Photoshop lens blur vs the real thing

[Monarque1972]

I just want to know guys how the photoshop lens blur option can compare to the real thing you get from a good camera. I must admit the samples I've seen on the web are quite impressive, but it must be a real pain to select precisely your subjet so there's no strange artifacts around it!!!

But I mean, with a little practice and patience, what can I expect from that photoshop option ? thanks guys :)

[New Guy]

Here's the difference. The photoshop blur option makes everything equally as blurry throughout. Where as if you narrow the depth of field optically the background gets progressively more and more blurry the further back the background gets.

It can be easy to spot. However the photoshop version will do the trick and selecting the subject is all part of the fun.

[SDK^]

Here's the difference. The photoshop blur option makes everything equally as blurry throughout. Where as if you narrow the depth of field optically the background gets progressively more and more blurry the further back the background gets.

The lens bur filter in Photoshop can be set to use a depth mask where it will gradually blur into the distance.
It actually work very well but it's not a replacement for true shallow DOF straight from the camera/lens.

[Flagpole]

G'day!

Of course you can use gradient masks as a depth map to achieve the same thing. It requires the creation of Alpha Channel using a gradiet tool. Then you apply Gaussian Blur to your picture to simulate small DOF and camera blur. You can also use it in Lens Blur filter. I saw this in Photoshop Studio Skills Collector's Edition 1 which I bought in local newsagent in Sydney, Australia http://www.designgraphics.com.au/ So in short you can expect very good results which would be very hard to distinguish from real things depending on how careful you are with your subject and your PS skills.

Flagpole

[SDK^]

Here's the difference. The photoshop blur option makes everything equally as blurry throughout. Where as if you narrow the depth of field optically the background gets progressively more and more blurry the further back the background gets.

The lens bur filter in Photoshop can be set to use a depth mask where it will gradually blur into the distance.
It actually work very well but it's not a replacement for true shallow DOF straight from the camera/lens.

[Monarque1972]

Thanks a lot guys !!!! :)