Possible to transform f/8 photo to f/2.8 photo?

Question

I have some portraits shot outdoors at, maybe, f/8 and I would like to make them look like they were shot at f/2.8. At this point in 2020 I would suspect that Photoshop would be able to make a map overlay of a photo-image of the magnitude of blur or focus per local pixel group--this would allow me to apply over the photos an effect/filter weighted by that blur/focus factor which would allow me to open up the aperture post-capture. That is, you could apply a blur filter with a magnitude based on the current (senses or calculated) about of blur. It seems relatively straightforward for Photoshop to implement, my question is can you already do this in Photoshop and how? (I know ways to do it with manual or smart selection, but not interested in in doing it that way.)

Conrad_C · Answer

Photoshop has had this kind of capability for some time, in Filter > Blur > Lens Blur. That specific type of blur lets you simulate the kind of background blur created by lenses, hence the name. You can see that it has options like Blur Focal Distance, the number of aperture blades, and the iris shape.

How does it know what areas to blur, and how much to blur them? If a photo was taken with a smartphone that saves depth map data in HEIC format (because it has a Portrait Mode), Lens Blur can use that, and you can use the Set Focal Point option to tell Photoshop which distance should be in focus. If you have a photo that doesn’t already include its own depth map, you can paint your own depth map in an alpha channel. Whichever kind of depth map you have, you can load it up in the Depth Map Source menu.

This tutorial from Colin Smith is one way to do it:

Realistic Background Blur In Photoshop 2020 With Lens Blur

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