When is blur good in a photo and when is it bad?

In my previous post on getting your digital images sharp I suggested quite a few ways of eliminating blur from images and keeping them as sharp as possible. However sometimes blur is good and will improve your images no end.

I thought ‘blur’ would be a nice assignment over at the Flickr groups.

Here’s a few instances that a lack of sharpness might be a good thing:

  • Removing Distractions - throw part of your image out of focus (with a large aperture) and you can eliminate distractions in the foreground or background.

  • Creating Mood – sometimes a shallow depth of field with lots of beautiful blur can create a wonderful mood in your shots.

  • Creating a Sense of Motion – while sometimes you’ll want to freeze moving objects at other times the blur that such objects create in images can enhance the shot and convey to your viewers shots just how fast the image is travelling at

  • Abstract/Art - blur or lack of focus itself can actually become the focal point of an image in an artistic way.

I’m sure there are other ways that ‘blur’ or a lack of sharpness can be a positive thing in an image – feel free to suggest more ways in comments below and please post your images that use these techniques in our assignment on the topic.

Read more from our Digital Photography Techniques Category