Blur Tool In Photoshop

Photoshop has a  number of blur tools available, and while the example above takes things pretty far, used more subtly the tools can be very helpful.

I find that field blur (in Blur Gallery) within the Filters Menu is the most natural look, also giving me some control over where the blur is most strongly applied.

That said, I always duplicate the image layer and apply blurring to the copy layer, then apply a black or white mask (usually black) and then paint back in the degree of effect exactly where I want it.

Occasionally, field blur will produce an unatractive blur and adding some gaussian blur will lower the contrast of the blurred area.

Very occasionally I'll blur the entire image, then paint back in sharpness as I did here with the face of the brass figure.

By the way, the image of the barrel hoops used just a tad of field blur in the upper left and right corners. The area was already out of focus but still a bit distracting and I helped it a long a tad. That's the kind of subtle blur that I think is more useful more often and subtle enough to not disturb.