Adjusting a Photo's Background

When taking a photograph, most people focus on the subject of the photo and ignore the background. Once your picture is developed, you realize that the background was distracting. Even in a photo with a simple basic background, like the one shown below, blurring the background draws attention to the foreground elements. The couple in this photo will jump forward when the background is blurred.

My first task is to select the background area around the couple. This can be tricky if you try and make the selection with the lasso. I prefer to use the quick mask mode to assist me in my selection.

First I make a copy of the image, next I switch to the quick mask mode by selecting the icon located at the bottom of the tool palette. I want to double click on the quick mask mode to make sure the settings for quick mask are set correctly.

Here are the settings for the quick mask tool. After adjusting the settings, select OK.

Now you can use the airbrush to paint over the background area of the photo. As you paint, a red mask will appear.

If you goof, and accidentally paint over the couple, just use the eraser to remove the red. You can zoom in, change the size of your brush, and slowly but surely paint the selection you need.

This technique works well when you want to select an area which has a multi-colored background that would be difficult to select with traditional tools.

This is how my photo looks after I have painted in the selection.

Next I switch back to the "standard mode" and my red area is now my selected area. At this point I could delete the background or blur it. I decide to blur it.



I access the Filter menu > Blur > Gaussian blur > radius of 5. The blur setting is up to you, and depends on the individual image.

The couple seems to pop out of the page, now that the background is blurred.