Cactus Wren on Aloa Vera

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Folks:

Captured this Cactus Wren in our garden today. Mostly adjusting exposure, bit of curves, selective lightening and sharpening of breast to eliminate shadow. Took quite a few shots, and after looking at others hope I chose the right one. Fairly strong wind and sorta quirky light with white adobe wall for BG.

Uncle Gus

CC's always welcome and appreciate with thanks

Olympus E-520 IS, Zuiko 70-300 ED
Aperture priority
F/6.3, 1/640s
ISO 100
-0.30ev
Auto WB
600mm focal length HH

[Gus Cobos]

I like the composition, image and capture Uncle Gus...the colors are nice and so is the habitat perch...suggestion: I would clone out the cactus touching the tail and the tip touching the bird's breast...I'm also believe that this little guy is a tad over sharpened...:) looking forward to more...good show...:cool:

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Gus:

Any better?

Uncle Gus

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Much better uncle Gus. Great placement and very sharp.

[Gus Cobos]

Excellent Uncle Gus...now your cooking...the little guy looks more natural...:cool:

[denise ippolito]

Gus, The repost looks great! I like the perch!!

[Dave Leroy]

Another nice one Gus and repost looks good. Dave

[Lance Peters]

Hi Gus - repost is much better, composition is good, pose and eye contact - I like - well done :)

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi folks:

Thanks for looking & your kind comments ~ somehow I don't like the previous 2, so I tried something new for me in CS4.

First I opened repost in CS4,
Made a duplicate layer
Then made background color light blue
Then I made foreground color white
Then Filter>Render>Clouds
Then clicked Add Vector Mask bottom of layers, third from left, rectangle with circle in it
Then so you can see where to paint out clouds, Click on Opacity (Top of Layer Window) drag opacity to 60%, then when finished painting you can drag it back to where it suits you.
Then I pressed "D" for default colors Black and white
Then selected Brush Tool large & soft, about 100 to start
Then selected Black and painted over parts I wanted revealed, Cactus Wren & Aloe Vera plant
Then filter>sharpen>USM, 27/1.0/0 for a tad of sharpening

Only took a few minutes . . . here is result

What do you think

Uncle Gus aka MA

[Gus Cobos]

This has a nice feel to it Uncle Gus...I like it...it's a more subdued mood...well done Sir...:):cool:

[Kathy Reeves]

I am not crazy about the new BG---maybe too bright.

[Alfred Forns]

I like the digitally manipulated one Gus For the original I was having trouble with the light, tough for that little guy !!!

[denise ippolito]

Gus, Thankyou for the helpful tutorial on BG's-I will try to put it to use-Thankyou!!! well done!!

[Gus Hallgren]

OK ~ Here's a wild one :eek:

In tutorial, where I came to filter>render>clouds

Instead: I pressed D for default FG & BG colours, clicked curved arrows to reverse colours with BG black
Then I clicked File>New
Changed measurements same as Cactus wren 729 x 800 px & used background colour>OK
Pressed V (Move) holding down Shft (So both are exactly positioned the same) & dragged black BG over Cactus Wren.

Then followed previous instructions (Being sure to use opacity 60% to see where to paint over which I wanted to reveal, and back to 100% when finished.

Having fun

Uncle Gus aka Mad Artist, aka Mad Painter ~ take your pick :eek::eek::eek:

[Katie Rupp]

Hi Gus, always something new from you! I enjoy seeing what you come up with and appreciate the tips.