Blur the background in Adobe Lightroom

Most of the time, our photos are taken where the background distracts more attention than the subject, or sometimes due to a photographer’s mistake because he focuses so much on the topic and does not notice what is around it. Background blurring is a technique that makes the object in photos soft and entirely focused. It eliminates distractions, adds depth, and makes it more appealing.

If you use Adobe Lightroom, you must learn about blur the background in Adobe Lightroom technique. There are many other ways to fix this problem, but Lightroom Classic is not a single-tick game, so let’s explore it together.

The right way is during the shooting; you should blur the background in the Adobe Lightroom.
If the subject in the background contains an element that distracts more attention than the foreground, It can divert the viewer’s eyes. Here we should blur the background to focus on main element rather than background.

• Open Adobe Lightroom on your PC.
• Connect a camera or SD card to your computer using an appropriate cable.
• Create a new catalog or manage an existing one to organize your photos.
• In the library module, click the import button on the left-hand side of your screen.

For blur the background, you can use different methods. Let’s explore some of them, which will be easy and simple.

You have access to AI features if you have an updated version of Lightroom Classic.

Open your image in Lightroom and choose the “Develop” module. At the right side you will see “Lens Blur” option and its an “Early Access”. If you have updated version of Lightroom classic be sure you do that with “Creative Cloud”. So lets go and open up “Lens Blur”, the first thing that we have to do is just click on “Apply”.

It will analyzing our image, and this actually using artificial intelligence. It will work incredibly well.
You can change the amount of lens blur with the slider..
There are also option for changing focal range for blurring background or subject. And its really work incredibly cool.

Again, in the Lightroom. There are lots of icons showing below the histogram on the right side.
Choose the “masking” option or press Shift+W.
You will get many options for applying the mask.
The second one is using an AI background mask. Collect the mask option and click on extract below the mask. Next, choose the brush option. You have to select a brush according to your needs, or you can customize them. Use a giant brush drill for the periphery and a small one around the subject. Avoid mistakes; if they happen, simply click the eraser tool and erase the area. The painted area will show red. If it’s not, ensure the overlay option.

Use this method for circular or oval projects.
Again, click on the right side of the toolbar option in the lightroom.
The radial filter is in the toolbar option. Click on the image where you want to place the radial filter. Click, hold, and drag to create the elliptical or circular shape around the subject or the area you want to blur.
After creating the filter, you can resize and reshape it, even if you shift the entire filter by dragging the center point.
Use a feather slider to control the selected area and surrounding area, if needed.

A gradient filter is used for natural blurring when you want gradual blurring from center to periphery. The gradient filter is located in the Develop module, and its icon looks rectangular.
Click on the image that you want to apply a linear gradient filter. Just drag the cursor from the center to the periphery. It will create a linear gradient filter.
After creating the gradient filter, you can resize and reshape it.
On the right-hand side, you will find an adjustment section where you can easily adjust the exposure, saturation, and other editing parameters.

If there is any imperfection in blurring the image background, you can fine-tune them again in Lightroom by choosing different tools such as brushes, gradient filters erasers, etc.

• Select the photo that you want to export.
• Go to the file menu and choose the export dialogue.
• Select the export location and folder to save your image.
• Specify the file name.

• If you use the same blur effect, please save this preset for use again. It will save you time and make your work speedy.
• Keep noticing side by side before and after your blurred background image. It will help in making a clear difference before and after.
• Use the Dhaze tool. It can be effective in making haze your image background.
• You can fix the blur in the background within a camera. Use the lens with a wide aperture. It controls the opening and closing of a lens.