Photo Editing: Blurring Backgrounds

[Jennifer]

Please share your tips! I'm using CS3 or PSE6 and want to make some of my BGs more blurry to focus on my subject. Blur tool doesn't seem to do much...or maybe I'm doing it wrong. Give me your best pointers! :)

[Sarah8914]

Well, this is not very detailed or technical, but if you extract the object(s) you want in focus (or even just select them and then select the inverse--which would be the background) you can apply a gaussian blur. (if you extract it, just copy the piece you want extracted to a new layer and apply the blur to the other layer) That seems to work well to me. However, I stink at extract/selecting so it's never good enough for me!

[Traci Reed]

If you have an SLR, the lower your aperture the more blurry the bg gets because it has a shallow depth of field, these were taken with a low aperture (f1.8):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/KarstensMommy/365/day9.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/KarstensMommy/cake1.jpg

[emilyscout]

Make sure you feather your extraction before using the gaussian blur filter in the background. It will help with the blending into the background and not look like its cutout.

[SeattleSheri]

Jennifer in CS3, here is what I do. Of course, there are several ways to do it (don't you just love PS, lol).

Option 1:
Convert your photo for smart filters, apply gaussian blur to the image until you are happy with the density of the blur
Go to your layer palette and select the the smart filter (it will be mask-like layer below the photo)
Go to you tool palette and select the eraser brush with your foreground set to white. Choose a soft edge eraser tip and make the size of the brush very large
Go over the areas that you want to remove the filter from (erasing the blur)
If you make a mistake, change your foreground to black and add it back.
Rasterize your photo

Option 2:
Instead of converting to a smart filter, duplicate your image and apply a layer mask to the top copy.
Apply guassian blur to the bottom copy
Remove the areas from the top copy you wan't blurred using a soft edge eraser brush tip
Merge the layers

HTH!

[Kim]

I select the object that I want in focus with the smart select, refine the edge, invert that selection, refine the edge again and then use lens blur.

[Jennifer]

So many ways, lol! Thanks girls! :)

Traci, if I ever figure out how to use my darn camera, I'll do that. I need the Nikon Book for Dummies. ;)

[Sarah8914]

Yeah, camera is the easiest way! that's how I do it now!

[SamaraGugler]

If you have an SLR, the lower your aperture the more blurry the bg gets because it has a shallow depth of field, these were taken with a low aperture (f1.8):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/KarstensMommy/365/day9.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/KarstensMommy/cake1.jpg

What kind of lens do you have?

[Traci Reed]

50mm 1.8