Shooter41 Loc: Wichita, KS

Occasionally I will get lucky and capture competing indoor soccer players doing a header with their faces aimed toward my camera. The indoor arena where I photograph indoor soccer has a cluttered background of soccer fans and empty seats in the background. I like to use my old purchased photoshop CS4 to dodge the player's faces and to ball to make them stand out. I like to use photoshop my old purchased CS4 to burn and darken the background to lessen the distractions in my image. I would appreciate any suggestions that the excellent sports photographers on UHH have regarding a better way to separate and emphasize the players from the distraction of the fans in the background. Thank you in advance. Shooter41

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DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I have no familiarity with Photoshop CS4, but if I were to address the task with Photoshop CC, I'd select the players and the ball, invert the selection, then use one of the blur filters, such as gaussian blur or lens blur to blur the background, in order to reduce the distractions.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

Shooting wide open.
I don’t know what lenses you use but a 300 2.8 is a good lens for what you want to accomplish.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Looks like you're stopped down to much. Open the aperture. This will blur the background for you in camera.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

Your advice is correct, but I think the OP is looking for post-processing suggestions.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

Do you have vignette in that older version? That might help to focus on the players. The 10 bucks a month I spend on my up-to-date PS CC is well worth it to me to not have this kind of problem..

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

He uses PS4, and is asking for a better way. The better way is to do it in camera as much as possible, IMHO.