Amy’s talked about touching up the backgrounds of photos to remove visual clutter, usually using the clone tool to copy “clean” sections of the original image into the “cluttered” areas. This is a great technique and one that almost every photo can use, whether you’re removing lens dust or the kid making goofy faces behind your family shot on the beach.

Then there’s what I like to call Extreme Background Touchup. I found a post from BetterPhoto.com today that suggests using a technique that pushes the limits of standard photography and gets into graphic design. In the example, the photographer took a pretty decent photo of a barn but wasn’t happy with the drab background. He ended up cutting out the background of the original and dropped in a gorgeous fall foliage shot. I’ve got a thumbnail of the before and after, but you’ll want to check out the actual article to see it in high-resolution.

This has inspired me to look into trying this with some of our photos. In the next week or so I’ll provide a complete tutorial on not just how to do the edits, but also other tips like where to get great stock photos for free. Stay tuned!