Blur skies with ease

Matty Graham explains how you can create long-exposure effects by using the Radial Blur filter in Elements instead of Neutral Density filters

- Matty Graham

THE MISSION

Recreate the look of a long exposure in Photoshop Elements

Time needed 10 minutes

Skill level Beginner

Kit needed Photoshop Elements 2020

So, you’re on a day out with the camera and you realise the best way to capture a spectacular landscape scene would be by introducing some movement into the clouds, or water if you are near the coast. This is usually done with a long exposure and accessories like a light-blocking 10-stop ND filter to make this easier. But what do you do if you’ve left your filters at home?

Fear not! I’m going to show you a way you can still realize your vision of the scene and it’s all thanks to the to the filters found in Photoshop CC and the budget-friendly Elements software we’ll be using here, specifically the Radial Blur filter which will allow you to replicate the zoom blur effect in the sky as clouds would move in a long exposure.

The Radial Blur filter is also found in the full version of Photoshop CC and effectively gives the pixels in your frame a streaked effect, which recreates the effect of clouds moving through the sky during that long exposure.