Depth of Field Experiments Using Software

I've been learning new things all weekend! Not only have I learned how to make my colorful pop style imagery as featured on http://www.mytinypet.com in my main program (Paint Shop Pro) versus having to use 2 separate programs, I've also learned how to get that blurred depth of field effect in my software. This effect is usually only made possible by having an SLR camera (which we don't have). So it's cool I can still get the effect, without having the camera.

Yesterday I shared the completed photo of Abby. I thought you might like to see the original I worked from as compared to the finished photo. This is a great photo of the bird, but it's too dark and the background is too busy, taking the eye away from Abby.

Finished project - now the focus is on Abby, and the background has a wonderful blurred effect:

Here's another experiment I just completed. This is Rowdy and I love this shot of him, but once again, the busy background of leaves and grass is distracting.

So I played with it, and got that background a bit more blurry in order to put the focus more on the cat:

Nice to know I can do this without having another camera!