Canon 1 DX
600mm and 1.4X
ISO 800 SS 1/2500 F 5.6 (High SS because I was trying for flight shots)
Handheld from boat
PP: Crop to 60% FF, Usual sliders in LR4 clarity +15, vibrance +10 then off to PS and NR to BG, cloned out small thin branch from LRC, levels, DE at 2 % and USM to JPEG
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail
I believe this is a young bird as he doesn't have the 2 long tail streamers.
Amazing picture Gail. Great IQ and composition as always.
I do find the green in the background a little distracting being so bright and wonder if toning it down slightly would stop that.
What a gem gail.
You know my feelings about backgrounds and I like something OOF in there. I do agree this is fine but is a little saturated with a bird like this. I agree maybe toneing down a bit might help. Still a cracking shot and comp.
John
Another beauty, Gail. The only thing I might suggest is to tone down the bright areas at top. Tried a browser crop taking a about an inch off top also.
Wow, this is a beauty, a great capture. I like the pose, colors, and BG a lot. If you tone it down I would just tweak it a little bit, not very much, as I think it is wonderful as is.
Hi Gail, excellent IQ here, and what a super pose you captured. The placement works well, and the light looks nice and soft to have brought out those colours so well.
A real beauty, Gail. Great composition, and of course a spectacular bird. Given the brilliance of the bird, the greens don't compete, at least to my eye. But it would still be a fine image with them toned down a bit. I can see merit to Geoffrey's suggestion about a bit off the top. There's something a little odd about the leaflet closest to your name - don't know if you did anything there. In any event, I love it just as posted, with our without any further tweaks.
Thank you all for your helpful comments.
Bill, I didn't do anything to that leaf but I did remove the stem leading to it. I thought that the leaf belonged to the branch that is there but now that I look at this I think the leaf may have been attached to the little branch I removed!
I am trying to figure out what would be the best way to minimize the green leafy area. I can't really clone it out . I tried dodging the darker area in the middle but it didn't do much. Any suggestions would be appreciated with thanks,
gail
Gail, What caught my eye was a sort of halo effect around the darker leaflet. I don't know if this is any better. I painted it with a more line-green color of the other leaves, with a 20% opacity brush, and then used a very low opacity clone tool to blend in the halo around it. And then blurred it slightly. Just a thought.
Gail
I just did an adjustment layer/sauration, and then reduced it and gently erased bits here and there- obviously the bird and leaves etc.. Seemed to work. Sent you a PM with it but couldnt get it to send the pic !!
Cheers
John
what a stunner!
I donīt have the change to see pink birds like this one where I live!
Exellent details, so clean and with lovely light and pose. Looks like you had a blast in your trip :)
Thank you all for your very helpful comments.
I figured out how to decrease the impact of the OOF green branch.
I cloned out some of the foliage near the beak using a 50% opacity brush, then I took the image into Nik Efex PRO, used tonal contrast and moved the midtone slider down to - 80 and the shadows slider down to -25. I also decreased the saturation slider to -10 I then brushed in the effect only on the OOF bush.
What do you think?
Gail
Very nice Gail, agree with the others that the patch of green to its right is a bit distracting as it stands out quite a bit. Also maybe another round of sharpening on the head could help.
Gail, I was just about to post this when up came your perfect image. I debated whether or not to post this earlier, but here it is. I think there is too much open space in the work I've done on the leafy area. Just for comparison.
Excellent image of gorgeous bee eater, Gail.
Wonderful colors, great superfine details, beautiful pose and of course BG in both re posts looks great.
Love the frame.
Hi Gail, lovely image, tack sharp, beautiful colors. I actually prefer the OP, more vibrant colors. I think the colors of the bird are strong enough to counter the bright OOF leaf. Loi
Hi Gail, here is a quick and easy way to tone down areas such as the bright out of focus foliage. I use the Brush Tool in Photoshop Elements with a soft brush which feathers the brushing. I use a low opacity for the brush, 20% to 40%. In this case 20%. I put a selection around the bird and then select the inverse protecting the bird. Holding down the Alt key in Windows brings up the eyedropper to select the color you want to brush with. Then gently using several thin layers brush over and blend in the offending area. I trust you do not mind but I edited your image to show the final results.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Beautiful image Gail! I like what you have done with it in pane 16. Other reposts look good as well providing lots of options. Look forward to seeing more from your trip.
Thanks Joe for showing me your version. I will try your technique in future posts. I am always happy when people "play" with my images as it is always a learning experience. Again, thank you all. It has been a great thread for me,
Gail
Carmine BeeEater
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