Baby Steps

Johnboy2978 · Aug 22, 2006

Hey all. Shot this tonight of my wife and daughter who is trying desperately to exert her independence and learning to walk.

This came out pretty close to what I wanted. I might try it again with them a little further out in the distance. I tried to mimic a lensbaby effect with the first one. The second one is just w/ a b/w conversion and slight sepia. Comments/critique greatly appreciated.

MommyOf4Boys · Aug 22, 2006

I am not sure about the first one, but the second one is wonderful. The tones are great and you really captured a special moment.

Johnboy2978 · Aug 23, 2006

anyone else?

Big Mike · Aug 23, 2006

Ya, I like the 2nd one much better. I see what you are trying to do, with the lensbaby effect, but I think you went overboard. Try feathering the blur so that it get blurrier as it gets farther away from the focus point...rather than just a small circle of sharp with the rest in a blur.

Indecent Exposures · Aug 23, 2006

I would agree with the comment above. I can see what you're trying to do with the first shot, but the border between the focussed and blurred parts of the image seem harsh. Perhaps worth trying the effect again to see what it looks like with a more gradual change into blurry?
Like the second one though

Chris

ShootHoops · Aug 23, 2006

Is this close to what you were going for?

Johnboy2978 · Aug 23, 2006

Yeah, thats a little closer. Is that a radial blur?

ShootHoops · Aug 23, 2006

Yep, sure is. I selected "Zoom" and put the amount at 25.

spako · Aug 24, 2006

My favourite is the second one! I think the shot doesnt need any enhancment to be great

Big Mike · Aug 24, 2006

Here is my take

Dahlia · Aug 24, 2006

I agree with the other comments, I like the second photo but I think the first is a bit too blurry and kind of hurts my eyes. You may have more luck with an element similar to what TheFinisher3 posted.

It's a great setting to photograph your daughter learning to walk.

Peanuts · Aug 24, 2006

What a wonderful shot that will document this part in your daughter's life. Of the first two versions I prefer the second, and Big Mike's edit is wonderful as well. Great catch

Johnboy2978 · Aug 24, 2006

Big Mike, that's pretty much spot on as to what I was trying to achieve. Mind listing an outline of the steps. I fiddled with it for about 2 hours last night, and got some results similar to yours, then in the end decided I liked it w/o any enhancement. I would like to know what all you did though. Was it a combination of radial, motion, and gausian blur?

Big Mike · Aug 24, 2006

I made a duplicate layer, of course.

On the top layer, I only used Gaussian blur. Then I used the oval marquee tool and made an oval selection around her feet. Then I feathered the selection (select/feather). I set the feather at 150 pixels...but I could have gone more. Then I inverted the selection (ctrl-shft-I)...and made a layer mask on the top layer. This gave me the smooth transition into blurriness.

I then did some touch ups on the mask. The brush tool, I set it to very soft with an opacity of 10%. With black, I painted on the mask to clear up spots that I though could use it. You can set the opacity higher...but I like to keep it low and make several passes.

Actually, I didn't even need to start with the oval selection and feathering. I could have just started painting to erase the mask. Or, if I was careful making the oval selection and choosing the right feather...I wouldn't need to touch it up.

Does that help?