Help for PS work.

[vafa]

Here is a shot posted previously.
Is there any way to blure the background by PS work.
Since I'm not familiar with PS layers would you please guide step by step.
vafa


http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/503/2108Picture_064-4-med.jpg?8518

[Radtech1]

I posted a similar "how to" on this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37028

Since that was dealing with motion blur, and not regular blur, once you get past step 7, use gaussian blur and no need to do multiple sets, as with the jet ski pic.

Good luck,

Rad

[vafa]

Thanks Rad, I'll try it.
vafa

[Scottes]

If you have PS CS an easy way is to Gaussian Blur at a radius that suits the background, and then use the History Brush to remove the blurring from the dragonfly.

Multiple levels of blur will help distinguish levels of depth though - Radtech's way is lot more work but then again it's a lot more effective.

However, I think the blur is nice as it is. How about darkening the background and lightening the dragonfly to make it pop out?

It is a great pic and worth some effort.

[rick barclay]

Be nice if somehow you could desaturate the background as a way of
putting more emphasis on that whatever-it-is.

The way he's climbing that pole is great.

[Chazs]

Ditto all the previous comments. Also, Radtech1 has a great technique, too. Sometimes, though, I find the magnetic lasso doesn't always go where I want it to. When this happens I use the Quick Mask mode (press Q).

+Choose a brush of any size with a hard edge.
+Set the foreground color to black and start painting the areas you want chosen.
+Switch foreground to white to paint over parts of the mask you don't want.
+Press Q to switch back to normal mode. Switching back and forth allows you to fine-tune your selection.

Here's where it is on the palette:
http://members.isp01.net/snevetsc/photos/qm.jpg

I know it's presumptuous to tweek another's photo, but I experimented with the bug for a few minutes. If you spend a little time tweeking the saturation, blur, and hue of the background, I think the bug will certainly pop out. Make sure you use layers in case a tweek doesn't work out.

Here's what I got: http://members.isp01.net/snevetsc/photos/bug.jpg