Abel
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I often use Gaussian Blur when processing my images… not necessarily to compensate for depth of field but more for viewer control.
By “viewer control” I mean being able to force someone that is looking at my images to go straight to the portion of the image that i want them to be drawn to. as humans when we look at photos of other people or animals we are always drawn to their eyes first and foremost. another tid bit is that we will also be automatically drawn to what is in focus first as well…
so like in the image below i wanted to eccenuate the eyes of this lion and then draw the viewer in towards the teeth. so how i did that was thru Gaussian Blur.
I first take the original image, make all of the necessary tweaks and adjustments then in the final steps (on a lowres image ex 600x400px) i would duplicate the original layer and name it BLUR set it above the original in the layer order. Then I apply a Gaussian Blur to the BLUR layer and I’ll use a value of like 3.0 (keep in mind this is a lowres image, larger value for hi res files is needed). once the blur is added i then adjust the OPACITY of the BLUR layer to about 30-35% giving a nice soft glow since the semi transparent blurred layered sits over the opaque crisp original.
now comes the part where i gain control of the viewer… I then add a layer mask to the BLUR layer and set my paint brush to be about 50-60% opacity (you may like more or less) and then go thru and mask out (or paint over) the areas that i want the viewer to be drawn to. in this case it is the eyes, teeth & snout. by masking out the BLUR layer, the layer below shows through more clearly and seems to me more in focus than the surroundings.
the shot was originally at f2.8 already so there was a shallow depth of field but i want a bit more of a dramatic look to the image. there are many instances where this technique can be used… i use this method alot in many different arenas such as portrait, glamour, sports, concerts & wedding photography. in portrait/glamour it is very helpfully since the use of Gaussian Blur and easily hide imperfections in the skin and make images more appealing to the eye… well in my eye anyways. hehee.
