What can you do to fix a poorly defined background in an otherwise great portrait? You have a wide variety of options, but the quickest (and easiest) way for me is to desaturate the background to make the foreground stand out more.

Let me show you just how easy it is:

Step 1: I made a copy of my background image and desaturated the new layer. To desaturate a layer, simply go to Image, click Adjustments, and select Desaturate (Image»Adjusments»Desaturate). In this context, “desaturating” roughly translates to removing all color information from your image.

Step 2: At this point, I had effectively removed all color information in my image, but I wanted to retain the colors in my foreground. So, I made another copy of my background image and used the Layer Mask Tool to mask out the background. Here, I did not have to be overly accurate in my masking strokes. Luckily, the subject’s hair is black; thus, any desaturated hair strands didn’t diminish the overall effect. Additionally, I adjusted my Brightness and Contrast settings to enhance the colors. To adjust Brightness and Contrast, go to Image in your top menu, select Adjustments, and click Brightness/Contrast (Image»Adjusments»Brightness/Contrast).

Step 3: As a final touch, I copied the desaturated image and moved it to the top layer. I then changed its Layer Style to Overlay. This provided some additional color highlights to the final portrait.

Photo courtesy of the ever-kulit Makoy, who seems to have a knack for taking subtly profound portraits

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