Is it Real or is It Counterfeit? #7

[Arthur Morris]

Canon 70-200 with the 1.4X II TC (handheld at 202mm) with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/1600 sec. at f/8.

Is this the original or was there extensive Photoshop work done? If so, where?

Please also let me know what you think of the image.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome. Answer in two days :)

[Tony Whitehead]

Somethings happened in the V of the bill - there are tramlines running just to the right of the mandible and a similar appearance on the right of the upper part of the bill.

[Arthur Morris]

Somethings happened in the V of the bill - there are tramlines running just to the right of the mandible and a similar appearance on the right of the upper part of the bill.

Hi Tony, Thanks for stopping by. I am confused... Where is the V of the bill???

[Tony Whitehead]

I am confused... Where is the V of the bill???

the "V" shape formed between the open upper and lower parts of the bill is what I meant.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Hm, perhaps lower RH corner the water pattern is broken and too blurred compared to the rest.
Other than that I can't see anything else...

The image is great, the behavior is as weird as the bird itself.
Is this just stretching or courtship behavior?

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the explanation Tony. And thanks for playing Ilija. I knew that you would find it. When I post the original, we shall learn that one of you is right Or maybe both. Or maybe neither. :) ;)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Maybe you did some tidying up to the right of the neck as indicated on the repost. Surfers? Not sure, other than the soft and a little suspect pattern it looks perfect. I quite like the pose and lighting. Colors rock. Well done. :)

[Arthur Morris]

Excellent work and arrows. The original shall reveal the truth....

[Scott Grant]

here's a wild guess...

you clipped the upper bill tip, replaced it from another photo and added canvas along the right edge of the image.

or maybe i'm dreaming. :D

[Aidan Briggs]

I would agree with Scott's guess. There seems to be subtle repeating patterns along the whole right edge of the frame.

A nice head throw with great details in the blacks, and a lovely BG. I might run a small linear burn on the brightest whites .

Looking forward to February!!

[David Thomasson]

Whatever you did, you did it pretty well. Three places strike me as a bit suspicious.

1. This sudden transition in the water luminance is a telltale. I'd guess some copying and pasting that wasn't quite blended at that spot.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/166/artpic.jpg

2. This little halo isn't quite kosher. There's nothing like it elsewhere around the edges of the bill. I'm guessing it's
the edge of a mask, so I'll vote for some cover-up in the V of the bill someone mentioned earlier.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/4708/artpic2.jpg

3. I'm seeing a bunch of little patterns in this area that look like cloning.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/360/artpic3.jpg

But these are all misdemeanors at worst. It's a wonderful image, and I think you could get away with your trickery. :cool:

[Stu Bowie]

Its been a long week, and at the moment I cant pick up anything. However, I do like this unconventional pose, and I like it lots. What you can do is add a little to the right, as I find the space between the tip of the bill and edge of the frame a tad tight.

[Arthur Morris]

The image is great, the behavior is as weird as the bird itself. Is this just stretching or courtship behavior?

They usually do it right before or right after they clean the bill pouches as in the image above. The literature states that it is a form of intra-flock communication but I am not buying that. :)

[Michael Stern]

Artie,
I am with the "clip the tip" group and adding canvass to the right side. Having said that I can not imagine you clipping the tip!
Best,
Michael

[Jeff Wear]

I am on with the ocean ,something ?? about the surf

[Arthur Morris]

Scott was in the right area and Aidan followed along. :) David's #1 was right on and that really gave me away. The funny part is that that is not where I clipped the bill as you can see above... It is a mark from where I erased part of the water from the source image... One swipe with the patch Tool could have fixed that. Bummer! As far as I can tell, Akos' arrows and David's #3 show an area that is unchanged from the ORIG capture in this pane. And nothing at all was done by the "V." Sorry Tony. :) Thanks all for playing.

[Arthur Morris]

Here is the source of the bill tip.

[Arthur Morris]

ps to David: I think that the halo in your #2 is part of the original capture as I do not think that I worked in that area....

[David Thomasson]

ps to David: I think that the halo in your #2 is part of the original capture as I do not think that I worked in that area....

Thanks, Artie. Odd that it isn't more uniform. Anyway, that was a fun exercise. :)

[Ilija Dukovski]

Very nicely done, fun to play.
And thanks for the note about the behavior.

[Tony Whitehead]

And nothing at all was done by the "V." Sorry Tony. :) Thanks all for playing.
Good post - when I got back home I couldn't see what I had seen on my monitor at work - it must have some ghosting.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Whoa! Had me fooled Artie. Great work mate. :)