Need Help with Photo I Love

I need a little help with the below image. It was taken when I was playing around with my 50 1.8, and I really ended up loving it. It has a very Norman Rockwell feel to it.

The problem was that because I was just playing around I did not take into account the background. I am pretty confident in my PP abilities in lightroom, but do not have a ton of experience with editing heavily in photoshop.

Does anybody have any ideas on how I might fix the background to not be so busy, or even get rid of all of the background without looking too overdone?

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Here's a rookie way. Easy if you will.

Open the image. Gaussian or lens blur the entire image to match a background you like. Don't overdo it.

then using the history brush paint away the blurring on your subject. Use a fairly hard brush, zoomed in around the edges. the once deon, go a bigger on the brish and erase away the center fo the subject.

You are going to blur, then paint in the undo. Simple and somewhat effective.

History states aren't saved & you might want to make a change later, so...
Duplicate the layer.
Blur it.
Add a Layer Mask, Layers> Add layer mask / "reveal all" or "hide", & paint on that to show the blur on the bottom layer.
More: Post #9:
Airport runway shoot

Frank, you're right on this one. If he can blur he can add a layer.

Personally I like the depth of field the way it is so I would take a different approach.

Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, desaturate to -20 and reduce Lightness to about -30. Then take a soft black brush and paint on the mask to bring back the subject. You can even do this artistically by varying brush opacity to bring more light to the face and eyes and less to other parts of the body....somewhat like creating a chiaroscuro effect.

Alternately you can use a Render > Lighting filter to create a spotlight (preferably blue to counter the yellow color cast), the mask it off and paint back in the spotlight in the desired areas.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give both a shot when I have a chance and post back with my results.

Here's a proof of concept demonstration of using a Hue/Sat adjustment layer. Could still be improved but this should give you the basic idea.

Ok, so I decided to just clone the dark space in the background.

Comments are welcomed.

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i think its a good effort. b ut it makes me feel strange. like the baby is playing a lone with no one, or nothing there.

i think you would be better off with blurring the BG more.

Okay...I had a go at it:

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shannyD wrote in post #4773880
i think its a good effort. b ut it makes me feel strange. like the baby is playing a lone with no one, or nothing there.

i think you would be better off with blurring the BG more.

Shanny makes a valid observation here guys.

As much as the background is too busy, don't kill it and turn the photo into a child playing in an empty room/space. I think the presence of the people in the background is important but should be dulled a little.

subtle_spectre wrote in post #4774720
Okay...I had a go at it:

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Full-size here: http://scottcphotograp​hy.com/potn/236905616-O.jpg

Wow, that's really great!

subtle_spectre wrote in post #4774720
Okay...I had a go at it:

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Full-size here: http://scottcphotograp​hy.com/potn/236905616-O.jpg

Scott that's some fantastic bit of cloning work there!!

FlexiPack wrote in post #4776078
Scott that's some fantastic bit of cloning work there!!

You get good at when you are only a mediocre photographer!! Thanks....