Is it Real or is It Counterfeit? #6

[Arthur Morris]

Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/30 sec. at f/5.6. Fill flash at -2 sops with the Better Beamer.




The 800's new four-stop image stabilization is pretty much miraculous. Here I was working at 25.6X maginification and was able to create a sharp image at 1/30 sec. It's a whole new world out there. I did make sure to tighten both controls on the Mongoose M3.5B before depressing the shutter button. At this location several Wood Ducks always land on a fence at dusk with a loverly adobe building providing a sweet background. This is another DPP conversion.


The question: can you detect any major Photoshop work? (Sorry, Doug Brown cannot play; I think that he was there...)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

As the BG is evenly noisy, I guess you didn't do anything there. Since Doug must not play, I guess there is something altered, maybe the eye as there is hardly any catchlight visible. :)

[Martin Isabelle]

You put the sharpen in the eye ;)

[Harshad Barve]

Guruji
What a pose offered by duck and I loved that hairdo , killer BG
TFS

[Bonnie Block]

Well, Artie--Since Doug was there and he isn't now--you must have cloned him out!
Seriously--I cannot see any changes in this one. It is real!

[Ramon M. Casares]

Just a wild guess as it looks preety real to me, I would say that there was some BG clean up. Stunning light, detail and nice comp Artie, congratulations!

[denise ippolito]

Artie, I've looked at this at least 20 times and I can't tell if you've done any work on it. Talk about read the fine print. Your question asks if we can detect any major photoshop work. Which could only be a head or body replacement or a BG change. An eye fix would not qualify as major. There aren't any more parts to the image. So I would say no.

PS- I never get these type of image questions right!

[Keith Bauer]

Hmmm... Pulled the image into PS and took a close look. I see a small halo around the head which leads me to believe something has been replaced. It doesn't look like a sharpening halo. Very hard to tell. Since Doug was with you, I obviously know where this was since I too live in Albuquerque. Hmmm.... Band shell background??

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I see nothing wrong here. Lovely duck and killer BG.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

The BG is killer . Complements the beautiful colours on the duck !! Cant see any major PS work here .

[Kiran Poonacha]

real or not "Art" for sure, Great portrait guru, loved the BG and details too... congrats..

[Varun Bellie]

What a bird, lovely shot everything looks perfect for me

[Grace Scalzo]

Looks like something may have been removed from in front of the neck of the duck, and perhaps some repair done in that same area, I detect a repeating pattern after a close up look in PS.

[Steve Berkowitz]

Did you darken the corners? That would be minor PS but just wondering.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Very nice composition Artie. I give up on your question :-) whatever it is, very good job.

[Raymond Barlow]

beautiful image Artie, possibly a created bg?, sweet details and superb light., I like the natural catchlight., would suggest some nr to the bg.

[Doug Brown]

Sorry, Doug Brown cannot play; I think that he was there...

Hey, no fair! I want to get in on this! :D

[Arthur Morris]

Actually, this image is pretty much right out of the camera. Cleaned up a few white specs and did Levels and Curves after a DPP conversion. See the blog for a great DPP tutorial; I learned a ton: www.birdsasart-blog.com

[Arthur Morris]

At least nobody got sucked in by say, "You replaced the head for sure!" Best jobs were by Denise and Bonnie and others. I did "get" Grace and Keith a bit

[Grace Scalzo]

Well, I do have a question. If you look at this image at about 200%, there is something different about the front edge of the neck. I don't know the proper terminology, but if you look at it, I think you'll see what I mean.

[Arthur Morris]

Well, I do have a question. If you look at this image at about 200%, there is something different about the front edge of the neck. I don't know the proper terminology, but if you look at it, I think you'll see what I mean.

Hi Grace, A JPEG is a JPEG. If you look at any JPEG at 200% you will see lots of strange stuff, lots of artifacting, no matter how high the quality. I have posted a JPEG of the next frame in the series. (Could not post the exact image to show that original capture because DP saves the "recipe."

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks for the explanation, Artie. I've always wondered about that as sometimes things look odd in my own images when I turn them into jpegs. Things appear in them that are not in my tiff files, mostly on the edges.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW. I have seen some ghastly JPEGs here but those are almost always due to poor PS techniques. Best to look at the stuff for critiquing as it appears on the screen :)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

I have posted a JPEG of the next frame in the series. (Could not post the exact image to show that original capture because DP saves the "recipe."

Artie...in DPP, you can go into 'adjustments' pull-down menu and go to 'revert to shot settings'. Then convert to jpg. If you want that 'recipe effect' back ...just click on 'revert to last saved settings'.

[Arthur Morris]

Thank you sir. I figured that there was a way to do it but using the next one was faster. :)

Do you use DPP regularly?

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Do you use DPP regularly?

Yes. All the time. for every image. like it a lot. only one complaint....no custom rotation tool.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the info Kaustubh. Do you then bring the images into Photoshop?

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

The BG is nice and soft in contrast to the bold colors of your duck Maestro! Congrats! :)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Thanks for the info Kaustubh. Do you then bring the images into Photoshop?

Yes. I dont have photoshop cs4. I use photoshop elements. Other than curves, it has things that I need. So I do curves work in DPP.