To feather: Thank you, I only used photoshop essentials.

[plimrn]

I think the key is to decrease noise in small areas. I did the background as a whole but I carefully stayed well away from the edges of the girl and her instument. But what am i doing telling you anything? Your photos are so spot on that they usually don't need help. If I would just use a tripod more, I'd get better results.

[feather]

I replied to this earlier but it seems to have been eaten up in cyber-space.
I do need help with noise reduction as I have nothing that works well. Apparently Neatimage is a free download I will look at.
I know what you mean about tripods. I don't use one much either, as you know most of my photos are taken on long walks and I just don't have the energy to lug a tripod with me. But it does eliminate the need for using high ISO, which I avoid if possible.
Kath

[plimrn]

I've tried Neat Image and liked it a lot initially but pretty much quit using it because it ate up too much detail. I've found the same to be true for DxO. When using either one, I get a lot of comments about lack of sharpness. Perhaps I should try less than the default settings. I can't figure out how singuati got such sharp images even though he used Dxo for everything. I expect it's that both of you have a steadier hand than I do. Anyway, I'm using PS for now because it lets me just select small areas .

With performers, a slow shutter speed rarely works; although Larry has done some nice motion blur shots.
Regards, Pat