Deciding whether or not something is intentionally 'soft focus' versus 'out of focus' isn't always cut and dried. What one person thinks is just right for soft focus can look totally OOF to someone else. This just happens to be something that is a personal taste thing, IMO.
For me, if all the details are obscured by the 'soft focus', then it's 'out of focus'. If I feel like I need to get a new prescription for my glasses, then it's 'out of focus' to me.
A good 'soft focus', in my opinion, will still allow you to see details such as eyelashes, individual hairs within a lock of hair (though not with a crisp edge to them), the texture of a flower petal, or the creases on th eback of a knuckle. 'Soft focus' should not give the impression that it's been used to cover up mistakes.
I'll see if I can't hunt up some good examples that use soft focus, and ones where I think it's just gone overboard...
|
