Dreamy effect

andphotography

New timer to phot editing and PSE9. What is the best way to get a picture the dreamy effect/white haze effect. I have tried blending two copies (one of which is gradient blurred) with screen blending but my images turn out very bright and when I adjust the contrast to correct this the bream like haze goes away. Also - a lot of the kids shots I see and want to duplicate have a white hazy "border" around the edges as well. how can I get this effect? I try with the borders or shapes but the edge is too crisp... thanks for helping a beginner!

BinaryFx

Have you tried darkening the base image before screen blending the blurred copy? Moving on, a quick and easy method may be to use this free filter:

http://www.autofx.com/freeplugins/dreamyphoto.asp?id=4

The border can be done in many ways that all end up looking similar. One way is to add a feathered selection or a feathered (or blurred) layer mask. Simply doing a Google search for "soft white edge border, photoshop" should return many step by step tutorials, you should be able to do the same in PSE.

Have fun!

Stephen Marsh

Peano

Here is a tutorial: http://www.ethiriel.com/wordpress/archives/1189#more-1189

For a portrait, I would add a layer mask and paint with black to restore sharp focus to eyes and perhaps other facial features.