Piebald Pied Flycatcher...

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi All,
I snapped this little pied flycatcher a few weeks ago in Wales. I converted it to b/w as the background was OOF and the bird itself is b/w...I chose this crop because I liked the branch and I felt that a wider crop would have swamped the bird, which is very small.
40D 100-400 @ 400mm
F5.6 500sec
AV mode
No exposure comp.
As always I really appreciate the c & c's
Regards to all,
Nicki

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Nicki You always come up with something interesting !!

Love the idea and crop Strong base image with a great pose and head angle !! Got a couple of suggestions Might do some prune some of those branches. The bird looks elegant but the right side is sort of cluttered. Maybe the single main branch with just part of the second?

For the bird you might try a slight different look and give him a hint of color? Would be interesting !!!! btw the shadow detail in the bird is very good with no blocked areas !!!! Big Congrats !!!!

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Al, Thanks for the comments and suggestions. When I looked again at my original picture, which is currently framed on my wall, I noticed that it seems darker and that therefore the branches are less intrusive. I'm not sure that my cloning skills are up to taking out selective branches - my PS skills really do leave massive room for improvement!!!!! I am learning so from from the discussions that you guys have regarding processing methods. How do you put selective colour into something? Thanks as always!

[Harold Davis]

love the compo and treatment here, nicki!! big fan of the b&w!! the crop is fantastic. agree with al with doing a little selective pruning. would put it over the top!!

[SeanKP]

Nicki, you have an eye for an image that is wonderfully original. I love it. Yes, maybe it would be slightly improved by pruning a branch or two but how many of us would have pictured this shot in the first place? Certainly not I.

[Alfred Forns]

Nicki for coloring the bird and leaving all else alone you only need to make a duplicate layer paste on top of the other and paint the bird in !!!

Cloning the branches is simple. I use Robert O'toole's quick masking technique. Seems like a long difficult procedure but after some repetition its very easy. He has a CD with step by step instructions plus a bunch of other things All very useful !!!

[Nonda Surratt]

Not a huge fan of B&W, but this is very nice, the B&W works well!! Agree with the branches and can't say enough good about the CD Alfred mentioned

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Nicki,
Love the composition, especially in black and white. Agree with Al on cloning some branches out to eliminate the clutter...:cool:

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great shot Nicki. Love the BW effects.
Congrats,