[stomachmonkey]

Ahh so many ways to skin a cat.

1st, need better quality hi res photo.

Here's the "non-destructive" way to do this

Duplicate layer. Add layer effect color to bottom layer, in dialog box choose black as the color and choose color from the dropdwn that says normal.

I top layer use pen tool to create a path, save working path, command click path to select image.

Add layer mask and choose reveal selected.

Use blur of choice on bottom layer, suggest using a feather on top layer before applying layer mask.

Pen tool givces you the most control to make selections. You can tweak them all night and day. layer masks let you "hide" the stuff you don't want as opposed to permanently deleting it. layer effects allow you to alter appearence without destrouying the original image.

Have fun.