I tried out my new D300 today but we had no sun, so, I got some less than perfect White-tailed Kite shots.
So :D, armed only with noisy images, I got lost in PS and when I found my way out, this is what I brought with me:p.
Ok, here we go. I am sure that I will be leaving some steps out though! I started by processing and cropping the image, selective sharpening, selective noise reduction, ran a Seeram "sketch" action which stops at every step for interaction (which I participated in). Then, I added a Seeram "snowstorm, blizzard" (this is not an ice cream dessert!!) on a new layer (I think?) and fooled with the blending modes. This produced the starry effect. I flattened this and created a new layer which I added "clouds" and then "difference clouds". I reduced the opacity of this layer to my liking and then erased it partially on the underwing and completely in the face area and feet area. I had to paint the eye back in as it had been obliterated by the above:p. I adjusted the levels and saturation a bit and, FINALLY, I woke up:D.
Dan, that is really something! Any idea what made the dark mark on the back wing? I'd try to clone that out/down a bit as I find myself staring at it more than the bird.
Kosmic Kite
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