How do I change background?

[Anne Bellenger]

http://www.pbase.com/anneb74/image/99700583&exif=Y
I like the scrub jay in this image but not the background. Too "busy" with grass and sand. I know there is a method of blurring the bg, or even replacing it, but I've never tried it and don't know how. I don't need this as an environmental image, but I do need the jay for ID, specially the bands. Any help will be appreciated.
(Image from Jay Watch 2008) Not sure if this is the right place for this subject. I hope so.

[Sid Overbey]

Anne, not sure what you use for post processing but in PS or PSE just mask out the background (you can create a new layer). When you have the BG selected you can use the Gaussian blur tool to make it less distracting. You can play with the slider to get it to the point to like.

Sid

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Anne I like Sid's suggestion

Just select the bird and you can do many different ways. Probably the easiest would be the magic wand. Just reduce the numbers so it selects the bird only
When using the magic wand remember you can add to the selection by holding the shift key and clicking again. To remove from the selection hold the option (alt in the PC) and will remove.

Let me know if this works for you if not can make some other specific suggestions. Heading out for but will be back mid afternoon !!!

[Doug Brown]

Here's a quick attempt at doing what you want, as described by Sid and Al.

[Anne Bellenger]

Thanks very much. I use PS-CS3 on a MacBook Pro. I'm a little shaky about selecting but will try anyway. Have to unplug for a while due to heavy lightning.

[Anne Bellenger]

http://www.pbase.com/anneb74/image/99775137 (small image)
Here's the best I could do.Not what I wanted. I've always been terrible at masking. I even tried Art's Quick Mask technique. I had problems selecting the bird too. When I tried selecting with the magic wand, it also selected parts of the bird. I lowered the number to 20 but that was too small. 50 seemed OK.
I used CS2 on a G4 Mac laptop. I have CS3 on another computer.

[Sid Overbey]

Anne, wow what happened. Did you use the Quick Selection tool? Try selecting the BG starting at the left top and go down to the fence. Try to leave the bird and everything below the fence unselected. Then use the gaussian blur tool only on the selected area. It should work pretty well.

Good luck.

[Anne Bellenger]

Thanks. Will try your suggestions.