Roseate Spoonbill

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

I took this image last Tuesday morning at the Stick Marsh just north of Vero Beach, Florida. Look very closely at the image as I did a few changes in PS and I am wondering if they are obvious or not. I decided that the BK was a little too much in focus and so I blurred it with a gossen blur. The problem that I have run into in the past is that the blur is very obvious close to the bird and calls attention to the didital blur rather than presenting the bird in a standoutish manner. I also sharpened the bird only and sometimes I am known to oversharpen the image and this really makes for a bad presentation. Please don't try to spare my feelings as the only way to improve is to get others opinions. Shooting data is as follows:
Nikon D4, 300mm Nikkor f/2.8 lens, 1/3200 sec @ f/5.0, aperature Priority mode, -1/3 EV, ISO-800

Thanks again for any ideas.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the pose. You did OK with the Gaussian blur except for one or possibly to spots on the rear of the bird. The biggest problem for me is that the image looks dark overall and the colors look a bit muddy..... Simply pulling up the curve should help a lot. See you soon!

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

Thanks Artie, Is this repost more what you had in mind?

[Arthur Morris]

Brought it into PS and realized that there is a huge green cast. Addressed that with a 75% Average Blur Color Balance adjustment and lots more in the repost. Let me know what you think.

[Arthur Morris]

ps: forgot to mention, I love the tail.

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

Thanks Artie I like the result of the geen cast removal, but I must say it is a mistery how you determined there was a green cast, as the original dosn't appear green. I am beginning to wonder if my eyes are not defective. I went back to the RAW image and used color cast removal tool in NIK Color Efex Pro 4 and the result was more dramatic than your image. I imagine either I removed to much or the result from RAW file was greater. Non the less a lesson learned, but I am not sure I could tell I needed it from the original. Thanks again for your thoughts and work and I look forward to seeing Thurs.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW Wheeler. I really did not see it in the OP but I knew that the colors were muddy so I tried the Average Blur Color Balance trick and it worked like a charm at 75%. Details are in Digital Basics along with my complete digital workflow, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, and dozens of great Photoshop tips. I am pretty sure that you have a copy.