Life's a Blur - Creative Tutorial
Featured CompletedGetting creative with photography is not limited to only what lays beyond your lens. Cameras and lenses themselves can distort, blur, and redirect our relationship to what we see on the surface. Learn how you can create abstract compositions and change how subjects are seen with blurry focus.
Abstract Bokeh.
Image by insiana (gallery)
When cameras refuse to focus, the world around them goes soft. Sharp edges become rounded and definitive features are smoothed out, forcing viewers to fill in the details themselves. By intentionally causing your camera to completely lose focus, you can capture this abstract world dominated by ‘bokeh,’ the luminous circles of light that often appear as a result.
With bokeh, light is your subject. Keep an eye out for distant lights and reflections that you can use to emphasize the effect – neon signs, street lights, and skylines are all great subjects to explore.
Soft Focus Foreground.
Image by racheloliviaweeks
By keeping a subject close to your lens and then focusing on a distant background, you can create dynamic compositions that combine both sharp and soft focus. The subject in the foreground will soften and smooth, making color and shape more dominant than texture and detail. Use this technique to balance background with foreground and create a composition that fills the frame.
Image by allisonhannah (gallery)
Image by kayyhamilton (gallery)
Alternatively, tap + hold alongside the advanced capture tools to try the manual focus slider, which allows you to quickly move across your full range of focus.
Experiment with the Blur Tool.
Instantly change the focal point of a composition while editing by tapping on the tools icon and selecting the Blur tool. Select either the linear or circular option to soften and blur objects outside of the range of focus. Here’s how to use the blur tool.
Image by kathyjames (gallery)
Tap here to launch the VSCO camera to share your own creations with VSCO.
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