Crested Pigeon

[Glennie Passier]

Another crested pigeon on my home made perch. I have a few different species using the perch now. The pigeons are a bit more nervous.

In ACR - Exposure increased by a full stop. White to the right +15, Blacks to the left -17 a touch of vibrance. Yellows and greens desaturated.
IN PSCS6 - Curves Layers adjustment on bird and one on BG. HSL Layer. Cropped. Cloned out some bright spots and dark spots in the BG. NR on BG and smart sharpened for posting.

Some PS questions:- 1. I normally do the NR as a last thing in the workflow. I have seen today where NR should be one of the first things. Is one better than the other?
2. When making a selection, on say, the bird, how much would you feather by, and would you then "contract' by the same amount so the selection doesn't spill out of the bird?
3. Is there a way to copy the selection from one layer to another? e.g. I have made a selection for a HS layer and then want to use the same selection for a curves layer without having to make the selection all over again.

Some ACR questions:- I've been checking my histogram every time I make an adjustment. I have noticed now that I have a lens profile, if I do this first, the histogram can change quite a bit before any adjustments and also cropping first can get rid of a lot of histogram problems. I have been cropping in PS, but on the assumption the histogram is OK from ACR. Should I be making a looser crop first in ACR?


Late afternoon. Once again, the light has beaten me. I need my hours in my day!

Canon 5D2
Sigma 150-600mm @ 200mm
ISO pushed to 1000
SS a slow 1/160 (so not too sharp) @ f8
evaluative metering
Tripod

C&C Always welcomed and appreciated!

[Diane Miller]

Nice image! Pleasing pose and head turn. Good sharpness and detail. Very nice BG work. Nice darkening of the perch on the right.

I think the idea of a looser crop in ACR would work well for you. The lens profile will be removing vignetting, which will change the histogram a little, but not seriously, as it should be correcting mostly mid-tones or those a little lighter.

Where was the information on NR? It should be done before cloning, which will give you areas of smoother noise. You want the NR program to see the original noise for best results.

When selecting a bird, I often can use the Quick Selection tool. Then after the adjustment or change, I look at an edge at 100% and turn the layer on and off to see if I can see any issues with the edge. I never isolate the bird by copying to another layer but instead mask it. Then I can click the mask in the Layers palette and use the Properties to have a lot of flexibility in adjusting the edges. If you find the mask isn't perfect in some places, you can re-touch it. Use the backslash key to see it and the regular brushes. (You can also clone some areas if necessary, but that's only needed in rare cases -- say you have a gradient adjustment and you expanded canvas after making it.)

To copy a selection to another layer, click on the mask and hold Alt and drag. Or better, highlight your two adj layers and put them in a group (file folder icon at bottom of Layers panel) and drag the mask in the same way to the group folder. Then you don't have the issue of having to tweak several masks that should be the same.

[Glennie Passier]

Diane - Thank you. The info on the NR was in a Topaz tutorial, "Raw to Ready". It makes sense to do it first. Trust me to get that wrong.

I do use the Quick Selection tool, but have never looked at the edges at 100%. Good advice! I've had a quick play with layer masks. That makes for a lot less time..and effort. Thank you!

[Warren Spreng]

Great shot Glennie, I really like the pose! I also appreciate seeing the full frame compared to the crop. I wouldn't mind seeing a shot of your perch set up, I'm still trying to figure out the best method for using a perch for some of my shots. BTW, colors in the bird are terrific.

Interesting discussion about the Quick Selection Tool, do either of you ever use the Focus Area Select? Sometimes it is great for selecting a particular area I want to isolate and other times it seems to totally miss.

[Glennie Passier]

Warren, thank you. The perch set up has been a bit more refined now. If you have a look at the FF image, you can see in the RH corner, a pole. I have bought a extendable tent poles, some 90 degree brackets and some long, galvanised bolts. I also bought some "gazabo pod fee" which you fill up with water (for a weight) so you can place the tent pole in it. I drill holes at the right angle bend in the brackets big enough to slip into the hole at the top of the tent pole. When you have two poles with the "Y" bit on the top you can cradle branches from very small size to quite large. I also have some large clamps that help to secure if it's a bit wobbly. It's quite portable, I can change sticks around etc. I couldn't find anything like I wanted, but I'm sure if you a bit handy you could knock something up.

I have never used Focus area select. I'll have a look. Thank you.

[Warren Spreng]

Warren, thank you. The perch set up has been a bit more refined now. If you have a look at the FF image, you can see in the RH corner, a pole. I have bought a extendable tent poles, some 90 degree brackets and some long, galvanised bolts. I also bought some "gazabo pod fee" which you fill up with water (for a weight) so you can place the tent pole in it. I drill holes at the right angle bend in the brackets big enough to slip into the hole at the top of the tent pole. When you have two poles with the "Y" bit on the top you can cradle branches from very small size to quite large. I also have some large clamps that help to secure if it's a bit wobbly. It's quite portable, I can change sticks around etc. I couldn't find anything like I wanted, but I'm sure if you a bit handy you could knock something up.

I have never used Focus area select. I'll have a look. Thank you.

Thanks for the info!

[Jack Dean III]

That's one cool looking bird. :)