My personal Avatar is actually a screen shot from a television appearance.
I was sitting with all the studio lighting in front of a green screen.
The images behind me were broadcast as blurred on purpose. It’s a standard TV thing.
Here’s how to do that effect yourself, without TV.
Take any picture and open it up in your favorite image manipulation program.
Photoshop, Paint.net or Gimp are some of mine.
Now highlight the portion that you want to “pop” (I’m thinking that’s you)
Now Invert your selection . That means to tell your program to choose everything besides what you’ve highligted. HINT: typically “CONTROL + I” will invert your selection.
Go to effects , and find your “Gaussian Blur”. Play with the setting until you are satisfied with the background blur.
Now Save . That’s all there is to it. Want to see it in action?
Here’s Tamara Doris before:
Here’s the same photo with a blurred background:
See the difference?
Here’s picture of me back in 1984:
Here’s the same picture blurred:
My friend Ernie isn’t going to be too happy about my blurring him, but hey, it’s all about me! ; )
Time spent – maybe all of two minutes!
If you want have a little more fun you can also make your background Black and White, or Sepia!
Now go blur out your buddies and make your Avatar or picture POP!
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<------ Experimental new link! Please give it a try and let me know if this works! :)
This post brought to you courtesy of Mike Mueller.
Feel free to ReBlog or ReTweet as you like as long as you credit the source (him).
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Did you know?
I'm gonna try this, thanks for sharing
That is way cool! I always thought that pic of you looks like someone famous that was on TV --I can see the imagine in my mind but I just can't draw out the name!
Mike - This is super-cool. Thanks for the tip, buddy! I am going to play around with this today.
That looks so cool and you make it sound so easy! I am going to have to try it...there's no excuse if it only takes a few minutes.
Thanks for the tips on how to get rid of background noise. I usually have tons of pictures of my daughter that I love, but the background is too busy.
Wow! Can't wait to try this. Thanks.
thanks
I'm glad that Donna mentioned that above. I am in the same boat with many of our kid pictures.
Thanks for the info, Mike. Your tips help me to improve the way I present both myself and my business.
Like all the other comments....this is definitely COOL. I, too, will try this! thanks for the great tip!
Jason, et all – When you do blur out those pesky neighbor kids, post the before and after here so we can all see.
I showed my daughter last night and she’s now blurring all her MySpace / Facebook friends. She also likes making them B & W.
* I'm also trying my little Tweet This snippet of code on this post - Let me know if that works ok.
Mike - Great tip! thanks for sharing this little tidbit. Gotta go in and try this later today. As soon as I find some time lol
This is really awesome, Mike. Gosh, if I could just find a way to remember all these things I learn on ActiveRain!
Thanks! The pictures look great. I will definately look into this.
Wow!!!! Thanks for sharing this important advice...am off to play and see what I can come up with. Appreciated!
Mike, thanks for the tip. Sounds so easy but never tried it before. Will definitely give a go.
Oh fun! Isn't it interesting the things we don't notice? I've seen your avatar for over a year now and it does "pop" but I never once thought about the technique used to create it. Always learning ;-)
Colleen – Nope. Mine is real. What this post does is explain how todo the same in Photoshop.
Kris – Do me a favor and try my Tweet This link (bottom of the post) I'm dying to see if it works.
Mike - I just used the "tweet this" link and it worked like a charm!
this is a great tip, and well explained. Blurring out the background (or even removing the background... or filling it with a different colour or pattern) is a trick that we graphic designers have been using for years.
Jason – Awesome Blossom! I used the link back to my outside blog and you can see the Tweetback there. I have a DO Follow on the site, that’s extra Google Juice for you!
http://areweconnected.com/2009/01/how-to-making-your-avatar-pop/
That is pretty awesome. I'll have to give it a shot. I attempted the paint.net before but it provided the download for an exe file which does not work for Mac. I'll give Gimp a shot.
That is a really cool tip. I wil have to play around with it when I have time.
Mike, this is too cool. As soon as I get Photoshop re-installed on my 'puter, I'm gonna give it a try. I can think of a bunch of personal photos that this trick would be great for. Thanks for posting this!
Hey thanks for sharing this, My profile photo is done like this by the photographer and I always wondered how to do this
Heather – Try the other two options I mentioned, they are FREE and do great things!
Mike-Thanks for sharing this and for the detailed explanation. Still a cycle rider?
Debra – Ride? Every single day if I can. Instead of the little RZ350 pictured here I now have a Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa. It’s just a little faster but I do miss that bike! How about you?
Cool I have some of my kids pics I can try on them !! I also learned about ctrl I.
Hey Mike,
I told you it reminded me of the newsroom...now I see why! I never noticed that about your photo, but it looks great. It does remind me of the green board on news shows.....I don't miss doing early morning television, but I so appreciate you gave me the look that I still do it (without having to wake up at 4:30 AM!)/
Thanks!
Ritu – Yeah, it’s a Two Fer!
Two words my friend: AWE SOME
!!!!!
gotta try that.
*bookmarked*
Thanks, I will check it out.
Aloha,
Keahi
Aloha Mike,
Thanks for the great tip. Finally I have a reason to use gaussin blur in photoshop.
Peace,
Pretty cool stuff Mike.
I'm taking a Photoshop class now and just learned how to do this just this pas week. I also changed the background to black and white and left the main subject in color, very cool.
It is truly MIND BOGGLING what you can do in Photoshop <and similar programs>.
That's definitely a cool trick, it kind of weirds me out staring at it for some reason, but its neat none the less.
Mike, Thanks SO much for the great tip and idea! Now, to find a picture worthy of "popping", lol. I have always liked your photo. Maybe there is hope for me after all, lol. Thanks!
Mike, thank you for that great tip. I really like your avatar and this is a cool trick to use for photos.
Join my NEW group for professionals who work from their home office at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice
Regina P. Brown
That is beautiful! I'm going to see if my daughter can do that for me. Your 2 minute job would turn into hours for me! Thanks for the tip. I'm sure I will be seeing pictures of my grandkiddles surrounded by blur!
Good post!
Mike - This one cool tip and I did not notice this about your picture until you pointed it out. Thanks!
I did this with the porno film i starred in. Just kidding.
Mike - Beautiful post as usual - I will implement this NO DOUBT and appreciate your sharing.
Good suggestion.
If I blur mine, the kid (that most people would PREFER to see) would be blury.
Lane – Why do you say that?
I think He looks just fine! ; )
Lane – Ok, here's the real one...
Todd – That strikes a little close to home. There was a Mike Mueller in the industry once (wasn't me)!
That's really cool. It helps to see the before and after to really get 'the pop'!
I had no idea that you could do that - maybe even I could do that. :)
Great idea Mike! Thanks for sharing. I want to make mine POP! Km
That is very cool Mike. I can see many applications for it. maybe even an avatar.
Thanks
Bo
Mike... this is pretty cool. I had wondered how you did that. I have book makrd this page for further review
Mike, what a great idea and thank you for posting the links to the sites to help me edit existing photos. Take care and happy blogging!
When I take portraits I focus on the face and the background is blurred. That is the right way to do a portrait.
Mike,
Cool app. I am going to go play around on it now!
Sean
I just realized it wasn't because I didn't have my glasses on that everything in the background looked blurry!! lol~ nice Mike!! :-)
Mike,
I tried it, but I actually could use a little more guidance, I cannot figure out how to actually work the Gimp application. I have the picture to edit and I use the scissors or roping tools, but then they simply do not work and I am left with the same pic...
Can you elaborate on the Gimp application?
Thanks,
Sean
T – That's the way to really do it right. Depth of Field stuff and all. : )
You are an excellent photograher while I am just a Photoshop Hack trying to digitally make it up (really).
I popped into Twitter and here's a great example - It's NewMediaJim's Avatar.
Sean – I could, but that's going to be much longer than a comment boxes worth. Try Paint instead.
Mike-I would ride everyday if I could! Unfortunately we have been under freaking snow for over two months now. I am in withdrawal. I have a HD 1200 low. Aaaahhh a Hayabusa-a crotch rocket! Are you racing around from engagement to engagement? LOL
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teresaberry: rt: @mikemueller How to: Making your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c @mikemueller.... more like stand out POP : ) Love it! 01/23/09 11:17pm
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renefabre: How to: Making your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c from: @mikemueller... nice touch to spice up a photo. 01/23/09 09:17pm
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ElizabethGolden: How to: Making your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c from: @mikemueller 01/23/09 02:10am
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waterwayrealty: How to: Making your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c from: @mikemueller OK!, Mike... I'll give it a try. 01/22/09 06:39pm
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blogwerdsmedia: RT @jasoncrouch How to: Make your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c 01/22/09 06:27pm
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hollyrhoffman: How to: Making your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c from: @mikemueller 01/22/09 06:00pm
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AnthonyRusso: RT @jasoncrouch: How to: Make your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c from: @mikemueller 01/22/09 06:00pm
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jasoncrouch: How to: Make your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c from: @mikemueller 01/22/09 05:56pm
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mikemueller: How to: Making your Avatar POP! http://tinyurl.com/a4ad7c from: @mikemueller Not as in explode POP, more like stand out POP : ) 01/21/09 08:56pm
Big Thanks to you allI like the one with me blurred out...
Thanks for the tip I would have never found that with out your help. Thanks
great tip, I am going to try it
WOW - incredibly cool Thanks for the tip. Bookmarking it.
Mike, you are an amazing font of information. Thanks for the continued tips, I can't wait to try. Only question, I thought avatars were those cartooney representations, not real pictures???
Thanks for sharing the tips. I had heard of GIMP long ago, but really didn't even recall what it was for. Thanks for the recommendation and link to more information.