How does one get that soft misty image with a 7D

Sharpness, like noise, most of the time is a photographer's OCD, and not a concern of a customer.

funny how yall still look on how to ........ get filter lens or use OnOne Perfect Photo Suit 7's Focus Tool!

In Lightroom 5, you can download the beta, there is a new radial filter tool that lets you draw one of more circles or ovals on the image. You can them change characteristics (exposure, sharpness, clarity..etc.) either inside the selected...or....outsi​de the selected area.

I would suggest downloading the LR5 beta and plan on purchasing it when the product goes commercial later this year. I have it running alongside LR4. When LR5 is commercial, I will import all the LR4 catalogs.

artyman wrote in post #15959141
Just breathe on the lens and shoot before the mist clears

Yeah, I've done that. Back in the days of film of course though.

Back then, you slapped on a soft focus filter (various strengths to choose from) or breathed on the lens, or even smeared vaseline on a UV filter. Any method would get you a nice soft look, but with detail still clearly in focus (such as loose hairs still being sharp) although too much vaseline could start to obscure detail of course.

Nowadays though, I would just shoot normally and apply a soft focus filter in PP. That way you get the best of both worlds, a normal "sharp" image and a soft image that you have much more control over, as you can play with it and adjust exactly to taste when editing.

artyman wrote in post #15959141
Just breathe on the lens and shoot before the mist clears

...or spray a little hair spray on a cheap UV filter to give you a difused look.

In PS, take a sharp image and pull a circle or oval around the area you want sharp using the elliptical marquee tool. Feather the selection by about 400px (for a full size image) and then invert the selection (Select > Inverse). Hit Ctrl-J (or the Mac equivalent) to put the selection in its own layer, then add a 1px or 2 px Gaussian blur to that layer.

This also works well for subtle vignetting, except instead of the blur, you change the new layer's blend mode to Multiply and reduce opacity to taste.

And I agree, that shot looks like a P&S snapshot.

Something else I forgot to mention: by default the "portrait" picture style's sharpness is a couple of notches lower than "landscapes," for example.

What I would do is to take a few experimental photos in the default portrait style, and try some of the suggestions told in this thread. In portrait the focus is already a tad soft. Then I would try some of the "film" effects found in NIK's Color Efex Pro.

Submariner's example looks quite good already relating to the soft and dreamy look, but the photo the OP posted above has been processed to achieve a movie or film look in relation to color.

Thanks for all the very useful suggestions.
However I would be very grateful for your comments on the what I call the bleached out 'Professionals' image of the girls around the fountain.
Basically need to know is this "the new modern way", or is it what I call crap. And therefore advise my sister to get someone else.

( NB I am well aware of my pretty 'stick in the mud' old-fashioned views, not being what kids want.)

Don't look to me for advice on that. I hate that look, too. We spend all this research and time and money to get beyond the Polaroids and now everyone wants that look back. I don't get it.

Submariner wrote in post #15966275
Thanks for all the very useful suggestions.
However I would be very grateful for your comments on the what I call the bleached out 'Professionals' image of the girls around the fountain.
Basically need to know is this "the new modern way", or is it what I call crap. And therefore advise my sister to get someone else.

( NB I am well aware of my pretty 'stick in the mud' old-fashioned views, not being what kids want.)

I agree that the posted image by the "pro" looks terrible! If you have any influence with your sister I sure hope that you can convince her to use someone else!

Stick to your values, Submariner!

I think I must be missing something, but I don't see what's wrong with the photo at all? Besides being crooked and off-center. Just looks like a little over-exposure and desaturation to the photographer's/artist'​s/client's taste. Looks pretty sharp to me, certainly neither soft nor misty. Maybe you can post another example?

Submariner wrote in post #15957305
Hi

I showed my sister my photos and she said " Oh they are great, razor sharp, so rich, and the colours look lovely" "but that is not the look she wants - she wants really soft, dreamy pictures.! "

So how does one take these soft dreamy pictures, but still have them in focus. Is it something like a smokey filter one uses?


So any ideas?

There is something called the Orton Effect that might be what you want. it's built into Elements and I'd assume the other Adobe editing software, I fooled around with it a bit on some flower photos, it only seemed to work well on some of my photos, and has to be applied subtly, that is, there is a slider and you barely tweak that thing and you get noticeable changes.

Badger49456 wrote in post #15966379
I think I must be missing something, but I don't see what's wrong with the photo at all? Besides being crooked and off-center. Just looks like a little over-exposure and desaturation to the photographer's/artist'​s/client's taste. Looks pretty sharp to me, certainly neither soft nor misty. Maybe you can post another example?

Where do I start:
In focus Leafless trees make an awful background
Blown out areas on hair and shoulders.
Skin tone looks wrong not artistic
No depth of field control.
Tilted for no good reason
I could go on, but In general looks like it was taken with an iPhone.