Adobe updated Lightroom and added "Lens Blur" to their toolkit. It's a feature that uses artificial intelligence to blur the background behind a foreground subject. It works.

SOOC. No added blur.

Straight out of Lightroom. Blur added to the background.

I'm happy to announce that Adobe added a Lens Blur/Background Blur tool to Lightroom. It's very similar to the Depth Blur tool in the Photoshop App. Depth Blur has been there for a year or so as a beta part of that program. It's worked well for me for jobs on which I photographed people on white backgrounds and then dropped them into existing backgrounds (cityscapes, offices, industrial architecture, etc) and wanted a realist representation of focus falling off as one looks deeper into the frame. 

The version in Lightroom Classic analyses the image you want to apply the effect to and makes a 3D depth map to aid in making the blur more realistic. It's a nice option to have when a background is a bit too detailed and takes attention off the main subject of the photograph. The effect between the image at the top and the one just below it is subtle. I rendered it the same way I would have if I'd been working for a client. And a good thing about it is that you have control over the amount and characteristics of the blur.

If you are on the $9.99 a month Photo Plan from Adobe it's entirely possible that your LRC app was automatically updated last night or the night before. With this addition and an added precision color picker, along with the vastly improved automatic selection tools, Adobe is doing a good job helping photographers take even more control over their images. 

Subject break.

I'm packing up and heading out to do a favor for a friend this afternoon. He's getting married (again) at age 74(?) and he's having a small ceremony over in the state Capitol Building. I volunteered to take photographs. It's been decades since I last photographed a wedding but this is on a very small scale with no big theatrics (I hope). We'll start at 5 and be finished by 7.

I've packed the Fuji GFX 50Sii along with the small zoom lens and also the 90mm f1.25 TTArtisan lens. I recently picked up a Godox V1 flash, dedicated to Fuji, and my tests show that the flash, combined with the GFX works very well. Good exposures and also easy to use.

As a back-up I'm taking along a Panasonic S5 coupled with the 24-105mm zoom. This combo has a lot going for it. The body and lens work together to give one dual I.S. And the sensor in the camera is wonderful at higher ISOs and lower light levels. I have a dedicated V1 for that system as well. 

For grins I'm taking along the Q2 for quick grab shots and generally to keep my hands busy during the down times. 

When I turned on the shower to clean myself up and get ready for event I discovered that a monitor lizard has been living, rent free, in my bath tub, retreating into the drain whenever I get too close. B. and I were able to trap him and release him out in the gardens where he can actually do some good and eat some of the plant predators (insects) that come, lockstep, with gardens. Sadly, now I have no monitor lizard to keep me company and with which  to sing duets in the shower... He'll no doubt join the growing herd of monitor lizards we keep seeing in the backyard.

Subject break.

My right hand is still mending. Just more slowly than I would have liked. I've now skipped out on both Friday and Saturday swim practices but I bought some big, waterproof bandaids and hope to get to the pool tomorrow. Before I forget everything I ever knew about swimming. 

***

I thought I was on a roll with my travel to Montreal but my kid has me beat. He was in Las Vegas last week for a medical technology conference and in just fourteen days he'll be flying out for a two week vacation in Japan. I'm jealous. But I lent him my new roller case anyway. 

He's so corporate now. Actually gets several weeks of paid vacation and lots of flex time. I'm living vicariously through him as I never worked as an employee in a large company and am amazed to see all the perks and benefits that executives get. 

He's doing so well that his mom (B.) and I have run out of things to worry about and fret over. A nice feeling to have a kid who has launched himself quite well. 

Now heading to the wedding. Hope I still remember how to focus stuff. And how to best handhold a camera. 

Lovely to still love photography as much as I do. How do I know? I miss it when a day goes by and I haven't made a photograph. And I still marvel at it when an image turns out well.