Limpkin with Mussel

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1D4
500mm +1.4TC
Wimberley/Gitzo

1/3200 sec
f/5.6
ISO 1000

At least I think it's a mussel. Taken a couple weeks ago in Sarasota, FL. The sun had just come up over a bank of clouds on the horizon behind me, thus my ISO was still a bit high. I like the way the limpkin's lower mandible is piercing the mussel, and the raised foot.
Slight crop from left and top. Sharpening. I cloned out a bunch of muck from the water but also left some in as didn't want the setting looking too sterile. As for the comp, I could add more canvas to front if people think it looks too cramped. I welcome any and all opinions.
Thanks so much for looking.

[Mike Milicia]

Perfect walking pose with beautiful light and excellent detail!
Mussel is a great bonus!

Bird is a bit too centered for me. Sounds like you have no room on the right so maybe take some off the left?
The vegetation along the right side looks a little odd and unnatural, especially the topmost portion. Did you do some work there?
I'm also seeing a bit of a green cast and maybe a bit too cool in general.
Here's a repost where I added 4 points each of red, magenta, and yellow ... see what you think.
You may need to tweak some more and, of course, you'll do better working from RAW.

Enjoying your Florida images!

[dankearl]

I like this also, the mussel is a really nice feature and the post is very nice.
While I am not a big fan of altering and erasing on photos and rarely do it, i
would be tempted to eliminate the oof foliage in the FG.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks a lot Dan and Mike. Mike, I like what you did with the colors. I should have mentioned I had a hard time telling if the color I had was off or not, it didn't look exactly right to me but I wasn't sure. I think your repost is definitely an improvement. I did clone out something brownish attached to that clump on upper right, maybe didn't do such a great job. I am reposting with your comp suggestion, as well as doing what you did with the colors. And I took out the oof foliage Dan pointed out. Thanks a lot for your work Mike, and for both you all's suggestions, much appreciated.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice picture, Melissa. I like the snail in the beak.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Love the repost , Mellisa . Quite an odd coloured bird this .

[Frank Schauf]

The repost is beautiful, great details and sharpness, Melissa.

[Arthur Morris]

Repost better but.... As far as the mussel of the snail, I believe that it is a fresh water clam. And that the bill tip is between the two shells.

How do you like this version?

[gail bisson]

I like your repost Melissa. I like the shellfish in the beak and the light. I am glad you fixed the foliage on RHS. No on ehas mentionned this but I can see a bit of CW rotation needed.
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

Repost better but.... As far as the mussel of the snail, I believe that it is a fresh water clam. And that the bill tip is between the two shells.

How do you like this version?

Thank you for correcting me on both counts, Artie. As for your repost, what exactly did you do? Did you decrease the sat a bit? I do like it better.

[Arthur Morris]

Thank you for correcting me on both counts, Artie. As for your repost, what exactly did you do? Did you decrease the sat a bit? I do like it better.

YAW. I did nothing to the SAT. Did you note the new COMP with more room in front of the bird???

[Melissa Groo]

Sorry, viewing on my iPad! And pre coffee! Will look on my big screen when my 6 yr old nestled next to me wakes up. Thanks for taking the time Artie.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW; enjoy the brew :).

[Melissa Groo]

Ok, properly caffeinated and looking at my 24" screen, I see that yes, you have added canvas, and it's a definite improvement! Now the limpkin has room to breathe. Thanks for that.
What did you think of the image besides needing more space in front?

[Arthur Morris]

I like it. Limpkins are always somewhat of a pain in that they rarely pose in a perfect setting. EXP, SH, HA, and clam all nice. Yes, I added canvas. But where did I get the stuff to fill in the new space???

[Melissa Groo]

Yes, that is the question. I take it you didn't simply do Add Canvas--Fill--Content Aware as I would. I am sure you have some better trick up your sleeve.... It almost looks as if you had elongated the vegetation on the right just a little, though not to the point of looking unnatural. Do tell!

[Arthur Morris]

Yes, that is the question. I take it you didn't simply do Add Canvas--Fill--Content Aware as I would. I am sure you have some better trick up your sleeve.... It almost looks as if you had elongated the vegetation on the right just a little, though not to the point of looking unnatural. Do tell!

Ah, finally she asked :). The coffee must be working. It is rare that I figure out anything new in Photoshop on my own. And this is just a twist on the Quick Masking stuff that Robert O'Toole taught me and shares with the world in APTATS I (https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=54). I came up with something new and pretty fabulous. I think :). When you need to add canvas but are dealing with textured and patterned stuff like waves or plants or even much it is pretty much impossible to "add canvas" without introducing a ton of repeating patterns. First I expanded canvas right with the crop tool method. Then I simply selected the area in front of the bird with the Rectangular Marquee Tool, placed it on its own layer, hit Control T for the transform box, and then dragged the right handle to stretch the stuff on the layer. Being careful as you pointed out not to overdo it and create an unnatural look. I have no idea how Content Aware Fill would have worked. I have tried it a few times with large areas and always wound up wasting my time....

[Melissa Groo]

Aha! Brilliant. Must try on my own. I have wasted my time a lot with that other process too and would be thrilled to have a new strategy. Thanks so much Artie. This forum is the best ever!

[Arthur Morris]

YAW and I agree. I have not shared that one here yet but I did cover it in yesterday's Bye Bye Birdies blog post here (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2012/03/18/bad-luckworse-luck-bye-bye-birdies/). Just not as explicitly.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the discussion, suggestions, and subsequent tweaks...but...the reflected foot really needs to be connected to a reflected leg and not just floating around by itself :-) Perhaps take the original part of the leg, flip it, blur it, and attach it to the foot.

[Melissa Groo]

Ah Daniel, you would notice such a thing! Point well taken!!

[Dan Brown]

This image is really getting worked over! I am not sure that I like the removal of the floating veggies, which causes the problem of the disconnected foot reflection? Also, I see what looks to be a series of clone marks to the left of the lower knee, between the legs.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice pose and details and the food item adds more interest I would clean up the water getting rid of the green stuff near the border.

[Melissa Groo]

Ok, decided to simplify. Though I am thrilled to discover Artie's tip about extending canvas that has stuff going on at the edge, I decided to get rid of most of the vegetation, as Arash suggested. Added canvas. Did as Daniel suggested with the legs, my first time ever doing a reflection like that. Hope it passes muster. Thanks all for your comments and suggestions, this was a most helpful thread!

[Marina Scarr]

I remember this moment well, Melissa. What great light and behavior you have here. I like Artie' repost the best with the inclusion of the environment. Without it, the scene simply doesn't appear as interesting and too stark.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Love the resulting leg reflection, well done!! (just a bit of residual "fine tuning" to be done). Like Marina I would keep the bits of vegetation though...

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Melissa, a bit late to the party. Firstly, lovely light and warm colours, and well done on getting the feeding behaviour. Comp wise, I agree, losing the veggies loses a touch of impact, so Artie's post in pane #8 is the better option.

Well done on adding the reflection.

[Arthur Morris]

Ah Daniel, you would notice such a thing! Point well taken!!

Melissa, Was it in the ORIG? (I suspect yes, and if so, great eyes by Dan.)

[Arthur Morris]

Pane 24 needs more canvas and since we've seen the ORIG, it looks sterile and what's left of the plants looks phony :).

[Melissa Groo]

I'm beginning to rue the day this limpkin ever crossed my path...:bugeyed:
I went back to the original and added canvas, using both Artie's technique and a simple blue fill beyond that. Left a lot of the original vegetation on the right side, and ALL of it below, so you can see what the reflection looked like. Not a very clean one that's for sure! Hard to find that right leg reflected in there. So here she is. What do you think, Artie? Others?

[Dan Brown]

I'm beginning to rue the day this limpkin ever crossed my path...:bugeyed:
I went back to the original and added canvas, using both Artie's technique and a simple blue fill beyond that. Left a lot of the original vegetation on the right side, and ALL of it below, so you can see what the reflection looked like. Not a very clean one that's for sure! Hard to find that right leg reflected in there. So here she is. What do you think, Artie? Others?I like this last post but the new veggies have hard edges, I see a couple lines in the ULC from the addition of canvas..... and I still see the clone marks between the legs by the knee. Fun!

[arash_hazeghi]

haha but the veggies in pane #30 look totally fake (clone pattern is very obvious) if you want to keep need a cleaner job :D

[Melissa Groo]

Arrgghh!!!! I have limpkin fatigue. Yes, Dan andArash, I know things don't look perfect but I was short on time and addressing the larger issues. But you are both right about those flaws! Thanks.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot. I really like the walking pose, very nice light, and the clam as mentioned is a big bonus. Im sure with a little bit of patience and time you will get it right.
Well done.