.Horton]

^^ Absolutely -- When I do this, I quite often add noise first.

[Love_Cyber_Cat]

WOW, guys! Thank you so much for your input! This is even more then I expected! So, the solution to my problem is ( correct me if I am wrong) : good quality lens, Large f stop, great distance between my subject and background, careful selection of the background and practice, practice, practice! Little PS afterwards won't hurt either! {How do I use texturizer? I've been using PS for so long, but have never applied texture to my pictures- doesn't it look too artificial? }
Thanks again! Hopefully one day I'll achieve the result I am after and will proudly show you my work! ;)

[tmr]

Here are several samples with the 85/1.8, all at f/1.8. This will have a bit more background blur than the 50/1.8 due to the FL and the subject and background distance will affect the amount of blur also. As some have mentioned the quality of the blur will depend on the lens.

http://www.pbase.com/tmr4/image/81068771.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/tmr4/image/73184321.jpg