Soft Focus - Photoshop Legal? - DPChallenge Forums

11/24/2003 07:20:09 PM · #3

Is it legal to create a duplicate layer, apply gaussian blur, and then change the opacity of the new layer? This is an excellent way to achieve the effect...

Spork99

Canon EOS M6 Mk II

Canon EF-M 22mm STM Lens

11/24/2003 07:21:37 PM · #4

You would have to apply any PS filter evenly over the entire image, correct?

There are many ways to get a soft focus effect without using PS.

Message edited by author 2003-11-24 19:23:23.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

11/24/2003 07:23:45 PM · #5

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

Yes, but you would have to apply the filter evenly over the entire image, correct?

There are many ways to get a soft focus effect without using PS.

I agree but photoshop gives you a much finer control of the resulting image than anything else. I recently bought a soft focus filter and I may try to use it for some photos this week to see what I can come up with...

EddyG

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

11/24/2003 07:24:04 PM · #6

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Is it legal to create a duplicate layer, apply gaussian blur, and then change the opacity of the new layer?

No. The rules state "only adjustment layers may be used".

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

11/24/2003 07:25:18 PM · #7

Originally posted by EddyG:

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Is it legal to create a duplicate layer, apply gaussian blur, and then change the opacity of the new layer?

No. The rules state "only adjustment layers may be used".

That's the part I don't understand. I have no clue as to what an adjustment layer is. I suppose I could create a soft light layer, apply my blur to it, change the opacity and be legal?

EddyG

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

11/24/2003 07:26:08 PM · #8

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

You would have to apply any PS filter evenly over the entire image, correct?

Just to be clear, not "any PS filter" is permitted; only two effects filters are allowed:

"No effects filters may be applied to your image, with the exception of Noise and Gaussian blur, the two of which are allowed. Any filter permitted by this rule must be applied uniformly to the entire image."

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

11/24/2003 07:26:58 PM · #9

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Originally posted by EddyG:
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Is it legal to create a duplicate layer, apply gaussian blur, and then change the opacity of the new layer?

No. The rules state "only adjustment layers may be used".

That's the part I don't understand. I have no clue as to what an adjustment layer is. I suppose I could create a soft light layer, apply my blur to it, change the opacity and be legal?

nope. No filters on layers, and no 'soft light' layers either - only 'normal' blending mode.

An adjustment layer is a 'layer' that is really a curve, or levels adjustment or similar - it is only the adjustment, and not the pixels of the layer.

So no blurring or filtering layers, unless the rules change.

EddyG

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

11/24/2003 07:30:31 PM · #10

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

I have no clue as to what an adjustment layer is.

Adjustment layers "let you experiment with color and tonal adjustments to an image without permanently modifying the pixels in the image. The color and tonal changes reside within the adjustment layer, which acts as a veil through which the underlying image layers appear." In Photoshop, the adjustment layers are things like:

Levels, Curves, Color Balance, Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, Selective Color and Channel Mixer.

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

I suppose I could create a soft light layer, apply my blur to it, change the opacity and be legal?

No, because the only permitted layer mode is "Normal"; "Soft Light" is illegal under the current rules.

soup

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

11/24/2003 07:30:41 PM · #11

no i dont think it would be legal

an adjustment layer you have to choose the aspect to adjust
hue/saturation - brightness/contrast...
unlock background layer
choose layers - new adjustment layer, and see what i mean...

you are not allowed to duplicate a layer & change the opacity as far as i know

if i am wrong i wish i new that already.,../

soup

Ten13

Sony DSC-F717

11/24/2003 07:30:50 PM · #12

I guess I need to rephrase this.

I'm reading that the soft effect must be captured by the camera. In other words, photoshopping the image to create a soft effect is not the intention...

I guess I'm reading it wrong. I planned on using Gaussian Blur, but thought the intent of the challenge was to capture the soft effect directly in the camera by using a filter on the lens or other method...

soup

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

11/24/2003 07:34:43 PM · #13

from a purely photographic side
thats what it means

from a digital darkrooms side
its, what is allowed and what isnt....

soup

ScantyNebula

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

11/24/2003 07:37:26 PM · #14

An easy way to create soft focus :

Apply Gaussian blur of about 4, go to Edit > Fade Gaussain blur by about 50%. Then apply a slight unsharp mask until desired. Works like a charm and is DPC legal

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

11/24/2003 07:38:10 PM · #15

Original Image

Original image with the layer duplicated, gaussian blur applied, and opacity adjusted.

I tried several methods of applying gaussian blur to the original image to create a soft focus effect. The effect I achieved was creating an out of focus image. I couldn't make it work...

Someone please post an example of a legal way to achieve soft focus via photoshop, along with a workflow...

ScantyNebula

Canon EOS-5D

11/24/2003 07:45:14 PM · #16

Without

With Soft Focus

ScantyNebula

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

11/24/2003 07:46:14 PM · #17

I didn't use an unsharp filter so the soft focus is a bit drastic, but you get the idea.

11/24/2003 07:47:48 PM · #18

Originally posted by ScantyNebula:

I didn't use an unsharp filter so the soft focus is a bit drastic, but you get the idea.

So the second image is just an unprocessed original without any sharpening?

Spork99

Canon EOS M6 Mk II

Canon EF-M 22mm STM Lens

11/24/2003 08:31:33 PM · #19

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Yes, but you would have to apply the filter evenly over the entire image, correct?

There are many ways to get a soft focus effect without using PS.

I agree but photoshop gives you a much finer control of the resulting image than anything else. I recently bought a soft focus filter and I may try to use it for some photos this week to see what I can come up with...

It's about WHEN you exercise your control over your image, at the time of exposure, or later in PS. Soft focus filters are just one method for in-camera soft focus. I agree that PS will give you more flexibility, in part because you can try different things after the fact, but I'm looking for things I can do for the challenge.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

11/24/2003 08:34:02 PM · #20

Me too, but I'm also trying to determine if there is a legal way to effectively apply soft focus to an image.

drydoc

Canon EOS-7D

11/24/2003 08:51:58 PM · #21

John, I am not an expert by any means but I did use your method to soften my shot for submission with good results.
First, open up the original in Photoshop, layers showing
Next, make a copy: Gaussian Blur it by 3.5 to 4 pixels
Go back to the original and pull down the Layers tab: Chose lighten
Drag the copy back over the original.
You should have created a slightly diffused copy. HOWEVER, reading Gordon's post, this is an illegal procedure for submission. So, I also tried Johanna's process with good results. In fact, brought my first (illegal) attempt up to my second try (Johanna's) for comparison. Found it somewhat difficult to get the effect I was after finishing it with the unmask filter. But eventually I could not tell the difference between the two photos. Don't know if I helped, hindered or interfered. At any rate good luck.

And. . . thanks, ScantyNebula for the info! Learned somethng new today. Slowly but surely I'm getting my $25.00 worth.

11/24/2003 08:54:58 PM · #22

Originally posted by drydoc:

According to this thread, my plan is illegal.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

11/24/2003 08:58:37 PM · #23

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Me too, but I'm also trying to determine if there is a legal way to effectively apply soft focus to an image.

You can a quite effective stepped blur:

8 layers, increasing gaussian blur, decreasing opacity.

You can also do it in the stupid dpclegal way, by applying each blur one after the other and doing the 'fade' command to pretend you aren't using layers, even though you are. Which way you actually apply it is between you and your own moral compass, but the end effect will be identical.

timj351

Sony DSC-F707

11/24/2003 09:58:49 PM · #24

I haven't participated in a challenge in awhile but when I first saw this soft focus challenge it got me a little excited to try to get a good image to enter. Then I realized that I wouldn't be able to use the custom actions I created for a soft focus effect. Now I am pretty discouraged because I don't want to use a lens filter (of which I only have one and which is pretty subtle anyway) where I only have limited control compared to what I can do in Photoshop. It's like taking a photo with the black and white setting on your camera. You might get a great photo but then you have way less control over the black and white effect and you don't have the nice color original to do other things with. Using lots of effects filters and different films made a lot more sense with film cameras then it does now with digital, to me anyways. The only filters I normally use for my digital camera is a UV filter and a Polarizer which give effects that cannot be duplicated in an editing program.

As far as a DPC legal method of creating a soft focus effect. I am not aware of a satisfactory one. Even if layers and filters were allowed I believe it takes more then using the Gausean Blur tool because I don't think the darkest values should be blurred, only the mids and highlights. This is just my opinion but after studying many soft focus photos from film, it looks like it is only the lighter values that have the soft glowy effect. It is also much more than simply blurring a photo slightly. A real soft focus effect has an underlying sharp photo with the softening of the lighter values over the top of it. I'm thinking that we are going to get a lot of slightly blurry photos from people who either mistakenly think that is the correct look or from those who don't have true lens filters and are simply getting as close as is DPC legal.

I may still use my softening filter on my lens but I'm afraid the effect may be too subtle to get much attention and I am certainly not going to go buy a stronger filter for a one time use photo assignment. I don't mean to be whiner it's just that this challenge presents a very good reason for full editing. We have a chance here to explore many different methods of creating a very useful effect by using our editors but unfortunately that will have to be left to small forum discussions instead.

T