Bob Larter wrote:

Brian wrote:
I took a photo of someone in a shop and the background is distracting.
I tried to use the blur tool to blur the messy background but this did
not look right. Is there a better way of buring a background so a
person stand out and the background is not distracting to the viewer?

I am using Adobe photoshop elements 7.

Better to use a wide open lens in the first place.

This does not always work if the background is close to the subject.
Photographing someone in a shop standing in front of items for sale
can be a problem and on some camera's there is a limit on how wide
open the lens can be. That's why I depend on photo editing programs.

Regards Brian