Alien Skin Bokeh – give your photographs that professional look
Have you ever looked at a photograph in a magazine or in a newspaper and think to yourself – ” How do they achieve that awesome out of focus background and make that person stand out so much?” . The real answer is that professional photographers buy lenses with very large apertures that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Now for most of us, that seems like a lot of money to spend on a lens and that’s even if we have a digital SLR camera.Fortunately a company called Alien Skin Software has invented a plugin for Photoshop that will achieve these professional looking effects without you having to spend an arm and a leg on equipment. The plugin is called Bokeh.
The term Bokeh comes from the Japanese word meaning blur; and that’s exactly what you are getting with this package. The software allows you to isolate the subject from your background ; making it stand out more.
In addition, Bokeh also gives you the option to create a natural looking vignette. For those who aren’t familiar with the term vignette; it’s simply a way to make the corners of your image and background darker than the main subject.
So I know what you’re thinking; “This software must be really complicated to use with all sorts of knowledge required to achieve this effect. In truth; it’s actually very simple! Just select from the preset options a lens type with a high aperture and it instantly creates the background blur. You can of course section off what you think should be part of the focus using either a planar or radial selector.
In addition to this; Alienskin software has included very user friendly video tutorials on their website to help you understand what to do.
I took this very simple picture as shown here
Original picture before Bokeh plugin was applied
and just changing a few settings in Bokeh I turned it into this:
with Bokeh Plugin applied
The time it took to get this result was minimal and it was a very easy process. Notice how the runner (our subject) stands out from all the other runners!
The nice thing about using this plugin is that you can use Photoshop’s selection tools to make a precise selection and that will be brought into full focus with everything else in the background out of focus.
- Bokeh plugin interface
Overall I was very impressed with this application. Being able to create a natural looking background blur with slight vignette is something that every portrait and journalistic and even sports photographer yearns for and if having an application to do it for them then it it will save them time and money. For the amateur ; you will appreciate the professional look you can create for your photographs. Using this plugin over Photoshop’s blur filter means you get natural effects. No one will ever know that Photoshop was used !
The software is available from the Alienskin software website for $199.99 which may seem steep but it prevents you having to spend several thousands on camera lenses that achieve the same effect.
Sorry, bad example there. Nothing replaces real lens Bokeh. In your example, far away background is still very much focused, killing the effect and whole purpose.
Never mind buying this software. Picasa 2 & 3 both offer a similar effect tool that works just as fine, for free.
Just bear in mind it’s aperture that creates bokeh, by blurring everything that’s not focused. The quality and intensity of the “soft blur” around the focus point is created by aperture AND short distance between you and the subject. The lower and smaller, the better. With a max 3,5 opening on a zoom lens, you won’t get much control over this effect. Ideal equipment starts at f2 for a 50 to 105mm lens, but you have to shoot real close to get the effect. Crazy good is when you have a f1,4 85mm or a f1,8 135. They are more expensive, but there are a lot of models out there and a great secondhand market. Good luck to all!
SC