Now, just one last thing bothers me. If a bird like that was photographed with a long focal length lens, the backdrop would be somewhat out of focus. If we don’t arrange that, the town in the background competes with the osprey visually. Let’s get eyes to focus on the bird, since it’s the most interesting thing in the photo.
We’re going to put both of those into a Smart Object, a kind of container layer that can hold many different kinds of data. The biggest benefit to us is that a Smart Object can have many different kinds of effects applied to it that can be edited or removed later if we wish. We’re gong to apply one of Photoshop’s many blur filters. Smart Objects and all the various layer types are covered in, you guessed it, the Compendium. Filters too.
In the upper right of the interface, you’ll see a slider for the amount of Blur. At the top of the interface are a few options, including the OK button we’ll use to commit this filter.
There will be times when you’d like to zoom in or pan across an image in which you have zoomed. This seems a fine time to cover that.
Most tools have a letter that accesses them: B for the Brush tool or J for the Spot Healing Brush tool are examples. Z for Zoom tool and H for Hand tool are two more. However, we rarely want to use those tools for more than a moment, and then only to better see what we’re doing with other tools. Here’s what I recommend:
When you’re done, you should be zoomed on the bird and the active tool should still be the Rectangular Marquee tool. Yes, this does take a little practice. The beauty of this trick is that it works with any tool that has a letter shortcut and that you need only momentarily. Try one more. Since you’re zoomed in, let’s trying panning.
Well done.