Bluured background

[Tangmu]

I took this picture at the Redskins training camp. The background is really annoying. I tried to take away the beam and the guy (over the shoulder) but it was too difficult for me, so I blurred the whole thing, but it looks a little too artificial. Did I blur too much?

 

[Juga]

HTTR!

 

[limr]

I think you blurred too much and too close to the main subject. It looks like you superimposed the man onto a different picture. I don't know what software you're using and if it has options to play with depth of field. If you want to try to make the background less distracting that might be a better option than the blur tool. Too much in the background to clone out but you could probably at least clone out the words on the beam.

Honestly, though, I wouldn't spend too much time on it. I mean, a guy with a pig hat is amusing enough but overall, I think you've got yourself nothing more than a slightly amusing snap shot. Not sure what else you could really do with it.

 

[Buckster]

Yeah, it's blurred too much. It's also obviously not a natural lens blur, which is not impossible to achieve in software, but takes more work. Another BIG problem is that the edge around the guy is not done well. Parts of him are bleeding into the blur, but mostly there are still sharp areas around him from the background, and so it comes off as totally fake. Same thing in the hair - background is obviously faked.

To do this right, you've got to make a true composite. To do that, you duplicate the layer, then mask the guy to isolate him from the background (there's a TON to learn on this part alone, to do it well), then take the background and blur it and SHRINK it slightly behind him so that the blur from the guy gets hidden behind him - or just replace the background altogether.

 

[Buckster]

Honestly, though, I wouldn't spend too much time on it. I mean, a guy with a pig hat is amusing enough but overall, I think you've got yourself nothing more than a slightly amusing snap shot. Not sure what else you could really do with it.

Stuff like this is good to practice on, so that when the time comes that the skill is needed for something more important, they'll be able to pull it off.

 

[limr]

Honestly, though, I wouldn't spend too much time on it. I mean, a guy with a pig hat is amusing enough but overall, I think you've got yourself nothing more than a slightly amusing snap shot. Not sure what else you could really do with it.

Stuff like this is good to practice on, so that when the time comes that the skill is needed for something more important, they'll be able to pull it off.

Good point.

 

[FanBoy]

Good 3-D effect!

 

[Tangmu]

Thank you all for your feedback. Taking the words off the beam is practically the best I can do now. I'll use the picture to practice layers, and hopefully get a better result.

BTW, HTTR!