It’s been a while since I paid you all a visit here at Lightroom Secrets; it’s good to be back! Today I will show you how to expand Lightroom’s editing capabilities by integrating third party plugins into the mix. Typically, this is handled via the Plug-in Manager in the File menu, but we’ll follow a slightly different process here. Specifically, we’ll look at Lens Effects from Topaz Labs (which incidentally, you can get for $50 off between now and December 24, by entering the code “simplefocus” into the Topaz shopping cart).
Lens Effects is a plugin that contains a variety of creative blurring effects, as well a number of traditional lens filter effects. Examples include things like a Tilt-Shift lens preset, motion blurring, a Graduated Neutral Density preset, and something called Creative Blur, which is the preset we will focus on in this tutorial. The objective is to take a silhouette image of a cliff diver at sunset, and use a combination of creative focus and some selective processing in Lightroom to create a scene that draws the viewers eye to the divers without taking away too much detail or color.
Quick Setup Tips
To access Topaz Labs plugins from Lightroom, you need to do two things. First, install the Lens Effects plugin as you normally would, then, install an add-on program (should be available from the same installer) called “Fusion Express 2″. Once you’ve done that, go to Lightroom’s Preferences and under “External Editing”, select the Fusion Express 2 app and apply the settings shown below.

Before you start, tell Lightroom where to find Topaz Fusion 2...
From this point, you can right-click on any image thumbnail in the Library module, in the Filmstrip, or on any open image in the Develop module, and choose Edit In > Edit in Topaz Fusion Express 2. When you do this, you will be greeted with a dialog that lets you choose the specific Topaz plugin you want to use (shown later).
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