Method:  The Brush Blur

 

Goal: The goal is to go beyond the brush blur itself because
this tip shows how to give your photograph a stronger center of interest

 

Time Start to Finish: 5-10 minutes.

 

An easy method to blur a distracting background in Lightroom
is this technique that I teach in my classes  called The Brush Blur.

 
 

Photo A : Before and After Brush Blur

 

Copyright © Jim Austin

 
 

The Brush Blur Tutorial

 

1. START:
 

Grab a photograph from your files.  I chose Mae West in Miami.  She looking quite lovely, but the rest of her gang, WC Fields and Harpo, are crowding her.  So I want her to stand out from the crowd because she is the center of interest.  On to Lightroom...

 

2. Develop.
 

Open Lightroom. 

 

Find the Develop Module.

 

3. Brush.
 

Click on the adjustment brush--Lightroom’s Custom Effect settings will appear. 
The one you want to find is Sharpness.

 

 

Photo B: In Lightroom

 

Copyright © Jim Austin
 

4. Choose Blur Strength:
 

Click the adjustment brush--the mask effects from Exposure to Color will appear. 

 

Find Sharpness, and set it to -100 (minus one hundred). 

 

That’s it, now you are ready to brush in some blur.  Think about where you want to blur the background.  Have fun experimenting as you try sharpness settings of -50 and -75, or whatever you like.  Remember, if you do not see the mask effects, just click the adjustment brush, circled in blue in the photo above.

 

[ Brush Tips: To reset or return to the basic settings, just click the adjustment brush.  This toggles back and forth from basic settings to custom effects.  When you apply the blur with the brush, you are adding a mask edit pin.  You must click the check boxes labeled "Show Edit Pins" and "Show Selected Mask Overlay" to see them.  To take away the mask, hold down the Alt Key as you are using the adjustment brush.]

 

 

Go to the High Contrast B/W from Color Tutorial...