1. Zoom blur:
blur caused by activating the zoom feature on your lens while the shutter is open.
NOTE: A similar effect can be achieved by physically moving your camera closer or further
from a subject while photographing.
Dominic Harris

2. 1. Open your image in Photoshop

3. 2. On the Layers palette right click (or control click)
on the layer you will edit.
3. Select ‘Convert to Smart Object’
4. Select Filters from the Menu > Blur >
Radial Blur.

4. 5. Select “Zoom” and change the amount to 100%
NB. If the subject is a little off
centre. If this is the case double
click on Radial Blur icon in the
layers palette and move the
centre to where your subject is.

5. Because the layer is a smart object you
can work directly into the blur revealing
more of the original image.
6. Select the brush tool and Black as
your foreground colour.
7. Lower the opacity to below 50% and
paint over the core of your subject re-
revealing the sharpness of the original
image.
NB. The most important thing to understand about Smart Objects is that a Smart Object completely preserves the image data. In other
words, no matter what you do to a Smart Object, there is always a copy of the original data. Thus, Smart Objects can always access the
original data. Consequently, editing with Smart Objects is nondestructive.

6. Because the layer is a smart object you
can work directly into the blur revealing
more of the original image.
6. Select the brush tool and Black as
your foreground colour.
7. Lower the opacity to below 50% and
paint over the core of your subject re-
revealing the sharpness of the original
image.
NB. The most important thing to understand about Smart Objects is that a Smart Object completely preserves the image data. In other
words, no matter what you do to a Smart Object, there is always a copy of the original data. Thus, Smart Objects can always access the
original data. Consequently, editing with Smart Objects is nondestructive.