I think there is a way that I can make a photo look like it has a narrow depth of field by blurring the background. Does anyone know how to do this?

Here is the photo I want to use.

http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...21&ppuser=7578

__________________
Lysiane

~~ Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder ~~

~~ Go Ahead, CC me! ~~

Here's what I would do....I would create a layer mask and select everything but the bird. Then add a gaussian blurr or something to the background. Then I would edit the mask of the bird to soften the edges so they aren't as noticeable (so in focus, the rest so out of focus) and play around with it that way. Am I making sense...if not say so and I will try to be more clear. HTH!

__________________
I always welcome cc of my LOs!! My work is like me- in progress!

My Gallery

Well.. to me, it already has some DOF.. the background behind the head is sufficiently blurry - adding any more and it will really appear faked (there isn't enough distance between the bird and background). The biggest issue with the photo is the focus is on the birds body and not the entire bird so if you blur out the background, this will become even more apparent. My recommendation would be to leave it alone as is... its a wonderful photo!

Thank you Sprauncey for the technique and Pesto for the critique! You are right on with your comments, so I will leave it as it is.

__________________
Lysiane

~~ Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder ~~

~~ Go Ahead, CC me! ~~

If you are going to do it, I'd agree with the mask--lower the opacity of your brush and slowly work on it...another idea...maybe possibly a gradient mask. You don't want to blur everything. Still needs to be sharp close to her/him, etc.

You're going to have to play around with it. Agree with Pesto, that when I look at the photo, my eyes are drawn to the bird right now. Think the DOF is fine - but don't know what you plan on doing with the pic.

Another thought....maybe you just want to make the bird pop out more from the brownish leaf colors. Possibly make the area above the bird body and tail, lighter or darker.... or maybe even a vingette approach...darken the edges to draw you in more.

Maybe do rough selection of the bird and the area below his feet and tail...and then dink with the background areas to see what looks best.

This is why I LOVE to ask for suggestions! I get so many ideas that I didn't think of! Thanks Doris!

__________________
Lysiane

~~ Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder ~~

~~ Go Ahead, CC me! ~~

I couldn't help myself - so I over-processed your photo (just a bit) and added a fun new book to your collection -- check out the links to the gallery...

http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...92&ppuser=9598
http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...93&ppuser=9598