How to Create Realistic Bokeh In Photoshop

There are a variety of valid reasons you may need to enhance the out of focus blur in Adobe Photoshop. Whether it’s a limitation of your equipment, limitation of the shooting environment, or you just want to make a creative change, this tutorial shows you the trick to making fake bokeh look great.

Nathaniel Dodson of tutvid is sharing a useful tutorial that will help narrow down what blur tool out of the many available in Photoshop will create beautiful bokeh. In this case, he’s using the Field Blur tool found under Filter > Blur Gallery in the menu bar. Field Blur has a Bokeh panel with three sliders that can be tweaked in order to find the best looking result. From quick selections, to teaching you how to use the Field Blur tool, to how to refine your photo, Dodson has you covered in the video above.

Don’t think this technique is just limited to people. I tend to use at least a little bit of Field Blur whenever I use the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens to photograph wildlife as it gives me a little extra pop that can’t always be fully achieved straight out of camera.

Ryan Mense's picture

Ryan Mense is a wildlife cameraperson specializing in birds. Alongside gear reviews and news, Ryan heads selection for the Fstoppers Photo of the Day.

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