Downgrading Background Annoyances

My First Class in Photo Editing:

     I took a class today called Beyond the Basics of Photo Editing with Photoshop Elements as taught by Patty Debowski. My version of Photoshop was too old and didn't have some of the features needed to complete the classroom demonstrations so I had to use the teacher's spare computer, so embarrassing. Later I practiced one of the things I could still do in my version - Creating a Focal Point in a Photo. This technique is used to eliminate distractions in the background, like blurring out bystanders in your photos.

     Here is my photo with a distraction in the background.

     Here is the photoshopped version with a Guaasian blurred background and focused foreground. Much better right? It makes the photo look 3-D. Thanks Jenn for modeling for this example, or was it just a candid photo?

     The other useful feature I learned was Groupshot Photomerge. I can't demonstrate this effect since I don't have it on my computer. But you can take several photos of the same group of people, erase the face you want, and transport it onto another body. If someone is closing their eyes in a photo,  you can place their face from another photo onto their body. Then everyone in the group can look good. It was really quick to do this. I know Jacob photoshopped a Christmas group photo and it took him several hours. 

      My head was hurting after two hours of learning commands on someone else's PC. I've never worked with Photoshop so I learned about layers, brush sizes, shortcut command keys and fancy tools from the sidebar. How do you find this fun, Kevin? Hopefully utilizing photo editing will help my layouts. Tomorrow I'm learning about copic markers, the tool of the manga artist. 

Ciao for now!