Beginner Post Processing: WHY DOES THIS SUCK!?!

[UUilliam]

In photoshop, duplicate the image (make 2 copies)
Blur the bottom one (the original - do a Guassian blur) and keep the top one normal
Next you need to select around the area you want to keep sharp then do a feather of 10px on it
(either alt + f6 or ctrl + alt + d or look for it in the menus (Select > Modify > Feather.)
then hit the Delete key (if this deletes the portion you wish to remain sharp then just open your history pallet or press ctrl + shift + z to go back to before you deleted then invert the selection by pushing Ctrl+shift + i.

Hope that helps

 

[Overread]

There are some good background blurring tips here:
Juza Nature Photography

just scroll to the bottom of the page, though note that there is a limit as to how far you can take the effect before it starts to look fake. Its also worth having a look at the other articles on that site as well.

 

[Baaaark]

Thank you guys. I see the layers function, but I have no clue what it is or how it works. I'm guessing it layers the photo somehow. But I will look that up on my own, no reason to bore you guys with easier activities than this.

 

[RONDAL]

two good photoshop books to actually learnt o use it properly:

1, Scott Kelby - The Adobe PS CS3 Book for Digital Photographers
2. Scott Kelby- Scott Kelby's 7-point system for Adobe PS CS3

 

[musicaleCA]

two good photoshop books to actually learnt o use it properly:

1, Scott Kelby - The Adobe PS CS3 Book for Digital Photographers
2. Scott Kelby- Scott Kelby's 7-point system for Adobe PS CS3

Ditto. I have the (first) CS4 book. Just flipping through it a little improved my PS skills immensely.

I really need to keep reading that thing...

 

[shmne]

two good photoshop books to actually learnt o use it properly:

1, Scott Kelby - The Adobe PS CS3 Book for Digital Photographers
2. Scott Kelby- Scott Kelby's 7-point system for Adobe PS CS3

Take this advice, those are excellent books.
Also look into getting a Lynda.com account because those tutorials are excellent for learning new software extremely fast.

 

[Misfitlimp]

<a href="dog picture by misfitlimp - Photobucket" target="_blank"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f281/misfitlimp/dogblur.jpg" border="0" alt="dog"></a>
theres a little PP using gausian blur. the edges are a little sharper then yours used 3 layers

 

[Misfitlimp]

 

[The Dane]

ok sorry to bump this old thread.

The easiest way is to

copy the layer
Turn the top layer into a smart object
apply Gussian blur to the top layer (and because it's a smart object the blur can be adjusted at any time)
add a layer mask to the top layer
using a medium sized brush (a little bigger than what you think will do) with 0 hardness to paint back areas of the bottom layer.
DONE

 

[Randall Ellis]

I can't help you with the photoshop work, but I can offer some advice that might reduce the amount of post processing that you have to do in a case like this. When people look at critters, they look for the eye first - I have no idea why, but it's been proven over and over. In this particular instance, the eye needs to either be dodged in post processing or brought up in value at the time of exposure with a little weak fill flash. Don't blind the pooch, just cover 2/3 or 3/4 of the flash surface to cut the light, or use a dedicated flash that allows control over the amount of light it throws. If the eye were clearly visible to us the background sharpness would matter far less because we would be looking at his/her eye rather than having the high value background pulling the viewer's eye back to that part of the image.

Just a thought, but think about it and see if you agree (or not)...

- Randy