I've been absent from this site for a while, so I thought I'd jump back in with a simple yet effective Photoshop tutorial.
This tutorial assumes you know how to create a basic selection and understand layers - but that's really it. I will be using Photoshop CS2 on Windows XP.
I call this effect, for lack of a better term, a "motion zoom". This effect adds a blur that creates a zoom focused on a selected item in a picture.
I have attached the photo I will be using called "skateboard.jpg". I find that the best pictures for this effect are ones with a busy background. Solid colors or plain backgrounds limit the effect.
So, open up "skateboard.jpg" into Photoshop.
-- Double click on the layer called "Background" to make it available to edit. I renamed it to "Zoom Background". You may do so if you wish.
-- Next, select your "lasso" tool (L) and select around the skateboarder like so:
