Skimming the sun

[Dave Barnes]

Hi.
My first landscape post

Photo taken in the Botswana panhandle.
Camera Canon 1D mk3
Lens Canon 500 f4
SS 1/2000
f5
Iso 800

http://www.thedwbgallery.com/images/_Z2H5705.jpg

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dave,
I've done this with larger birds and never thought about trying it with the smaller ones so nice thought there! You got a little color bleed in the UR of the sun so you may want to work on that a bit. Now.....the grasses protruding in....my favorite idea is to crop them off entirely.....but I do like the taller 3 on the edge of frame.......so removing just the 2 stubby ones will also help compositionally. Very nice colors and tones and you can't ask for a better wing/skimmer position. Nicely done.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks for looking and for the comment Roman.
I have sent you a PM.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Dave,
I've circled in green the area I am speaking about. You have the same effect all around the sun although not as large. Some of it is naturally present and some may be due to a bit of oversaturation. Some also happens during the compression. Some careful blending and blurring may due the trick. Let us know how you do!
BTW....almost forgot.....welcome to the forum!

[David Thomasson]

The color bleed that Roman points out doesn't really bother me a lot, though I might play around with that.
But I was wondering about the refracted glow around the bird. There's a case to be made for leaving it alone;
there's also one for taking it out. I left a hint of that glow, but I'm undecided. What do you think?

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/3355/sunshota.jpg

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dave,
I do like Daivid's idea of making the bird more black......you can do that with selective color...adding black.....among other ways....let's see what others chime in on the flare.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I like David's repost with the bird more black and less colour bleed. Love the colour of the sky. Good suggestions by Roman, looking forward to seeing more posts from RSA.

[John Ippolito]

I also like David's repost much better. The bleed was significant enough to be distracting from a nice concept. The intense color is stunning.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks to all for looking and taking the trouble to comment and make suggestions.
Dave and Roman, I have tried to do the alterations but were not very successful. Have just changed from CS3 to CS4 and I am struggling with the clone tool, I prefer CS3. I will get it sorted I am sure.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dave,
You may want to use the patch tool or healing brush when you are further away from the sun......should make quick work of the flare to blend it nicely. Adding a few points to the black .....in selective color will take out most of the flare,if not all. I am still using CS2 so can't help with 4.

[David Thomasson]

Thanks to all for looking and taking the trouble to comment and make suggestions.
Dave and Roman, I have tried to do the alterations but were not very successful. Have just changed from CS3 to CS4 and I am struggling with the clone tool, I prefer CS3. I will get it sorted I am sure.

There are always about six ways to skin any cat in Photoshop. Here's what I did:


open a hue/sat adjustment layer
pull saturation back to -100
close dialog and change blend mode to multiply
invert the mask (Ctrl-I) and paint with white to remove the flare; a small brush will do


http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4555/sun1.jpg

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Roman and Dave, your time and suggestions are truly appreciated.
I have used a combination of your methods and have revised the image to reduce the bleed, darken the bird and trim the foilage.
I trust this is better.
I did not edit but re-processed the photo.

http://www.thedwbgallery.com/images/_Z2H5705b.jpg

[David Thomasson]

Thanks Roman and Dave, your time and suggestions are truly appreciated.
I have used a combination of your methods and have revised the image to reduce the bleed, darken the bird and trim the foilage.
I trust this is better.
I did not edit but re-processed the photo.

You're most welcome. Your repost is very nicely done indeed. I know it's subjective matter, but I do think the foliage helps the composition. Glad you left that in.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dave,
You're welcome. Nice job on the re-post. I don't mind the 3 grasses left in as they balnce the image nicely and all the little tweaks worked very well. Nice job!