# fake bokeh



## Ptyler22 (Jan 2, 2009)

I have tried using the blur tool in photoshop to blur out distracting things in pictures, and make the subject stand out more, however it looks fake, if you know what I am trying to say, it just makes stuff look blurry, but not like bokeh. Are there any tools or things I can do to make "fake bokeh" in pictures? I have cs3 if that matters.

If this makes no sense at all, just let me know and I can try to post examples or something.

Thanks alot.


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## Samanax (Jan 2, 2009)

Ptyler22 said:


> If this makes no sense at all, just let me know and I can try to post examples or something.


Post samples.

I don't know of a technique that will imitate real bokeh in a photo. One reason to try to get it right in camera.


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## Jaszek (Jan 2, 2009)

:addpics:


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## Ls3D (Jan 2, 2009)

There is a Lens Blurring filter in PS with options for the # of blades, curvature etc..  A complete cut out of the foreground takes the quality up a notch.

IME (3D Artist) it works best with a Depth Map, but unless you shoot lidar that is probably not an option.

-Shea


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## Overread (Jan 3, 2009)

scroll down on this page and there is a method for making more blured backgrounds:
Juza Nature Photography


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## Ptyler22 (Jan 3, 2009)

Jaszek said:


> :addpics:



Hahaha, ok, I'll post some up in a few minutes


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## rdzmzda (Jan 3, 2009)

why not just get the lens to blur while taking the actual photo?


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## Ptyler22 (Jan 3, 2009)

Now this was a high ISO shot, 1600 I believe, so there was some sharpening and noise reduction done, but what I really wanted to look like fake bokeh in this was the kid next to the blue one, (the blue and white is my team mate) and I couldn't "get it right when I shot it" in this one because they were side by side at this point so they were both focused.  if you can see the kid in green just looks blurry, but not out of focus, so I'll try those methods above and see how that works.


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## deb0.friday (Jan 3, 2009)

alient bokeh does a nice job. Alien Skin Software: Bokeh


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## rdzmzda (Jan 3, 2009)

hmmm ok hey with a pic it makes sense now....well did u have any of the focus points on the other guy maybe try to avoid that next time...also try to make it perhaps look like it was obviously post blurred may be your best way to go....what im trying to say is try to play around with it and drastically blur it (try  artistic blur just crop out the teammate) and maybe rotate this to there its straight...


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## GeneralBenson (Jan 3, 2009)

You have to remember to keep the DOF realistic.  That is why I hate almost every fake bokeh shot I've ever seen.  People never make it legit looking.  Things should get progressively more blurry as they get further from the focal point, and if one thing a a certain distance is blury, anything else at the distance should be _equally_ as blurry.  So what you have is one guy who is razor sharp, and the guy right next to him is just as blurry as the people 100 feet away in the stands.  The guys next to him is only a foot of so of the focal point, so there should be negligible difference.  If you don't keep it accurate to the laws of DOF, it will always look fake.  Use multiple masks, incorporating things the get further away to ad more progressive bokeh.


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## AlexColeman (Jan 3, 2009)

Because she might not have a lens that can blur as well.....
Once we see examples, we can help.


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## Ptyler22 (Jan 3, 2009)

AlexColeman said:


> Because she might not have a lens that can blur as well.....
> Once we see examples, we can help.



I already posted one...


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## eyeye (Jan 3, 2009)

fake bokah is so....fake.  Why not just shoot it with bokah...total time saver!


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## Jaszek (Jan 3, 2009)

here is my try with the blur tool...kindof sucks but you might like it


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## eyeye (Jan 3, 2009)

sorry missed why you were doing it.  I think you cant do real looking bokah side by side anyways.  Try darkening and lightening, vignette, crops, etc.


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## Dubious Drewski (Jan 3, 2009)

Yeah, you can't do this at all and have it look realistic. They are side by side and would logically be equally blurry or sharp.

This might be just me, but in Jaszek's photo above, the blurred kid looks like he's 12 feet tall because the fake bokeh seems to be pushing him deeper into the frame.


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## Ptyler22 (Jan 3, 2009)

I shot it with a 50mm F1.8 at F2.2


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## Ptyler22 (Jan 3, 2009)

eyeye said:


> fake bokah is so....fake.  Why not just shoot it with bokah...total time saver!



I did but since the green kid was the same distance away from me, he was in focus too, and I like the shot, other than the fact that the other kid is focused too


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## Ptyler22 (Jan 3, 2009)

Dubious Drewski said:


> Yeah, you can't do this at all and have it look realistic. They are side by side and would logically be equally blurry or sharp.
> 
> This might be just me, but in Jaszek's photo above, the blurred kid looks like he's 12 feet tall because the fake bokeh seems to be pushing him deeper into the frame.



Ya, I see that too. It looks alright, I think that the blurring looks so fake because it has a smooth look to it that bokeh doesn't have


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## Ptyler22 (Jan 3, 2009)

I tried what GeneralBenson said and I just did it a little on the other kids, I htink its a step up from my previous attempt.


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## tsaraleksi (Jan 3, 2009)

The problem is that with people that close together and a shot that wide, there is just not a really easy way to make it look like realistic bokeh. I spent a minute paging through some of my track and field shots that were done with much longer lenses and even those shots don't have the bokeh that you're looking for from the blur tool. Try working from different angles and locations-- shoot from the front of the runners so that their faces are the subjects-- then you won't have to worry about isolating one of them. Or preset your focus as close as you can get and snap off shots as they come by-- getting as close as you can will up your blur and give you much cleaner isolated shots of runners.

edit: opening the lens up to 1.8 would certainly help as well.


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## rufus5150 (Jan 3, 2009)

You might try a fake tilt shift with the runners next to one another. I've toyed with this method but have thus far only finished one image that I really think it benefited:

Fake model photography

The tutorial centers around making landscapes look like miniatures, but my application was on a person standing next to a very large and very in focus fence.

It's a long shot.


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