I often see photos that I like with a soft focus, giving it a dreamy or timeless quality. I never know when or how to work with this. Generally if I have a photo that doesn't have some point of sharp focus I feel like I've made a mistake.
When is soft focus most effective?
How is it done without looking as if the photo is just plain blurred, rather than artistically soft?
How do I let go of the need for some chosen part of the photo to be sharply focused or I delete it? (probably I should figure this one out on my own)
The following are examples of the sort of thing I'm thinking of. They are quite beautiful.
It is a combination of DOF and focus length. Meaning it is the distance from camera to subject and subject distance from background and choice of aperture. It is possible to do it with any apeture but it is eaiser with wider apertures (low numbers i.e. f2.8 or lower).
What editing program do you use? If it doesn't have a "soft focus" filter, see if you find a plugin or a free app and experiment with editing. I use Adobe Elements - just upgraded from 8 to 12 - and I've used the Topaz Adjust plugins with it, and Adjust has at least 2 soft focus filters. I've never played with them because I'm more apt to go all the way to a "stylized" effect.
If you find a mobile app that has a filter you like but won't accept a "full size" image file, you can probably reduce your file size. I've got to break away now, but let me know what you use and I'll try to at least take a look at PicMonkey before I turn in tonight and see if it has any filter.
I'm always more apt to try to get a sharp, "correct" shot in camera and then do my special effects with editing. That way I can my cake today and eat it later if I want a more conventional result.
@herussell Oh bless you Hope, I am so chuffed you like my photo. This photo actually does have a focus point - on the boys face. The light was coming through the window on the left but there wasn't lots and the settings were shutter speed 1/60; aperature f/4.0; ISO 3200; focal length 40 mm.
The lack of sharpness is probably due to the slightly slow shutter speed (for moving kids anyway) and also the way I processed it. To reduce the noise (from the high ISO) I increased the luminance in LR and I processed it using a pretty presets for LR which has a softness to it. You can find them on the internet - they're fab!
@chapjohn Thank you. I wish I had enough knowledge to understand what you said. I'm thinking I need a real life photography class.
@therubysusan I use Elements in the most basic way. I haven't learned how to use layers or plugins yet. I just sort of play with the different options in Elements til I get too frustrated. Your suggestions gave me some ideas to play with. Thank you.
@deeganp Of course, Pea! I love so much of your work. I see what you're saying about the focus. I didn't realize so much of this effect is done in processing.
I'm still having trouble understanding how to have this effect without it just looking blurred.
@herussell You always need to have a focus point (unless you're doing ICM or something) but you could try using a really large aperature e.g. 1.8 to create a very small area in focus and a large area our of focus. I've just looked at some of your photos and you usually seem to use a small aperture e.g. f11 so perhaps it's something you could try... :-)
Personally, I don't think it is soft *focus*, but soft light and background, and perhaps a small piece to capture the subject focus. I find totally blurred images almost always are devoid of interest for me. An interesting cheap effect, rather than a proper soft light filter, is to stretch one, perhaps two, layers of hosiery over the lens and fasten tightly with elastic bands. Different color hose can give different tone effects too. Make sure it doesn't interfere with any front rotation of the lens though.
@frankhymus@herussell Yes that's true of course Frank, the light is really important. This was taken using window light as I mentioned before so that's something you might want to try too :-)
@frankhymus I agree with you about totally blurred images. Until looking at the photos more carefully, I didn't realize the misnomer of "soft focus". I'm also seeing how important the light is in the photos I like. I'm pretty sure that learning about light will be a life long pursuit. I have so far to go. Thank you for the hosiery idea. For the first time in many years I will be investing in hose. :)
@deeganp After Frank's comment I looked at the light more carefully. I tried window light with some photos using a larger aperture as you suggested. Thank you for that. It's getting better, but still not there. I tried aperture priority mode in my camera, but it would only go down to f4. I _really_ need to learn full manual.
I am also a fan of this style of photography/editing and employ it quite frequently. What Frank and Pea have said about light is spot on! I always use natural light in my shots and that helps immensely in getting that soft feel you are describing. Learning to shoot into the sun brought my photography to a new artistic level. I process with Lightroom 5 and love the curves panel. I started playing around with it and eventually came up a matte look that I really liked. Here a couple of examples. The first 2 are all lighting and the third is mostly post processing.
I really want to try and achieve this style/effect - I recognise the need fo rthe natural light etc, but also how important the processing is. Does anybody know how to without lightroom? I use Aperture and have nik software. I do have access to Photoshop on another computer.
I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.
@spanner My first 2 examples have very little editing… I think a little contrast bump on each of them but that's about it. The softness all comes from the light and the shallow depth of field. Both of these were shot into the sun which is what creates that haze.
@seejillrun excuse my ignorance, but does shooting into the sun not give a silhouette result? Is time of day important as well such as the golden hour?
@spanner Sorry, Jill. I too have another question. I tried using natural light from a window last night (and other times) and I always get a strong white light. Even though the light was fading for the day and by the end of my experiment the light was gone, there was no warm glow. Can you tell me what brings the warmth of the light in your photos?
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If you find a mobile app that has a filter you like but won't accept a "full size" image file, you can probably reduce your file size. I've got to break away now, but let me know what you use and I'll try to at least take a look at PicMonkey before I turn in tonight and see if it has any filter.
I'm always more apt to try to get a sharp, "correct" shot in camera and then do my special effects with editing. That way I can my cake today and eat it later if I want a more conventional result.
The lack of sharpness is probably due to the slightly slow shutter speed (for moving kids anyway) and also the way I processed it. To reduce the noise (from the high ISO) I increased the luminance in LR and I processed it using a pretty presets for LR which has a softness to it. You can find them on the internet - they're fab!
Hope this helps a bit x
@therubysusan I use Elements in the most basic way. I haven't learned how to use layers or plugins yet. I just sort of play with the different options in Elements til I get too frustrated. Your suggestions gave me some ideas to play with. Thank you.
@deeganp Of course, Pea! I love so much of your work. I see what you're saying about the focus. I didn't realize so much of this effect is done in processing.
I'm still having trouble understanding how to have this effect without it just looking blurred.
@deeganp After Frank's comment I looked at the light more carefully. I tried window light with some photos using a larger aperture as you suggested. Thank you for that. It's getting better, but still not there. I tried aperture priority mode in my camera, but it would only go down to f4. I _really_ need to learn full manual.
I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.