Emerald of the Western Ghats

**vishaljadhav** · 03-19-2013, 11:51 AM

This is a Emerald Dove (male)

ISO 1000, f7.1, 1/320

i have reduced the exposure on the bg by half stop

Name: emereld dove.jpg
Views: 151
Size: 166.9 KB

Critiques and comments are welcome

**Karl Egressy** · 03-19-2013, 01:22 PM

Beautiful shot, Vishal. Love the colours and the looking back pose. Is it one of the Dove species?

**vishaljadhav** · 03-19-2013, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Karl Egressy

Beautiful shot, Vishal. Love the colours and the looking back pose. Is it one of the Dove species?

Yes Karl its the Emerald Dove

**Sidharth Kodikal** · 03-19-2013, 02:24 PM

Gorgeous species and lovely colors, Vishal. Nice sharpness and head turn.
I'd move the bird further up in the frame by a bit. TFS

**Karl Egressy** · 03-19-2013, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by vishaljadhav

Yes Karl its the Emerald Dove

Thanks, Vishal.

**mohammad reza shahab** · 03-19-2013, 04:41 PM

Love the colours and BG.

**gail bisson** · 03-19-2013, 05:27 PM

Great head turn and the rear view really showcases the emerald feathers really well.
I see a bit of noise in the tail feathers.
I would also soften the edges of the green and yellow shadows in the BG- in particular the one intersecting with the beak,
Gail

**Tim King** · 03-19-2013, 05:51 PM

Very nice photo. Well done.

**Cheryl Arena Molennor** · 03-19-2013, 06:58 PM

Beautiful dove but oh how I wish for more dof to show off those green feathers. I like the head turn and agree about moving the bird just a little to our left.

**Arthur Morris** · 03-19-2013, 07:44 PM

Love the bird and the colors. All of the comments above have merit. It almost looks as if the bird is leaning slightly away from us.... I have an idea; be right back.

**Arthur Morris** · 03-19-2013, 07:59 PM

Attached Images

**Tim King** · 03-19-2013, 08:37 PM

Thought I'd give it a go as well. Nice job, Arthur.
Name: emereld-dove.jpg
Views: 94
Size: 185.7 KB

I didn't touch the crop as I liked it as is.
Brightened it a touch.

**prasanna av** · 03-19-2013, 09:59 PM

Lovely image vishal.

**vishaljadhav** · 03-20-2013, 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

Lots of work. Questions welcome.

Bhai,

I liked the work done, and yes i couldn't understand what is done to the BG it looks amazing, almost unreal for this bird.
Saying this the work done is amazing since it really has enhanced the image in a amazing way, i love it
In case you can let me know what all is done i may be able to attempt it the next time around.

my current skills with photoshop are more like entry level and dont possess the finesse that you have , and i guess its a big learning curve and i assure you with help from all of you here i will reach there.
again thanks bhai .

**David Salem** · 03-20-2013, 01:18 AM

Great shot of a beautiful bird. Detail and colors look very nice. Needed to be a bit brighter and I like both reposts but I like the brightness and clarity of the repost by Tim the best. Well done.

**christopher galeski** · 03-20-2013, 03:56 AM

nice image of a beautiful bird,nice colors,nice details,like the reposts.

**Arthur Morris** · 03-20-2013, 05:16 AM

Originally Posted by vishaljadhav

Bhai,

I liked the work done, and yes i couldn't understand what is done to the BG it looks amazing, almost unreal for this bird.
Saying this the work done is amazing since it really has enhanced the image in a amazing way, i love it
In case you can let me know what all is done i may be able to attempt it the next time around.

my current skills with photoshop are more like entry level and dont possess the finesse that you have , and i guess its a big learning curve and i assure you with help from all of you here i will reach there.
again thanks bhai .

Thanks Vishal-bhai. Nice job also by Tim--he rendered the BKGR even smoother than mine. It will be interesting to see if he used similar techniques. I started with a 50/50 layer of NIK Color Efex Pro Tonal Contrast/Detail Extractor on the rear half of the bird followed by a 15/65 Contrast Mask. I reduced that by about half with the Opacity Slider. It looked so good that I did the same thing to the upper half of the bird. I started with the BKGR by using the Patch Tool to smooth the transition lines and continued with Denise Ippolito cloning on a layer using about a 40% Opacity brush. The a 2X3 crop to get the bird more into the center.

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**Satish Ranadive** · 03-20-2013, 08:25 AM

Every thing has been said about this wonderful and colorful image.Love it.

Regards,
Satish.

**Tim King** · 03-20-2013, 08:32 AM

WOW Arthur, you should write a book

well said...

Well I don't have a boundless vocabulary when it comes to explaining my workflow in photoshop like Arthur does....but all I did was start with a layer, then use a tool called spot heal at 0% hardness, 1% spacing and size equal to the bird's head, then start smoothing out the BG. It may take you a few takes as random parts of the bird will show up in the BG if you get too close to the bird with the tool (undo and try again). By now your BG will be smooth but you will have a mess to clean up close to the bird. Click on a tool called "smudge" 0% hardness and twice the size as "spot heal", then you drag the mess into the bird which will ruin the bird but smooth the BG. Now you click the "add layer mask", click "brush tool" set it to black at 100% hardness and draw the bird back in. The messy BG will be exposed once again, so now instead of using black you then switch to white and draw in the smooth BG as close to the outline of the bird, pokey feathers and all. The "smudge" technique is what I call "sweeping it under the rug" (maybe Arthur might like that one) hahahaha. I came up with this technique myself a year or so ago. I'm not sure if it's an unpopular way or the only way (without NIK software). I don't often use this technique but after seeing your photo and Arthur's, I had to give it a try.

To lighten it I used "levels" and drag the lights left 5-10 points down.

It's a great photo. It's my desktop BG now, replacing Frank Schauf's head-shot of a Eurasian Coot.

Hope this helps.

**Arthur Morris** · 03-20-2013, 08:39 AM

Hey Tim, different ways to skin the cat. The NIK stuff was only used on the bird, not on the background. Rarely use Tonal Contrast on a BKGR. Thanks for your efforts here.

**vishaljadhav** · 03-20-2013, 08:53 AM

Thanks Bhai, Thanks Tim for letting me know 2 ways of doing it, i will give it a try for sure , don't know if i can achieve it just yet but in case in future i use it i will let you know .

Just as yet i am not adding things to my work flow as it confuses me, i did touch photoshop a few years back however never got better with it, now i am with a workflow with your help and suggestions and the progress is good.

Tim your technique is what is very close to something that one of the forum member "Ritesh " showed me a few days back however i could not get my hands around it just yet.

This one has been a great learning exercise and i am glad i posted this picture here .

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