Creating macro images requires decisions concernig Depth of Field (dof).

I mosly use maximun dof in my work, but, occasionally I think a shallow dof would work better. More times than I like to remember, I would discover that the part that I intended to be in focus was a little off. This was a big problem with film because of the delay in seeing the slides. I struggled with some kind of solution for years.

How can I blur the background while making sure my subject was in focus?

Enter Photoshop. So, I experimented with some old images. I added a blur layer and painted on the mask to reveal my sharp subject. The object in the beginning was to simulate a shallow dof macro image.

I experimented with the amount of blur all the way up to max. I soon discovered that I liked the exaggeration.

I started looking for and shooting images that would work with this technique.