Camouflage Conundrum

[Stephen Cunliffe]

If birds like this Virginia Rail protect themselves by having the same coloring as their habitat, and stay firmly in their habitat, they create the challenge of making an image with some pop. In this case I quite like the image of the Rail, but it blends all too well into its background (deliberately!). Does anyone have suggestions on how to get better separation of subject from background? I was already wide open, thus no more dof potential. I am not a heavy duty CS3 user (in fact I use Elements 6 and Aperture, please dont evict me from the forum)
Canon 30D, 400 DO handheld, ISO 200, f/4@1/200.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Stephen,
Elements 6 rules!!! Now they may have to evict me from this forum too...
I like this as it is - love the soft colours and the fact that the bird is in its environment. The eye could possibly stand a little sharpening and I would consider cropping a little from the top of the picture.
Regards,
Nicki

[Alfred Forns]

Agree Nicki Stephen You need to go with the flow !!! You made the best image from your position. Difficult to find these guys in the open as you say My only suggestion would be a little more room for the virtual legs.

btw in Elements you could blur the bg but I'm not sure it would look natural? The way to do it is making a layer and apply Gaussian Blur. Then make an adjustment layer and brush away the effect with a soft brush set at zero for effect. The bird will be sharp. Then start changing the settings so you leave more of the blur progressively, sort of the same thing a lens wide open would.

The only time I have been able to make these work is combining with motion blur to make seem the bird is moving ... does look neat but turns it into a full digital creation !!!!

[Stephen Cunliffe]

You are both right, thanks. I should enjoy the bird in its environment,
Nicki, I was near Cheltenham last month, in Oxford at a reunion. A delightful evening of drunken nostalgia!

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Stephen, next time you come this way be sure to get in touch! There's nothing quite like an evening of drunken nostalgia...:)...except that I can't drink more than one glass any more.:eek:...Did you study in Oxford?
Regards,
Nicki

[Julie Kenward]

Stephen, there is another option for separating the bird a bit from its surroundings. Try selecting just the bird and adding contrast and then choosing the inverse (select/inverse) and doing a levels adjustment where you lighten the midtones a bit. I did that plus added a bit of contrast to the bird and a bit of blur to the background and this is what I got. (Did it quick on my work monitor so don't hold that against me!)

[Stephen Cunliffe]

Jules, this is the sort of effect I was looking for! Al had suggested something like this, but thanks for taking me through the steps. I need to acquire some of these techniques, and this is one for the memory banks, many thanks.
Nicki, yes I read History at Oxford, a fact which is now pretty much distant history itself!
Stephen

[Julie Kenward]

Stephen, just remember that your eye will go to what is darkest in an image so darken where you want the eye to go and lighten the rest - but do it in very small doses - and it should come out looking totally normal.