Photo Fixes: Remove Background Distractions

One of my favorite photographs of my son happened by accident.

I had my camera in hand, hoping to capture a shot of him playing under some park equipment. Then, he turned to me and flashed a great, joyful grin. I pressed the shutter button and a second later the moment was gone; my son running off to try out the slide. It all happened so fast, I wasn’t even sure I’d captured his smile!

Often, that’s how it goes for this memory-keeping mom. But, I don’t mind. The expressions full of honest emotion, the truthful moments of our life story, and even the chase are all worth it. Still, when racing about for the shot, it’s not always possible to compose it as desired.

For instance, the original–SOOC (straight out of camera)–photograph exhibits a ladder in the background. Only, the ladder looks like a pole that enters into the top of my son’s head and exits out the side of it. Not the most pleasant image, really. (At least, it doesn’t appeal to my protective mommy side!)

The following Photoshop Elements video tutorial demonstrates how to remove unwanted distractions in the background of your images. However, while my usual “go to” method for removing distractions is the spot-healing brush tool, it wasn’t ideal for this photograph. Therefore, I demonstrate how to use a fill layer + mask to get the desired effect.