Tips on this photo

[Shari]

Me again - my husband cannot believe how much time I am spending on this programme - I just read him parts of the addicted thread!!
OK - another question. This is just a fun fresco I did of my great-nephew.
Because I am not great at doing selections I tried to blur the background before I started doing my sketch procedure. It didn't work. I have several great photos of people but there is too busy a background to make the photo stand out. Any suggestions. Thanks.
Shari
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1wYHTPstWnLUsK4oiXKSGWFjFgNey

[kayser]

Shari- There are several things you could do. You could use a mask and lower the opacity when you paint the background back in, so that the boy stands out. I tried that and it looked okay.

I am not very good at selecting either, and I tried selecting the boy in your picture, and the magnetic lasso just went around him with hardly any input from me. I then inverted the selection and desaturated the background part. I'm not sure it's better than your original, but here's what it looks like:


http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1eXY56BKmWFtxyk8Qb9bpWC5LgxV

[Shari]

WOW - thanks Kay for your input. I haven't tried to desaturate and invert. I appreciate the information. I might try that on the original. There is so much to learn in this programme - but then that is the fun isn't it?
Thanks again
Shari