Learn How To Make Your Subject Stand Out In A Picture

The ideal method to ensure that everyone who views your photographs focuses on precisely what you want them to is to blur the background. All eyes are drawn to the foreground when a background is blurred in Photoshop, and the contrast in definition can make your main topic really "pop" and stand out. This is a particularly helpful tool for crowd photographs, like those taken at sporting events or concerts, where you can obscure away strangers' faces and only concentrate on the memories of having a good time with friends. [caption id="attachment_60011" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Image credit: picturecorrect[/caption]

How to blur a background in Photoshop

1. Make a copy of the background layer.
2. To draw attention to the focal point of your photo, use the Select a Subject tool.
3. Expand the selection by about 5 pixels by selecting Select > Modify > Expand.
4. Choose Content-Aware Fill under the Edit tab.
5. Remove the two background layers, then add a Layer Mask to the layer that contains your subject.
6. Constrict the mask by one pixel more than it expanded by using the Filter -> Other -> Minimum option while keeping the Layer Mask selected.
7. Create a smart object out of the duplicate of your background layer. Make the subject layer active.
8. Choose the following: Filter > Blur Gallery > Tilt shift.
9. Change the blur's size and location as necessary.

You're done, all of it! Although not difficult, the method is quite helpful. If you know how to add a backdrop in Photoshop, you can even delete the existing one and enter a brand-new one if anything still doesn't seem right after blurring the background.