[lauras]

Using Photoshop, does anyone know how to gradate the background in a photo so you have a highlight of the image only once finished with the photo. Does this involve selecting the image and working on it and then selecting the backgound and lightening it? I am not familiar with the term gradating when working with backgrounds. Any help would be appreciated. thanks

[Thorzdad]

If I read your question correctly, you wish to lighten (fade?) the background of an image?
The simple way...
You need to build a mask of the objects in the foreground (the ones you want clear and bright), then inverse the selection. This will allow you to do whatever you want with the background (adjust brightness and saturation, for instance) without harming the foreground items.

Of course, you can get into adjustment layers and the like, but that would be too involved to cover correctly here.