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How and When to Use Blur Effects

How and When to Use Blur Effects

How and When to Use Blur Effects

Dec 7, 2014 | Posted by Brian Beard | Tips and How-To's |

I often browse Instagram for inspiration, because you can find some really cool photos and then try to create something similar on your own. It can be a great source of ideas, and a way to improve my own skills.

Recently, I’ve seen a number of awesome images that use blur effects with great success. I haven’t really used it a lot in the past, so of course I decided to try it out with my next photo.

Unfortunately, it didn’t really work, which got me thinking about when and how to use blurs. In looking at what made those photos I saw on Instagram successful, and playing around with blurring effects on my own photos, I was able to come up with a few ways in which using a blur can improve your image. There are probably more, including simply wanting an artistic-looking image, but here’s what I’ve come up with:

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Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond, VA
No blur effects
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond, VA
With blur effects

2. Emphasize the subject. This works great with pictures of people and pets. Professional photographers use their DSLRs to create portraits in which everything behind the subject is blurred. Unfortunately, smartphones can’t do that, but you can use an appropriately-sized blur focus and your image will get as close to professional-grade as possible. The example below isn’t a portrait, but you can still see how the blur effect emphasizes the main subject:

Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
No blur
Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
With blur

3. To brighten and darken different parts of the image. If you use Snapseed to edit your photos (which I recommend), then you can independently brighten and darken the blurred and in-focus parts of your image. This means you can create your own vignette effects, or even create cool lighting effects (such as an intentional washing out). I did the latter in the example below:

Wood carvings, Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Normal
Wood carvings, Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Intentional washing out with blur

Those are the three instances in which I’ll turn to blur effects to improve my images. What other ways do you use blur effects in your smartphone photos?

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About Brian Beard

Brian is an aspiring entrepreneur, traveler, and athlete. He's a seasoned analyst with a passion for measuring everything and using data to understand the world. He's also an adventurer with passport stamps from 31 countries and counting. You can find him on twitter and instagram.

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Thanks for visiting! I'm Brian, and I'm on a mission to prove that your smartphone is the only camera you need. I have no photography background, and I've never owned an expensive DSLR. I simply enjoy taking the best photos I can with the device I carry with me everywhere - my phone! iPhone photography is only a hobby for me, but as I go, I'll share my stories and photos, along with any tricks I've learned. I hope you'll follow along and be inspired to take better smartphone photos yourself!

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Thanks for making it this far down the page! My name is Brian, and one of my favorite things to do is travel and take pictures wherever I go. I have no photography background, and simply enjoy taking the best photos I can on my smartphone. It's only a hobby for me, but as I go I'll share my stories and photos, along with any smartphone photography tricks I've learned. I hope you'll follow along and be inspired to do some traveling yourself!

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