Review Digital Camera World 04-13-2013

Digital Camera World

Shallow depth of field: how to fake it using Photoshop filters and masks Apr 12th 2013, 23:01 In our latest photo editing tutorial we show you how to use a series of simple Photoshop effects to blur your background and create a shallow depth of field effect. A shallow depth of field is a great way to focus attention on part of a scene by transforming the background into wonderful bokeh, which is why it's a classic technique for portrait photography. Normally you'd achieve shallow depth of field with a wide aperture of around f/2.8 or f/4. But aperture isn't the only factor in shallow depth of field. Focal length and the subject's distance from the camera also play a part in giving your images a shallow depth of field. The longer the lens and the closer the subject, the more of a shallow depth of field effect you will achieve. Our before image Conversely, shorter focal lengths and distant focus points result in deeper planes of focus. Captured at f/4 with an 18mm wide-angle lens, the background in this scene is fairly sharp. We can employ Photoshop's Gaussian blur filter to fake a shallow depth of field, focusing attention on the figure and blurring distracting details. By applying different strengths of blur to duplicate layers then restricting the effect with Layer Masks, we can create a fall-off of sharpness either side of our digital focus point. How to fake shallow depth of field 01 Select the figure Open your start image. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J four times to make duplicate layers. With the Quick Selection tool, paint over the figure. Use ] and [ to resize the brush. Hold Alt and paint to subtract areas from the selection. Go to Select>Refine Edge. Set Smooth 10, Feather 0.5 and hit OK.   02 Add to the selection Go to Window> Layers to access the Layers panel. Rename the top layer 'Sharp'. Grab the Selection Brush tool, set Mode: Mask and pick a soft circular tip. Paint over areas that would be the same distance from the camera as the figure to add them to the selection.   03 Create layer masks Click the Add Layer Mask icon on the Layers panel to turn the selection into a mask. Highlight the layer below. Go to Filter>Blur> Gaussian Blur. Set Radius 1.5px. Hit OK. Name the layer 'blur 1.5px', then hold Alt and click the Add Layer Mask icon to add a full black mask.   04 Reveal the blur Grab the Brush tool and set colour to white. With the layer mask thumbnail on 'blur 1.5px' highlighted, paint over the foreground and tree. Highlight the layer below, rename it 'blur 3px', apply the Gaussian Blur filter at that value, then Alt-click the Add Layer Mask icon again.   05 Apply stronger blur Paint with white to reveal the stronger blur on the 'blur 3px' layer in the grass and scene behind the tree. Next highlight the layer below. Rename it 'blur 6px' then apply the Gaussian Blur filter at that strength to make the trees in the background appear more out of focus.   06 Boost the tones Finally, use Adjustment Layers to boost the tones. Highlight the top layer, click the Create Adjustment Layer icon on the Layers panel and choose Brightness/Contrast. Set Brightness 6, Contrast 12. Next add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and set Saturation +7. PHOTOSHOP CS BLUR GALLERY While the blur filters available in Photoshop Elements can give realistic results, Photoshop CS6 offers more options. In particular, the new Blur Gallery has three filters that are designed to mimic shallow focus and tilt-shift effects, with greater control over the look of the digital bokeh. The new filters make it much easier to create the fall-off of sharpness achieved here with different strengths of blur. READ MORE 34 Photoshop effects every photographer should try once Photoshop CS7: 11 features we’d like to see Photoshop Curves Tool: 6 techniques every photographer must know Panasonic TZ40 review Apr 12th 2013, 10:00 Panasonic TZ40 review: the new addition to Panasonic’s popular ultra-wide TZ range of travel compacts brings a lot of sophisticated features. But can it deliver on image quality? Amy Davies puts it to the test in her Panasonic TZ40 review video. The TZ series is Panasonic’s popular range of travel compacts and this is the TZ40, the latest version, featuring a 20x optical zoom Leica lens. The TZ40 has built-in Wi-Fi, which means that you can control the camera remotely via a smartphone app, where you can also save images for sharing online. On the side of the Lumix TZ40 is an NFC chip, which means that if you have any compatible devices, all you need to do is tap the two devices together for an instant connection. GPS is also built in, which is useful for a travel camera as it saves you having to remember the exact location of all your photos. Amy Davies of our testing team puts this new Panasonic camera and all of its key features to the test in her Panasonic TZ40 review video. Panasonic TZ40 Review Video Transcript The TZ series is Panasonic’s popular range of travel compacts and this is the TZ40, the latest version, featuring a 20x optical zoom Leica lens. Unusually for a compact, the TZ40 features a mode dial on top of the camera, where you can access fully manual and semi-automatic modes, such as aperture and shutter priority. Also on this mode dial you’ll find scene modes and fully automatic modes and space for upto two groups of customised settings. This camera has built-in Wi-Fi, which means that you can control the camera remotely via a smartphone app, where you can also save images for sharing online. Here on the side of the camera is an NFC chip, which means that if you have any compatible devices, all you need to do is tap the two devices together for an instant connection. If you don’t, then you can still connect via entering a unique password in your device’s Wi-Fi settings. GPS is also built in, which is useful for a travel camera as it saves you having to remember the exact location of all your photos – though it is worth remembering having GPS activated can be a drain on a battery life. On the back of the camera is a 920,000 dot touchscreen. This is extremely useful for changing the autofocus point, which you can do simply by tapping the area on the screen you want to use. You can also use it to fire the shutter release – the camera will focus first, then capture the image. This is fairly fast and responsive, and is useful when shooting on a tripod for example, or for capturing quick action. Aside from the mode dial, there are no settings dials on the TZ40. Instead, if you want to change aperture, you press this Exposure button and then press left or right. To change shutter speed, you use the same button, but  press up or down. Perhaps a little confusingly, you don’t alter exposure compensation with the Exposure button – this has it’s own dedicated button on the four way control pad here. A Quick Menu button gives access to all the most commonly used settings, saving you from delving into the more extensive menu. Here you'll find everyday settings such as ISO and white balance. The number of options changes depending on the shooting mode being used, for instance, you'll find more when shooting in semi-automatic and fully manual modes. The optical zoom lens is extended and retracted via a small switch around the shutter release. The zooming mechanism is pretty smooth and fluid, which is good news considering the 20x optical length. As the zoom reaches its maximum optical capability, it stops, requiring a second push to enter the digital zoom – this is great for preventing an accidental stray into the digital zoom if you don't want to use it. There's no need to worry about capturing an image at the far end of the optical zoom as Panasonic's image stabilisation does a fantastic job of preventing blur, even when shooting handheld. Here's a comparison of the lens extended to full with image stabilisation off, and here, with image stabilisation switched on. Previous TZ cameras have really impressed us, so we had high hopes for the TZ40. Happily, we have not been disappointed, with bright and punchy images with plenty of detail. READ MORE Nikon D7100 review Canon G15 review Olympus E-PM2 review Nikon V2 review Fuji X20 review 16 new cameras we’d like to see in 2013

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