Do you have a mac? There's some photo editing abilities in the photos including a "retouch" which makes an adjustable-size dot which will blur whatever you drag it over, so you would be able to blur the background including people.

Before:

I did this quick so got a little blur...with a little more work it could be better.

Alisande often does that sort of thing for pictures posted here. I'll message her if she doesn't pop in here. She would be so happy to do it for you, if she can.

I've sure been thinking about you!

Yes, I probably can do it. Why don't you post it here and see what you get in return, Sounds like fun.

Jasdip, that is possible with a photo editing program such as Photoshop or Lightroom. Many here may have that, so post and see what the experts can do.

This is Tom and his friend at a concert. Tom is on the right with the goatee. Please lighten it, crop it, whatever you want.

Jasdip, I will have my husband work on this when he gets home. He has crazy skills. I will email you the results.

Handsome man, Jasdip! I didn't know if you wanted the friend included or not, but here's how I saw it.

This one is cropped to 4x6:

And this one is 5x7:

Beautiful job, Alisande! I especially like the first one....made my heart skip a beat.

Handsome man and he looks like he has a nice disposition.

Here's my attempt. With a less aggressive removal of the background than in Alisande versions, and (on my monitor at least) a slightly more natural looking skin tone.

Good job, Bob! Yeah, after I did the background I wondered if it would have been better to leave the darker section as is. I saved the original in case I wanted to go back and try it that way. But yours is excellent. I don't know how many times I tweaked the color . . . what did you use to get the great skin tones?

BTW, I use two monitors. I edit photos on one, and use the web browser on the other. I'll have to re-calibrate them or something because the skin tones on my edits look better on the other monitor. On this monitor there's a little too much red.

Much talent and kindness here. Beautiful job(s) all of you. That photo is a treasure.

I always knew there was real talent on this forum as well as tremendous kindness. The folks here are the best.

Oh My Gosh!!! I knew I came to the right place, and asked my dear friends for help.

I love, love them!!!!! Thank you thank you so much. Can you do one showing more of his shirt, similar to the first photo? Not so close up. I like both versions.

Although I get frustrated with a few people, I am always awed with most on Garden Web and their talents, knowledge, and compassion. Just a beautiful picture.

Jasdip, in order to show as much of the shirt as appears in the original picture, the crop would have to include a lot of his friend's shirt as well. That could be cloned out, but it would look awkward at best. Tom would be scrunched over on the right with a lot of blank space on the left. If more of Tom's sleeve were cloned to cover some of his friend's shirt, it would result in a very wide sleeve! I hope the crop below illustrates what I mean.

Alisande, After manually doing the background removal, and drawing in the part of his sleeve where his friend's plaid shirt overlapped it using Paint Shop Pro 7, I imported the image into Picasa, and then did: Fill Light, Auto Contrast, Warmify, Saturation (down), Auto Color.

Wow. Just wow.

Jasdip, Tom is a very handsome man, and these folks here have done a remarkable job with the photo. Such kindness and love comes forth here all the time!

That is a beautiful picture. He is looking directly into your soul.

It you use the rotate function on edit you can turn him so he is in a more centered natural position.

I know this is a close up and I don't have enough editing programs on my phone but this is kinda what I mean.

I used rotate to get a more centered appearance.

Bob may be able to get closer to what you want, Jasdip, showing more shirt.

Oh, of course, Alisande!

I'll leave things the way they are. Bob, you did an outstanding job!

Thank you, thank you KT!!!!

What a lovely gift to Jasdip at this trying time.

Thanks, everyone.

ole joyful

RIP Tom.

What a great picture. Such a handsome man who will be missed.

Great job Elizabeth. RIP Mr. Jasdip

I am awed and blown away by the compassion and generosity of the people on this forum. Friends through thick and thin for sure.

RIP Tom.....