The amount of motion in a photograph is determined by the shutter speed. A moment can be frozen in time with the use of a fast shutter or it may be implied with a slow one. It’s great we can capture images that show either, but quite often the desired look is unobtainable in the field. This can be determined by a number of reasons. If there’s too much light and you don’t have access to a neutral density filter, you may not be able to record the scene with a slow enough shutter speed to show the implied motion. If the subject moves erratically and it’s your goal to capture motion in a fixed direction, what you want to convey can’t be achieved. It may be necessary to keep the camera steady and let the subject move across the scene but you don’t have a tripod and there’s nothing around to steady the camera. Maybe you want to create a zoomed effect but all you brought were fixed focal length lenses. Regardless of the reason, thankfully there’s a solution. It comes in the form of the Radial Blur Filter. The Radial Blur filter has two options - spin and zoom. In this tutorial, I will cover both.

The effect of the Radial Blur filter won’t be successful unless you select an image where some sort of motion or action is taking place. Applying it to just any photo won’t work. Choose a picture  that shows action but was captured with most of the details frozen in time. If there’s some movement, it’s also a good candidate in that the effect of the filter will override the already recorded action. Experiment with a number of different files to get the feel for what will, or will not, work.

IMAGE #1: Zoom Option

Step 1:

Choose an image that depicts action but it’s frozen in time. 

If it needs to be cropped, do so at this time in that the application of the filter is governed by the actual pixels. If you apply it and then crop, the end result will look different.

Step 2:

Make a duplicate of the Background by dragging the Background layer to the Create A New Layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette. It’s a dog eared piece of paper next to the trash can.

Step 3:

Access the Radial Blur filter. Go to Filter>Blur>RadialBlur. 

The Radial Blur filter dialog box will appear. In the Blur Method box, in this case, choose Zoom. For Quality, choose either Good or Best. Good will render more quickly. On the right side there’s the Blur Center box. Place the cursor in the center and click and hold the mouse. Move the center around so the point to where all lines zoom can be placed where you want. This option makes this filter very powerful. Move the Amount slider to a high value. The effect will be too much but don’t worry about this for now. Click OK when done.

Here’s the effect of the filter:

Step 4:

To overcome the exaggerated amount of blur that was the result of moving the Amount slider to a high value in step 3, adjust the opacity on the background copy. In that the Radial Blur filter doesn’t have a Preview, by applying a high amount as was done in Step 3 and then fine tuning it via the opacity slider, it’s like having a Preview built into the opacity slider in this step!

With the opacity reduced to 76%, the strong amount of blur is reduced.

Step 5:

Add a layer mask - click the Add A Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette. Paint away the blur from around the face to make it a stronger focal point without any distortion.  The option to paint away the blur from any other parts also exists.  To paint away the blur, use the brush tool and be sure the foreground color is set to black.  Also be sure the layer mask is active. It will have a thin black line around it on the layers palette. 

With blur painted away from the face, the area becomes sharp.

Step 6:

I finalized the file by darkening the bottom, top and right with the burn tool. I also lightened the face using the dodge tool. In order to accomplish this, I needed to click on the background layer to make the above changes.

IMAGE #2: Spin Option

Step 1:

Choose an image that depicts action but where it’s frozen in time. 

Step 2:

Make a duplicate of the Background by dragging the background layer to the Create A New Layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette. It’s a dog eared piece of paper next to the trash can.

Step 3:

Access the Radial Blur filter. Go to Filter>Blur>RadialBlur. In the Blur Method box, in this case, choose Spin.  For Quality, choose either Good or Best. On the right side there’s the Blur Center box. Place the cursor in the center and click and hold the mouse. Move the center around so the point to where all lines spin can be placed where you want.  This option makes this filter very powerful. Move the Amount slider to a high value.  Click OK when done.  

Here’s the effect of the filter:

Step 4:

Adjust the opacity on the background copy. In that the Radial Blur filter doesn’t have a Preview, by applying a high amount as was done in Step 3 and then fine tuning it via the opacity slider, it’s like having a Preview built into the opacity slider in this step!

With the opacity reduced to 74%, the strong amount of blur is reduced.

Step 5:

Add a layer mask and paint away the blur from around the trees at the bottom, the kite, and parts of the main figure.  Vary the opacity of the brush in the Options bar along the top of the workspace to apply different strengths of how much to paint away.  Be sure the foreground color is set to black.  Also be sure the layer mask is active. It will have a thin black line around it on the layers palette. 

Layers Palette to show the area that was painted away.

Final Image.

Check TGP at the beginning of every month for a new Photoshop Tip Of The Month. Visit www.russburdenphotography.com for information about his Nature Photo Tours across the US.