Faking DOF

[aWebJam]

Hello fellow togs, I have been banging my head against the wall for a few months now over DOF issues. I see these amazing photos online mostly from wedding togs, with amazing DOF. However, when I try to recreate a similar image, I do not come even close. ( Same f-stop, lens, etc..)

This has lead me to believe that some of the photos may have had the DOF changed in PS. Does this sounds correct and do you also change the DOF in PS?

thanks

[Murtasma]

Some photographers do it others don't. All you need to do is make a good selection around your subject, inverse it and expeirment with the blur filters. Photoshop even has blur filters designed that try and mimic the DOF created by an actual lens.

[wulf]

Two questions:

1. What do you mean by amazing depth of field?

2. Where are you getting the information that lets you recreate the shot (camera, EXIF settings and position of the subjects)?

There may be post-production work involved but there is a broad range of effects that should be reproducible in camera.

Wulf

[Biomech]

And do you match the stats exactly? If you zoom in, despite the aperture decreasing (higher F#) which always tell us that the DOF is going to be deeper - you get a really out of focus background. Someone here did explain it to me once, but I'm afraid I've forgotten why that happens.

How far away is your background? and the subject from you?

[Niresangwa]

Bear in mind that even if you replicate the Exif data exactly, focal length, SS, f-stop, with identical equipment, you have no way of knowing how close the subject was to the camera and afterwards how closely that crop was then made... the distance between subject and camera with the same settings will affect what you're looking at. Someone put up a nice study on the subject here a while ago, but I don't have the time to look for it.

As for creating bokeh in PP, it takes great skill and even then is hard to pull off convincingly. Usually ends up looking like exactly what it is, a PP'd fake bokeh imho.

[aWebJam]

Originally Posted by wulf

Two questions:

1. What do you mean by amazing depth of field?

2. Where are you getting the information that lets you recreate the shot (camera, EXIF settings and position of the subjects)?

There may be post-production work involved but there is a broad range of effects that should be reproducible in camera.

Wulf

1. Like the champagne glass here All sizes | Wedding Details | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2. Info from the EXIF. sames lens, focal length, aperture, composition...etc

[Biomech]

Do you have the exif for that?
I'm guessing something like f4 ISO 200 @ maybe 100mm+. Of course I could be completely wrong, but I'll push for a long ass focal length. I can't imagine someone shooting with a dedicated macro at a weddin but you never know.

[aWebJam]

Originally Posted by Biomech

Do you have the exif for that?
I'm guessing something like f4 ISO 200 @ maybe 100mm+. Of course I could be completely wrong, but I'll push for a long ass focal length. I can't imagine someone shooting with a dedicated macro at a weddin but you never know.

50mm f/1.6 1/60

[Photologyst]

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

...As for creating bokeh in PP, it takes great skill and even then is hard to pull off convincingly. Usually ends up looking like exactly what it is, a PP'd fake bokeh imho.

This is not quite true.

Often, people react to what they are told and what they believe they are supposed to say. If you put up a “fake” bokeh shot and admit to it, many will say: “Ooooh, that looks fake.”

If you just put it up and admit nothing, they will compliment it.


I am all for “fake” bokeh and adjusting the depth of field if the PS processing is done in a skillful manner. It just takes a little practice.

A simple way to work with DOF is to make a new layer in PS, blur that via Gausian Blur to the desired level. Then use the eraser with a soft edged brush @ 100% in the center of what you want sharp, such as eyes and faces; lower the percentages to 70%, 40% and 11% respectively and of course change brush sizes as you move toward the areas that you want blurred. Check your work by turning off the original layer. Thereafter select the areas, such as eyes and faces, etc. that you want really sharp. Flatten the image and use the Lab Colour Mode method to sharpen on the Lightness channel only via Unsharp Mask: Amount 120%, Radius 1.0 pixels, Threshold 3 levels. Return to RGB and you have it.

You can also use bokeh brushes. These work superbly well, once you learn how to use them. Bokeh Photoshop & GIMP Brushes | Obsidian Dawn

Try them before and after blurring to see what works best.

[Biomech]

^^ See that's obviously fake, but to me that looks more like a tilt-shift effect than photoshopped DOF.

Originally Posted by aWebJam

50mm f/1.6 1/60

See I told you I could be wrong :P pretty risky at 1.6 I'd say. Do you have a 1.6 lens? That must be a prime, I use a Minolta 50mm 1.7.