Eastern Towhee

One day this week, it didn't rain and I went to my local spot to see if the Eastern Towhee's had return. The male showed up but didn't see the female. I had some good opportunities, this bird is very tolerant of people. Towhees are not very common in this part of Ontario, knowing where to look, can greatly improve your chances.

I had to do some serious cloning to rebuild the tail, and remove some out-of-focus brush in the bottom left hand corner.

Ran it through Nik Color effects...I really like the results...What do you think?

Added texture with CS5.

Thanks for looking

Here is original before effects....:tinysmile_shy_t: and cloning work to rebuild tail..

Nice clone work, Paul! I like the OP but feel the brown BG feels a little flat next to that bright bird. Did you try to lighten/brighten it at all? I love everything else about the image!

Paul, you are a PS superhero! I like the image a lot and I love the towhees. We have a similar bird down here - the spotted towhee. Nice job on the cloning and the painting!

Paul, great job with the background. I do wish that some of the bird's whites were still white but it does look like a painting. Love the pose and the original capture.

Paul, nicely done...great capture...have you thought about adding a slight (very slight) vignette to the corners? I do like the suggestion RE the whites...nicely done!

Beautiful composition, Paul. Love the pose and the raised crown... almost like asking you a question :t3 I too wish for the whites on the bird. Very nice painting effect and processing.

Very nice image and application, Paul.

Nice capture and I like the BG. Nice clone work as well.

What happened to the froggies? :e3 :w3

Hi Paul, very nice processing and nice fix-it job with the tail. I see what Julie means about the background in the OP. Original capture is nice as well. Crazy weather around here lately...hopefully spring will return again soon:S3:

Great expression! I like the brown textured background. It provides a subtle contrast to the Towhee.