OnOne Software FocalPoint 1.1

The use of selective focus has been part of photography since the very first lenses where invented. There are many techniques used to control either the plane of focus or removing sharpness from edges. The most common way to do this is by controlling depth of field in the camera by using a large aperture lens producing a narrow depth of field. Now photographers have a new Photoshop plug-in to help put the focus where they want — the all new FocalPoint 1.0.

Easily Add Selective Focus to your Photos with FocalPoint

* Create realistic depth of field control, plane of focus control and selective focus
* Minimize distractions in the background and focus the viewer's eye on the subject
* Easily add vignettes

Selective Focus

The use of selective focus is used to remove distracting backgrounds and to focus the viewer's view on the subject. It has artistic applications as well. This is a popular look in both portrait and wedding work, and it's also used in commercial and editorial photography, especially food. All of these focus techniques are usually used at the time the photograph is taken and require additional hardware and knowledge of how to use them. Many of these tools have not transferred to digital or behave differently with digital photography.

A New Tool for the Digital Darkroom

FocalPoint plugin for Photoshop gives photographers a way to create realistic depth of field control, plane of focus control and selective focus to any image after it is photographed allowing for more control and precision. The focus bug control in FocalPoint has a tangible, hardware feel much like using a lens. It makes it fast for a photographer to define the "sweet spot" either in a round shape or a plane and then control how much and of what kind of blur they would like to add. This has a huge benefit over hardware tools like auxiliary lenses and filters because it allows the photographer to control the focus after the image is taken, giving them more control and requiring fewer shots in camera.

Easily Add Vignettes

Vignetting refers to the lightening or darkening of the edges of an image. This is a common technique in photography. Vignetting goes hand-in-hand with selective focus. Vignetting is created either in camera using vignetting hoods or in darkroom by burning or dodging the edges of the image. It is used for the same reasons as selective focus, to minimize distractions in the background and focus the viewer's eye on the subject. Today vignetting is principally applied in Photoshop through various methods but all of which require multiple manual steps for a controlled and properly shaped sweet spot. FocalPoint plug-in uses the same focus bug controls to allow the photographer to simultaneously selectively blur as well as lighten or darken the areas outside of the sweet spot.