Willet in green

[Miguel Palaviccini]

I've always seen these guys along the shoreline, and usually don't stop to photograph them. But when I saw the opportunity to get a photo with the bright green foliage, I just couldn't resist. I got down and waited patiently for a head turn ... and I was rewarded. This one was taken at Little Estero Lagoon two days ago.

I wish there wasn't the green splotch on the back feathers, but I'm not sure how to cleanly remove it. Ideas?

Shooting Info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 VR
1/800" | f/5.6 | ISO 200

[Randy Stout]

Miguel:

I actually like willets, esp when flying, but have rarely seen them off the shoreline, so nice capture.

Good look back pose, clean bg, nice comp, I like the surrounding grasses, not the one on his rump so much, so cleaned it up a bit and also did a slight downward curve adjustment.

I couldn't eliminate the slight blurring of the rump under the green, but I find it less distracting than the bright green.

Cheers

Randy

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Thanks for taking the time to edit randy. How did you remove the green from the back? Lower the green/yellow saturation and apply a mask? Also, not sure what you mean by a downward curve. If you have a minute, let me know. Thanks!

[christopher galeski]

nice capture,like Randys repost,nice BG,some nice detail in the head.

[Satish Ranadive]

Wonderful repost by Randy Sir.
Excellent image of willet in environment.
I like look back pose,nice details,great BG and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Randy Stout]

Miguel:

I used the color replacement brush, which is in with the other brush tools. Selected an area close to the green on the rump for my color source, and brushed away the green. It was rather blurred beneath, so did a round or two of sharpening and also increased the contrast in that area selectively to even out the appearance compared with the rest of the rump.

I then selected curves panel, and pulled down ever so slightly on the curve a bit left of midway, to darken the overall tones just a little.

Cheers

Randy

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Thanks randy. Never used the color replacement brush. I'll have to give that a shot!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

The green blob was the only thing I didn't like so nice job Randy. Miguel I like the rear view looking back and the nice shallow dof around the bird. I don't see them in grass often either.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Neat environment you found this individual in - I'd have been tempted to photograph it from there too. You did well to wait for a proper HA. Good work by Randy...I'd be inclined to also eliminate the vertical bright streak (branch) too.

[vishaljadhav]

Lovely image, its amazing to see the shore birds among greens and this one is truly special
I love the HA, the sharp bird and the greens all around
Nice one over all

[jack williamson]

Excellent sharpness on the head and bill. The BG green goes very well with the fg. Very well done by Randy to remove the oof green on the rump.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great pose and colors.