Love this shot but . . .

[Briansdad1]

It's been a really busy spring for me and I'm still trying to get through the culling and processing of 80 gig of photos from my trip. Just haven't had time to spend at the forum. I apologize for that. I'm sure I've missed out on a lot of good sharing and I haven't very supportive of my fellow member. But, I promised myself I would finish what I started. If I don't stick to it, it gets shelved forever it seems. Got to get those 80 gig down to the real keepers and do them justice in the PP department.

Speaking of which - I came across this photo I shot in Sedona. I really like it except for the white blotch just above the bird's head. I've tried fills and clones but they all look fake, especially around the margins. I was going for something light and soft like around the edges of this photo. Anybody want to give it a shot?

As is, I still think it's a keeper so no harm if people just look

Bill (See PS)


Security

PS: I paid a price for this picture, I managed to get about 50 of those needles stuck into me. They seem to leave a little bit behind when you pull them out. I itched for 2 weeks.

PPS: The edge blur and vignetting is part of the original image, not from PP. Its some way-out-of-focus, bright foreground creating the effect. The bird was in a dark recess. I struggled to get an angle favorable for a view of the bird and was, at first, worried that the blur (I could see it somewhat in the viewfinder) would ruin the shot. Turns out to be a happy circumstance, I think.

Bill

--
Bill
(not "Brian" - he's my deceased dog which I loved dearly)
I'm not a pro. Images I post, except people pix, are unrestricted for non-profit only. Please do not redistribute any of the people pix I post. C&C always welcome and encouraged - I'm not touchy about the negative comments. https://www.flickr.com/photos/118214307@N08/

 

[estero]

That is a great shot. I really like it. I would not worry too much about the blur it looks great.

 

[Erik Ohlson]

It's been a really busy spring for me and I'm still trying to get through the culling and processing of 80 gig of photos from my trip. Just haven't had time to spend at the forum. I apologize for that. I'm sure I've missed out on a lot of good sharing and I haven't very supportive of my fellow member. But, I promised myself I would finish what I started. If I don't stick to it, it gets shelved forever it seems. Got to get those 80 gig down to the real keepers and do them justice in the PP department.

Speaking of which - I came across this photo I shot in Sedona. I really like it except for the white blotch just above the bird's head. I've tried fills and clones but they all look fake, especially around the margins. I was going for something light and soft like around the edges of this photo. Anybody want to give it a shot?

As is, I still think it's a keeper so no harm if people just look

Bill (See PS)


Security

PS: I paid a price for this picture, I managed to get about 50 of those needles stuck into me. They seem to leave a little bit behind when you pull them out. I itched for 2 weeks.

PPS: The edge blur and vignetting is part of the original image, not from PP. Its some way-out-of-focus, bright foreground creating the effect. The bird was in a dark recess. I struggled to get an angle favorable for a view of the bird and was, at first, worried that the blur (I could see it somewhat in the viewfinder) would ruin the shot. Turns out to be a happy circumstance, I think.

Bill

--
Bill
(not "Brian" - he's my deceased dog which I loved dearly)
I'm not a pro. Images I post, except people pix, are unrestricted for non-profit only. Please do not redistribute any of the people pix I post. C&C always welcome and encouraged - I'm not touchy about the negative comments. https://www.flickr.com/photos/118214307@N08/

Bill, those Cholla spines are nothing to sneeze at - imagine raising a brood of tiny birds in that place!

One of our dogs - years ago - got a piece of one in his tail & tried to bite it out. The microscopic barbs on the spines wouldn't let me pull them out the way they went in - I had to push them THROUGH his lips and out point first. He was NOT amused :-(

I tried to clean things up a bit and put some Out of focus sky behind the bird - a pretty quick PP, not fully worked up, but I'd be happy to spend some time on it if you want.







PSE8: "multiply"; "paste (Sky) into selection"; localized darkening with "brightness & contrast".







--
"Measure wealth not by things you have but by things for which you would not take money"
www.flickr.com/ohlsonmh/ [email protected]

 

[Rodger1943]

I really liked what Erik did with the shot. Here's slightly different approach. I just darkened the area behind the bird, rather than adding a new image in there. Its not perfect, you can see the "feathered" areas around the edges, but it knocks back that bright light above and to the right of the beak.



--
Panasonic FZ1000

 

[windmillgolfer]

Only slight difference in brightness of the infill Bill. Have save PSD file, so could produce another.




V1




V2



--
Stuart
Also at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dieselgolfer/

 

[Briansdad1]

Yah, I kind of like the blur, actually. Thanks for looking.

 

[Briansdad1]

Thanks, Eric. You did a fine job but the background was no where near the sky. As you can see by the background peaking through other gaps in the cactus, it was greens (at the base of a mountain not far away actually). Good job at the fringe, though. I keep getting either toomuch white fringe or loosing all the needles on the edge. Thanks again.

Bill

 

[Briansdad1]

Thanks, Rodger. that is a definite improvement over the original! Would be a keeper but for the excellent job W-Golfer did. Check it out - second of two in his post.

Bill

 

[Briansdad1]

Wow, this is exactly what I was going for. I've got to get better at my PP efforts. Yours is excellent and a keeper. Thanks!

Bill

Only slight difference in brightness of the infill Bill. Have save PSD file, so could produce another.


V1


V2

--
Stuart
Also at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dieselgolfer/

--
Bill
(not "Brian" - he's my deceased dog which I loved dearly)
I'm not a pro. Images I post, except people pix, are unrestricted for non-profit only. Please do not redistribute any of the people pix I post. C&C always welcome and encouraged - I'm not touchy about the negative comments. https://www.flickr.com/photos/118214307@N08/

 

[windmillgolfer]

You're welcome Bill. I use PSE11 but have a few Topaz plug-ins, including Remask, which I used to create a mask to put on top of the area cloned from the top LHS.

 

[moffatross]

Lovely shot ... FWIW prefer the blue sky substitute.

One of those times when 3 bracketed exposures would produce either a reference or a real life background for PS'ing.

 

[manthasfamily]

Wonderful shot Bill! I also like Erik and Stuart's versions.

 

[Benoz]

Beautiful shot!

I like some of the above variations slightly darkened but I also like the pastel colors in your original.

It would be a lovely postcard! Well done!

Ben

 

[Erik Ohlson]

Thanks, Eric. You did a fine job but the background was no where near the sky. As you can see by the background peaking through other gaps in the cactus, it was greens (at the base of a mountain not far away actually). Good job at the fringe, though. I keep getting either toomuch white fringe or loosing all the needles on the edge. Thanks again.

Bill

--
Bill
(not "Brian" - he's my deceased dog which I loved dearly)
I'm not a pro. Images I post, except people pix, are unrestricted for non-profit only. Please do not redistribute any of the people pix I post. C&C always welcome and encouraged - I'm not touchy about the negative comments. https://www.flickr.com/photos/118214307@N08/

That was a great shot under difficult conditions, well worth working on.

Yup, I considered several backgrounds from different settings - rejected too much green, not sure whether to use foliage or rocks, and since the sky is always present and the camera appeared to be looking up a bit......

Anyway, just an exercise in PP, always fun and good practice.

"Party on".......







--
"Measure wealth not by things you have but by things for which you would not take money"
www.flickr.com/ohlsonmh/ [email protected]

 

[PhotOptimist]

Kind of dreamy effect, I'd add it to other corners.

Very nice photo imo.

 

[danielsonkin]

What a great shot, Bill! I really like it a lot. I would enter that into a challenge - thorny situations?

I know what you mean about processing versus schmoozing. When I came home from Africa with 4000 photos to go through, it was overwhelming. But in time, I was able to get through them and find about 400 keepers. From that I had to figure out which ones to post here. So many decisions! I guess that's part of the deal with digital photography. Never was that way with film. Maybe a roll of 36 had ten images of the same subject matter. Even if it was the whole roll, that was a lot easier to cull down than 4000. ;-)

Looking forward to photos of your latest adventures.

Daniel

 

[Jon_T]

...I came across this photo I shot in Sedona. I really like it except for the white blotch just above the bird's head. I've tried fills and clones but they all look fake, especially around the margins. I was going for something light and soft like around the edges of this photo. Anybody want to give it a shot?...


Security

As with other posts Eric's and Stuart's versions are well done.

I took a different approach to Stuart's version, and Bill's (OP) requests of the "... something light and soft like around the edges of this photo...." on the premise that our eyes generally drift towards the brighter/sharper area of a image. Hence I darken/blurred the edges in an attempt to help make the bird the focal point of the image.



As with Stuart's version, I opted to fill the open area above the bird to match the other smaller open areas.

 

[fmpicture]

Welcome back Briansdad !

Congratulations for this nice pic !

I wouldnt suggest puting the bird in a flying saucer heading to nowhere , but it is tempting !

 

[Briansdad1]

You're welcome Bill. I use PSE11 but have a few Topaz plug-ins, including Remask, which I used to create a mask to put on top of the area cloned from the top LHS.

 

[Briansdad1]

Lovely shot ... FWIW prefer the blue sky substitute.

One of those times when 3 bracketed exposures would produce either a reference or a real life background for PS'ing.