Hi everyone! I’m Jess Riley, a hobbyist photographer from the U.K and I love to play around with adding overlays and blur effects to my images in Photoshop. I’m on the blog this week to share my introduction to using ‘Path Blur’ in Photoshop and hopefully inspire you to have some fun exploring this tool with your own images!

What is Path Blur?

Path Blur is a blur tool in Photoshop that enables you to add directional blur to your images. The intensity of the blur can be adjusted so that you are fully in control of the effect. What I really enjoy about this tool is that you can choose the placement and angle of the blur to tailor it to enhance the composition of your photograph. Using directional blur can really transform an image, giving it a completely new look and feel.

Creating the ‘Adamski Effect’

I use the Path Blur tool in different ways, depending on which part of my image I want blurred and how intense I want the effect to be. A sleek and minimalist look can be achieved by adding Path Blur to the background of your photograph whilst isolating your subject so that they remain in sharp focus. I love how the directional blur smooths away the textures and instead draws our eye to the colours, the contrast in light and dark tones and of course the subject. The juxtaposition of the sharp subject against the blur adds a serene and dreamlike quality to an image, as well as an illusion of movement. This effect was first popularised by photographer Josh Adamski so definitely check out his work for more inspiration!

Adding Path Blur to Overlays

Sometimes I apply Path Blur only to overlay layers rather than to my original image. I usually choose to do this when I want to get creative with adding extra light or colour to my image, alongside a sense of movement. I especially enjoy adding Path Blur to my prism and bokeh light images and exploring how masking this off or onto certain areas enhances the overall impact of my image. In my ghost in the woods photograph I added a light overlay over the ghost. This was then masked off the ghost itself and I added path blur to the light so it fanned out around him. This enhanced my Halloween themed storytelling by giving my subject the appearance of a ghostly glow.

Which Images Work Best?

As Path Blur creates a linear blur effect, it tends to work effectively on images with strong lines in the composition. Architecture and leading lines in train stations, tunnels and paths are examples of this. Uncluttered waterscapes and landscapes where the subject can easily be isolated and there is contrast in light and tones will also be good choices. The subject must be in sharp focus and although human subjects can work brilliantly, the subject doesn’t have to be a person. Your subject could be anything you like - an animal, bird, boat, tree, flower, landmark or silhouette for example. The magic ingredient is having a subject in your image with a clear outline that can be easily selected in Photoshop to isolate it from the background. This will save you lots of tedious tweaking!

Shadows and Reflections

A subject with a reflection in water or wet sand can look stunning when the reflection is included with your subject and the blur applied to the rest of the image. Similarly, a strong subject shadow could be included in your subject selection. A reflection or shadow can help to ground your subject to avoid the appearance that they are floating. If there is little shadow or reflection in the image, then some blur could be masked off from underneath the subject to reveal a little of the ground. Having said that, Josh Adamski often doesn’t include a shadow or reflection of his subject, and this can add to the surreal and dreamlike quality of the image. It is entirely down to personal taste and what kind of look you’re going for. Search your image archives, be playful and experiment!

A Little More Magic

So, you’ve chosen your image and applied Path Blur to create a smooth and dreamy background. Why stop there!? To further add to the otherworldly effect, get creative by experimenting with adding light or texture overlays. I often add multiple overlays to my original photograph and sometimes I will use Path Blur on all of them. I also like to tweak the colours in my overlay layers to suit my image by adding a hue and saturation adjustment layer. But sometimes I’m lucky and find the most random and unrelated overlay that just fits! After blurring my dog silhouette image, I wanted to bring more warmth and light to a very dark area at the bottom of the frame. I came across an intentional camera movement image I’d taken of my Christmas tree lights where I’d created golden key-like shapes. Adding Path Blur to this layer brought the colour and light I wanted but the strange shapes were deliberately lost in the blur.

Enhancing a Composition

When choosing overlays, look out for shapes and colours that echo those in your image. In my silhouette tunnel image, I began with a black and white image and found a prism light image I’d created that had a curve which would fit perfectly with the curve of the tunnel roof. I chose a second overlay of coloured glitter to bring light and colour to the black areas, then added path blur that followed the lines of the stairs towards my son to create an illusion of movement. I made sure to mask off any overlays from my subject and tunnel lighting, and I also played with the opacity of each layer. I was happy with my original image, but by adding overlays and blur I was able to change the feeling of it and accentuate the composition. The impact of the lines was stronger, and my subject was now framed by eye catching light and vibrant colours.

Path Blur Demonstration

It’s fun giving an image a fresh new look by adding blur and overlays! Watch me edit using Path Blur on the video clip below and click here to download my step-by-step reference guide.

If you need any help, feel free to get in touch with me via Instagram @jess_rileyphotos and if you are happy to share your creations on The Framed Focus Facebook group page, I’d love to see them!

Get Creative with ‘Path Blur’ | by Jess Riley