![]() Think of the blur angle as the control for the degree of swirl in the background. This is how you will control the amount of simulated blur in your image. You’ll notice quite a few options here in the spin blur gallery the most important of which is the Blur Angle slider. Next, go up to menu bar you looked at earlier and go to Filter > Blur Gallery > Spin Blur… This will open up the blur gallery and it is here where you’ll do the actual blurring. Feel free to rename the duplicate layer as I’ve done here to help you keep track in case you’re working with more layers. Make a duplicate copy of the background layer by using the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+J. You will use the Spin Blur Filter to give you that dreamy understated swirly bokeh background for which Helios lenses are so favored.Īfter you’ve got your image opened in Photoshop it’s time to begin the effect. The key player in this edit will be a hidden little tool, or rather a filter, buried inside of the Blur Gallery portion of the Filter menu bar at the top of the window. Not only do swirly backgrounds complement images like these more so than others, but having easily identifiable borders between your subject and the background will make things much easier on you during the processing. This is the example we’ll be using for the demonstration. Look for images with isolated subjects that can be easily separated from the background. The same is true for images you choose to simulate the “Helios effect” in Photoshop. This means that just like any other time you want to blur out a background, the further you can place your subject from the objects behind it the more blurred the background will become. The charm of the Helios lens comes from separating the subject from the background with style. You can do it right inside of Photoshop – here’s how. If you don’t happen to have a Helios lying around (they’re actually quite cheap) then I hope you will consider learning how easy you can simulate that swirly bokeh of this nifty little lens. The 1.2 is enormous on anything.Image by Mike Newton made with a Helios lens. I find all of the later Canon lenses - the black-bodied ones - to be pretty big on most LTM bodies, later Canons excepted. The Summitar is probably my favorite fast 50, while the Canon is great for those times you want an imperfect look. The Summitar is much more controlled, and has better ultimate resolution, while still retaining a certain creaminess. The Canon shows a lot of softness wide open, and can be swirly and a little crazy in the corners it really doesn't sharpen up until f/5.6 or so. Optically, the Summitar is improved (adding an extra element) the Canon is essentially a coated copy of the preceding Summar's optics stuffed into a copy of the Summitar's body. The Canon 50/1.9 and Summitar are double Gauss/Planar types, and almost indistinguishable externally. I quite like them both, though I tend to use the Canon more because of the click-stop aperture and the fact that it rotates in the standard Leica direction (the J-8 turns the opposite way, like a Contax (from which the Russians copied)). Some say they aren't general purpose lenses, but I think that only holds true if you're after modern levels of resolution corner to corner. Soft and low contrast wide open (especially the Canon), but by f/4 showing good central sharpness and much improved contrast. The J-8 and Canon 50/1.5 are classic Sonnar formula lenses. I have the Canon 50/1.5 and 50/1.9, Jupiter-8, and Summitar in LTM, plus some slower 50s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |