How to Add Cinematic Light Blur Effects to Portraits Without Destroying Your Original Image

How to Add Cinematic Light Blur Effects to Portraits Without Destroying Your Original Image

There’s a specific kind of composite that shows up constantly in editorial photography, album covers, and high-end portrait work. The subject is sharp, the background is this gorgeous smear of color and light, and the whole thing feels cinematic without trying too hard. For a long time I was faking that look with Gaussian Blur and hoping nobody noticed. It always looked a little flat, a little lazy. Then I watched this PHLEARN tutorial and realized I’d been ignoring one of Photoshop’s most underrated tools.