The much-anticipated BokehAI tool is rolling out to LuminarAI users in Australia and other select countries, with the rest of the world set to get it next week. The results are amazing! Here’s everything you need to know to get started.

Female Olympic Weightlifter Clean
Original picture. Athlete: Maude Charron, Team Canada, Olympic Weightlifting

What is BokehAI?

BokehAI will be available to all current users of LuminarAI as a free update, and it allows you to decrease the depth of field in post-production. Think of it as a simple way to add background blur.

Many interesting options allow the photographer to have complete latitude on the final result. Here’s an example with one of my recent photoshoots. I’ve chosen this picture as an example because it’s been taken with a wide angle lens (Sony 28mm f/2).

As you might already know, wider angle lenses creates a larger depth of field and thus, less of blurry effect. I thought it’d be cool to use it to separate a little more the athlete from the background.

Bokeh AI mask Skylum Luminar
The amount slider automatically generates extremely accurate masks.

Amount and Brush Control

The first step is simply to move the Amount slider to the desired effect. It will automatically generate an extremely accurate mask on your subject.

Don’t worry if it’s not perfect — you can refine it with the Brush Control, which allows you to paint or erase specific areas in the image. The mask (what will not be blurred) is shown in red.

The Background panel offers a lot options

Background

A lot of super handy tools are offered in the Background panel option. All of them are effective without touching the subject’s exposition or color.

  • Brightness: Lighten or darkens the background
  • Highlights Glow: Increases or decreases the intensity of the highlights
  • Warmth: Offers the possibility to add warmth or cool down the scene
  • Depth Correction: My favorite; controls the depth of field
  • Edges Correction: Lets you define and correct edges around your subject

Final result with BokehAI

As you can see, BokehAI is a very powerful, flexible and fun tool. It’s super useful to isolate your subject from its background and draw the attention exactly where you want. Combine it with other AI tools such as FaceAI, EnhanceAI and StructureAI, and you’ve got the most efficient editing workflow out there.

As a friendly reminder, remember: Keep it natural. A little goes a long way! ;)

If you’re interested in learning how to add more bokeh in your photos during a photoshoot, here are three tips to create more blur!

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