That Hair, That Flame...

Selecting objects without clear, continuous edges is hard. Fine hair and flames are in this category. The main tricks for selecting these things out of a picture are: 1. Use channels; 2. Use all the tools or methods you can find to inscrease contrast between the object you want to select and the background. Contrast is the key! (I sound a little crazy here, but I am sure many photoshoppers understand what I mean.)

Before:





After: