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I was wondering if anyone has had experience with using the Alien Skin Bokeh application. Is it worthwhile, or it gimmicky? Thanks!

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why not download the trial and play for yourself? Also, OnOne software does Focal Point - which is similiar –  Wayne Feb 2 '11 at 21:48

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I've played around with it, but elected not to buy it. I was fairly impressed with the results, when it worked, but found it only worked in a tiny subset of cases.

here is pretty much a best case example:

Bokeh Comparison

the subject is pretty clearly defined from the background (decent shallow depth of field to begin with) and doesn't have long hair.

I could not create a single example that I'd consider worth posting for any person with long hair, which was dissappointing. If you're willing to spend a great amount of time in photoshop tweaking the selection, perhaps you may do better.

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how is this different from selecting the background with lasso/magnetic lasso and Gaussian Blurring it? (just curious) –  JoséNunoFerreira Feb 2 '11 at 23:19
it does a better job of aping the look of a real lens. The tool actually has a number of presets for specific lenses (known for their good bokeh), and then lets you tweak. You can simulare a variety of effects like number of aperture blades, etc. as well. –  Jon.Griffen Feb 2 '11 at 23:45
@JoséNunoFerreira Don't ever use Gaussian Blur to replicate a lens blur. Photoshop has a Lens Blur filter that's much more suited. –  Kenneth Ballenegger Feb 3 '11 at 0:40

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