Sinful Sunday Monthly Prompt June 2019

It's all about the image

Sinful Sunday Monthly Prompt June 2019

Monthly prompt header image

The prompt for 2nd JUNE 2019 is: Soft Focus

Time to revisit another prompt from the past and we first did this one way back in 2015!

“In photography, soft focus is a lens flaw, in which the lens forms images that are blurred due to spherical aberration. A soft focus lens deliberately introduces spherical aberration in order to give the appearance of blurring the image while retaining sharp edges; it is not the same as an out-of-focus image, and the effect cannot be achieved simply by defocusing a sharp lens. Soft focus is also the name of the style of photograph produced by such a lens.”

I am pretty sure none of us are going to be heading out and purchasing a new lens but if you do have a soft focus lens then you are all set. If not don’t panic because there are other ways you can create this effect both in camera and in post production editing.

In Camera

There are two super cool ways of achieving a soft effect. 1 is to smear a tiny bit of Vaseline on a clear filter that you can place over your lens. I wouldn’t put it directly on a lens as to get it off you are really going to need a bit of washing up liquid so if you use a clear filter then you can unscrew that and just wash it off. On a camera phone you could use a small piece of clear glass which you can hold over the lens. The other way is with a pair of tights. Secure them over your lens for an instant soft focus effect, the more transparent they are the more subtle the effect will be. Pretty sure you could do this on your camera phone too. This link goes into both these tricks in more detail How to Achieve a Soft Focus Dreamy Look

Editing

The above also touching on editing but if you have photoshop then this article; Soft Focus Lens Effect With Photoshop gives you a step by step guide on how to create Soft Focus images. If you don’t have photoshop there is lots of free photo editing software but I particularly like GIMP, it is about as close to PS as you will get for free and although it won’t quite do what PS will do it will get you damn close. Create the Dreamy Soft Focus Orton Effect in GIMP

Remember soft focus is NOT the same as an out-of-focus shot and can not be achieved by simply defocusing a sharp lens!

The prompt is published here on the site mid month, which will give people approximately 2 weeks to work on their idea before linking in, on the 1st weekend of the month. The prompt is completely optional and you can link in as normal on that weekend whether you have used the prompt or not. The usual Sinful Sunday rules will, of course, apply. Please make sure you have read them recently so that you are fully aware of what is and is not allowed. As always interpret as you wish, or disregard altogether and do you own thing. Have your post ready to go for Sunday 2nd June 2019. Any questions or queries can be posted in the comments below, you can email me [email protected] or tweet me @mollysdailykiss

Mollyx

 

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