How to PP the BG and Subject Separately

[Neon Rosell II]

By using the "Quick Selection tool" you'll be able to select the bird and do all the enhancements you need to do while keeping the background untouched.

Here's an example wherein the ISO used was 1000. To avoid noise being enhanced on the BG when USM sharpening was applied on the bird.

The BG was darkened a little bit using "Levels"

40D + 600 mm f4 IS + 2x Kenko TC, f4, 1/160, ISO 1000, Manual Exposure, RAW, AI Servo, Manfrotto 055PROB, 393 Gimbal Head


Here's the original - cropped and resized.

[Teddy Regpala]

My CS2 don't have a Quick Selection Tool as far as I can recall, and most likely the CS4 has it (I haven't installed the upgrade yet).

My question is, how do you guys "select" the bird with a busy background?

Tips and tricks to share are very much appreciated.
Thanks.

[Mark Itol]

Hi Ted,

What works for me is the polygonal lasso tool. It's a pain in the a** but it works for me as far as precision is concerned. I'd also like to know if there's a faster and precise method out there.

Hope that helps.

[Ding Carpio]

I always go for creating a mask then use the polygonal lasso for a rough masking. You can also create the mask by using the polygonal lasso then clickng on the mask icon on the layers palette.

I then fine tune with alternate uses of black and white brushes on the mask with some feathering. Sometimes, I'd go for a gray brush near edges of the mask to make it less harsh.