it is beautiful! Did you blur it using photoshop? or is that a natural lense blur?

brian: I blurred the border with photoshop.

I like it, very nice shot. It remembers me a sweet summer on a gray rainy day! Beautiful blurred effect.

at first i didn't like the blurriness in the background but it was only because i didn't look at it long enough. me and my lazy eyeballs.

Good shot. Although I think the blur is a little too strong. Not saying it's bad though, but if I was editing this photo I might not have made it as strong. Either way, it's still a great shot!

Which blurring methods do you usually use? Do you just use the blur tool, and free hand where you want more blur to be? Or do you use blur filters, and layer masks? Always been curious, and also on your sharpening methods as well!

Hmmm. You probably won't be pleased to hear that I thought this was taken with a lensbaby! (I like to try and guess the lens at first glance)

This is almost a return to some of your earlier work but with a more refined approach.

I like the PP on this - it has a lot of life yet is not too contrasty.

Of course - it goes without saying that your intention was to 'ask questions' with this images content - we want to know what was taking place beyond the grass.

I personally like the strength of blur. Some people believe that a technique should be invisible but I'm not so sure that this is always the best course of action. I am more of a person who thinks that you should occassionaly use such effects with a bit of gusto if it helps get your message across.

Shaun: in this instance I used a feathered selection, which excluded the centre of the image, and Gaussian blurred it by 15px.

StuartR: I don't mind in the least - I like my lensbaby ;-)

John (and everyone else): I'm not too bothered about 'invisible' post-processing, but am much more concerned about what it achieves. In this instance the borders of the original were far too distracting - the grasses, in my opinion at least, drew your eye to the edge of the frame and away from the 'focus' of this image – the two girls playing in the sand.

I thought it was lensbaby! I'm waiting for tomorrow shot ... ;)

Hi: haven’t posted for a while (keep running out of superlatives/am not a big portraiture fan!), but the last couple of shots are great!

Thanks for passing on so much expertise via Chromasia: it’s improved my photography no end over the past few months.

Great stuff.

I really like the "limited focus" method that this picture uses.

what i perhaps find the most impressive with your images, david, is your level of consistency on everyting you post. you cleary have a very gifted and well trained eye.

Great pictures. Will come back often.

(smile...)

Cool, i really like the blur in this shot, i dont think effects should be invisible, as long as they look good.

I love it. I think the border blur works well and helps draw you in to the focus of the image, the two kids playing in the sand. Fantastic, once again!

David, How do find you using C1 Pro? I'm considering C1 LE. Pro is just out of the budget. Any advice?

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the people who like the degree of blur in this one. I find it too strong for my liking and I feel it takes away from the real subject: the playing girls. Lazy eyeballs or not, it simply takes too much looking to even find out what the picture's about. I do love most of your other work very much though David! I have been a frequent vistor for months and just looking and reading taught me an awful lot...

Lovely.

I like the fact that you have to take a second look to notice the children are actually children, not just blobs.

I like it, good splash of colors in the back, the shallow DOF. But the wheat in the front really obscures the girls in the back. It didn't take me wrong to realize what the blobs of colors were, but maybe a little too shallow DOF for this shot.

Catcher in the Rye

lovely

thanks everyone.

Bonjour merci pour le partage. Marie