(via Serge Ramelli)
No matter how you pronounce it, good bokeh is cool and can add tremendous impact to night portraits, nature shots and more. Unfortunately for the average photographer, getting really good bokeh in your shots often means having a very costly lens. Shop around a little for fast lenses, read the reviews and you'll see what I mean.
Fortunately, for those of us with smaller bank accounts, it's not that difficult to add professional-looking bokeh with Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC. Even better, you can do it with almost any photo, whether you took it with the idea of bokeh in mind or not. Thanks to the versatility of Smart Objects and the slick workflow you can follow using Lightroom in conjunction with Photoshop, you can easily add convincing bokeh with professional-looking results.
Here's the basic process:
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Create some backgrounds by shooting scenes with the focus slightly off.
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Use Lightroom to open a background image and a foreground image as Ps Smart Objects.
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In Photoshop, combine the smart objects as layers in one file.
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Adjust the size of the background object to fit the foreground object.
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Use the Select tools and Refine Edges to mask the foregound object.
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Use filters and other tools to adjust the tones of the foreground as needed.
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Merge the layers non-destructively.
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Add a vignette, if desired, to simulate night lighting conditions.
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Return to Lightroom and make final adjustments to the colors and tones.
(Success Tip: Work less, profit more with your photography.)
Unless you're already proficient with Lightroom and Photoshop, that basic outline isn't going to be a lot of help. In fact, I've only laid it out to illustrate how simple the workflow is. For the details, I'm going to turn you over to our friend, Serge Ramelli.
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In the following video, Serge is going to walk you through each step of the process and give you some great tips and shortcuts along the way. He's even going to give you some images you can use for the backgrounds, so you can jump right in and follow along without having to go shoot your own right away. If you'd like to add a new dimension to some of those drab photos, or learn how to create beautiful bokeh with a limited budget, this may be the best 13 minutes you'll ever spend.
Check it out: