Real or Photo-shopped?

This image breeding plumage Roseate Tern image was created at 6:44 am on the early morning of June 5, 2013 on Great Gull Island, Long Island Sound, NY, with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -2/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual Mode. One sensor below and two to the right of the central sensor/AI Servo Surround/Rear just below and behind the tern’s eye active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

Are there any signs of excessive Photoshop manipulation? (Oh, I hate that word :S3:.)

To see what other's thought, click here. If you have already seen the answer on the blog, please no revelations yet. Thanks for that.

As for the image itself, don't be shy; all comments welcome.

Hi Artie, well exposed, and love how the tail follows the line of the rock perch. I also like how the tern stands out against the striking blue of the water. With regards to 'manipulation', I cant see any evidence, but if this were mine, I would probably remove the partial OOF piece of rock LRC. :w3

Sir Arthur, you amaze me with every image you post. Love the simplicity here and the color contrast, a very attractive image I could not help but open to have a closer look...

Let me guess-- and forgive me, this is a very uneducated guess, I still have lots to learn, I am a novice. Something tells me the BG was blurred extensively, and some color enhancements of some kind performed, since there are some circles around the green spot on the LHS at the top. Perhaps the OOF rock was not so far away, it might have been blurred to achieve that 3D effect this image has. Whatever PP work was done, this is one sublime depiction of this lovely bird and I would be thrilled to have such photograph one day in my collection.

Warmest regards,

Gabriela

Beautiful bird, beautiful image. (I'll be searching for this species in Maine in a few weeks. Hope I can come up with something half as nice.) I don't see any signs of manipulation (but then, you're the master). But I do see several areas that I would "manipulate" were it mine: the OOF rock including the little piece behind the bird, the ULC blob, and maybe a little rock cleanup, and maybe brightening the eye just a tad. But nice just as it is.

I like the image Artie. Excellent exposure, as I back away from my monitor the bird seems to have no visible eye, as in the field, but as you look closer the eye is beautifully exposed. Not sure what p/s manipulation you are talking about, but does it have something to do with the artifact outlining the rock behind the birds feet?

Hi Artie..
I see nothing but a beautiful image of a bird on a rock. IMHO the 'blob' in the URC could be remnants of PS work, but it could be genuine also so...

DON

Very, very lovely shot.
Exposure is spot on, excellent pose, and great perch.
Just love the colors of the background.
Well done.

Another fine image of this species. Excellent exposure. I like the positioning of the tern on the rock, both feet visible...very nice. You may have been in a fixed position shooting wise, but it would have been worth considering moving to your left a smidge at the time of capture to possibly eliminate the oof green areas on the left side of the frame...I feel they distract in the overall composition. Orrrr, you could use some excessive photoshop manipulation and take them out... :) I will no longer participate when you ask questions about percieved photoshop manipulation, because you have made a point well with me after several such posts...most of the time, I cannot tell, and just start wildly guessing, (incorrectly most of the time), when there is a suggestion that something has been done... :)

I would say the background is too dark for the amount of light hitting the bird, but other than that I cannot see anything "funny"

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Originally Posted by Shawn Zierman

Another fine image of this species. Excellent exposure. I like the positioning of the tern on the rock, both feet visible...very nice. You may have been in a fixed position shooting wise, but it would have been worth considering moving to your left a smidge at the time of capture to possibly eliminate the oof green areas on the left side of the frame...I feel they distract in the overall composition. Orrrr, you could use some excessive photoshop manipulation and take them out... :) I will no longer participate when you ask questions about percieved photoshop manipulation, because you have made a point well with me after several such posts...most of the time, I cannot tell, and just start wildly guessing, (incorrectly most of the time), when there is a suggestion that something has been done... :)

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This one is right out of camera. And, I agree that when folks know what you have done (because you told them up front) it is easy for them to find fault and point out the evidence. But when you do not tell them anything, it is much more difficult to be critical. And yes again, folks will often invent stuff, i.e., see stuff that is either not there or is part of the original RAW file.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shane shacaluga

I would say the background is too dark for the amount of light hitting the bird, but other than that I cannot see anything "funny"

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Shane. Don't forget that when you expose properly for the WHITEs that the MID-TONES are rendered one stop dark....

Thanks for clarifying Artie.

I thought about that point actually and was also trying to figure out of that was actually water in the background due to the colour. I still thought it was a bit too dark but shows what I know ;)

YAW Shane. I love the contrast of the starkly white bird and the dark blue water.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

I love the contrast of the starkly white bird and the dark blue water.

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Me too ;)

Spectacular image of tern with absolutely superb details in blacks and withes.Beautiful colors.

Regards,
Satish.

Superb as usual! I don't see any PS ''manipulation'' in this one but rather a great image of a stunning bird. Yes, I also do like the contrast of white and dark blue!