Usksider Photographic

Original image with 'motion blur'

You’re out in the country wandering along with camera in hand when you spot a pretty wild flower and decide to grab an image…

Just as you press the shutter, the wind blows and the flower moves… you try again and again, but always the same result

What do you do? Well short of erecting some kind of wind-screen (or waiting patiently for a windless day) you might as well pack up and go home… but all is not lost, with a little time and patience you can fool the eye into thinking the wind wasn’t there!

You’re going to need some fairly sophisticated image editing software (capable of manipulating multiple layers on a single image); I use Photoshop, but there are other and much cheaper alternatives… Gimp, for example, is FREE!

Adjusted image: 'blur' removed

Here’s what you need to do:

Open your image in your chosen editor and copy the background to a new layer.

Select the new layer and choose the ‘move’ tool.

Use the keyboard cursor keys to shift the new layer left/right/up/down against the direction of the ‘motion blur’, until the edge of the blur corresponds with the main focus of the image. (I shifted the layer ‘Up’ and slightly ‘Left’ since the blur was downwards on my image)

Merge the two layers together.

Sharpen the merged image using an ‘unsharp mask’. (adjust the mask settings for the best result)

Viola, job done!

(click the images above for greater detail)