wigeon drake at a local pond

[Enrique Patino]

taken about two weeks ago at a local pond close to sunset. This bird was partially shaded by some bushes at the edge of the pond. I know the colors are a bit warm, but I like the rich colors ... what do you think?

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7D, 700mm, 1/800, f/7.1, ISO 800, HH, almost FF horizontally. Could have worked on the BG more, but opted not to...

comments welcome

[Henry Domke]

...I like the rich colors ...
Me too! Very rich and warm.

The only color I would consider changing would be the light blue background to the left of the birds bill. I've reworked it to show you what I mean.
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[Stu Bowie]

Hi Enrique, lovely low angle, and a good swimming pose to round it off. Excellent detail on the wigeon, sharp, and the droplets add interest. I too like the overall colours in the image. Im fine with the patch of blue, but can see a version with the yellow patch just behind the wigeon's head blended a little more evenly into the grey area. :w3

[Shawn Zierman]

Lovely drake in surrounded by yummy complimentary colors. Shooting angle is nice, low, and eye level. Details are plenty sharp. I do think blending out that blue spot in the background was an improvement.

[Holger Leyrer]

Very nice Image. Love the low angle, colors and details.


I do think blending out that blue spot in the background was an improvement.
I agree with Shawn

[Enrique Patino]

Thanks people!

[Arthur Morris]

Lots of interesting stuff above. Did anyone mention that this needs a bit of CCW rotation???

[Enrique Patino]

Me too! Very rich and warm.

The only color I would consider changing would be the light blue background to the left of the birds bill. I've reworked it to show you what I mean.
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Henry, if you don't mind, can you explain the steps you used to change the blue color to make it match so neatly? Thanks!

[Henry Domke]

can you explain the steps you used to change the blue color to make it match so neatly?
Sure, I'm happy to.
Using Photoshop CC I opened the file.
1. Using the eyedropper tool I sampled the golden brown in front of the birds forehead.

2. On the Layers palette I clicked on the Adjustment Layers icon and from the drop down menu I picked "Solid Color..." (it is the one at the very top).
By default it will show the color you have previously sampled since that is now the foreground color.

3. Select the Layer Mask thumbnail.

4. From the Edit menu pick "Fill..." and fill the layer mask with black.

5. Near the top of the Layers Palette click on the "Blending Mode" drop down menu and select "Color" as your blending mode.

6.Press the "D" key to make the foreground and background go back to white and black (the defaults)

7. Select the Brush tool and change the opacity in the options bar at the top of your screen to something like 50%.

8. Using the Brush over the image paint in the areas you would like to change.

That sounds really complicated but in real life it took me about 15-seconds.

[Enrique Patino]

Thanks, I need to try other ways to do that sort of work on images. I appreciate you taking the time to write that down.

enrique

[Enrique Patino]

Sweet!

Tried it and understand it ... another tool for the toolbox! Thanks Henry!

[John Robinson]

Second looks good but so does the OP to me. Dont use Photoshop so no idea about the method used description !!!