Quick Mask Magic, or Not?

[Arthur Morris]

I created this image this morning at Pike's Beach, Westhampton, Long Island. Mike Letito was kind enough to be my guide for the morning. This fading, molting adult Semipalmated Sandpiper has a horseshoe crab egg in its bill. I placed the blue crab claw by the feeding hole to add some color; I moved it only a few inches in hopes that a bird might pick it up. Not.

I used the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 640. Evaluative metering =1 2/3 stops set manually: 1/320 sec. at f/8. (That's +1 2/3 stops; thanks to James Shadle for catching that typo.)

Here's the question: is this the COMP of the original capture, or had I put the crab claw in the wrong place? Does any one see any evidence of Photoshop hanky panky? Or not? :)

In the meantime, feel free to comment on the image as posted. I will post the original in two days, needed or not :)

As always, don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

[Deborah Harrison]

Unless I had been told this was a crableg I would have concluded it was some piece of debris in the foreground that needs to be removed. The sand above the orange seems to be a slightly darker (subtle) grain than the sand in that part of the image.

I would personally prefer to see the crab in the sandpiper's beak or cropped out altogether. Looking forward to seeing the original.

Just my 2 cents

[Doug Brown]

I don't see any evidence of PS manipulation. I agree with Deborah that the OOF crab detracts from the image; I also assumed that it was some litter on the beach.

[Aidan Briggs]

Perfect exposure, sharpness, and BG. If you did anything, you did a good job on it. IMO the crab leg should go.

[denise ippolito]

I like the image and I can't tell if you did any work. I also like the crab leg and feel it adds a nice balance to the comp.

[Michael Zajac]

Artie, I like the crab claw too. I think that you did a terrific job with the image since I can't see a thing. The horseshoe crab egg is a good touch.

[John Chardine]

A turnstone would pick up the claw!

The image seems pretty believable Artie. You clever commentary is confusing though because it sounds like you physically moved the crap clar, then moved it again in Ps. I see a littel bit of a funky halo around the top and right end of the claw which may indicate that it's been moved in post.

I would include the claw if it were more in focus- this one's a bit too OOF. The image works great without the claw. Love the simplicity and almost duotonality.

[James Shadle]

Artie,
You said "=1 2/3 stops" I'm willing to bet you meant "+1 2/3 stops"
Exposed well, sharp and I like the placement in the frame.

Was this little guy on a slope or is the horizon off?
I can't see any PS funny business, however with the foreground and background so nicely OOF it would be tough to catch it(IMO).

[Arthur Morris]

A turnstone would pick up the claw! The image seems pretty believable Artie. You clever commentary is confusing though because it sounds like you physically moved the crap clar, then moved it again in Ps. I see a littel bit of a funky halo around the top and right end of the claw which may indicate that it's been moved in post. I would include the claw if it were more in focus- this one's a bit too OOF. The image works great without the claw. Love the simplicity and almost duotonality.

Hi John, Trust me; the turnstones did not even sniff the claw :) If there is any halo around the claw itself--and I do not see even a hint of one--it was in the original (which you will see later...) as I moved a section of sand with the claw in it. As for including the claw or not, I will withhold comment for now. Thanks for stopping by.

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, You said "=1 2/3 stops" I'm willing to bet you meant "+1 2/3 stops" Exposed well, sharp and I like the placement in the frame. Was this little guy on a slope or is the horizon off?
I can't see any PS funny business, however with the foreground and background so nicely OOF it would be tough to catch it(IMO).

Thanks Froggie. Typo corrected (with credit). And yes, a sloping beach. Great to see you here and thanks for stopping by.

[Hendri Venter]

Does any one see any evidence of Photoshop hanky panky?

Not relevant to your "Quick Mask Magic" question but I'm gonna take a flyer here Artie. 1120mm @ F8 the DOF looks suspicious. Did you work on the foreground?:)

[Arthur Morris]

Why suspicious of the d--o-f Hendri? At f/8 it is narrow as expected. (Note that f/8 is wide open with the set-up above.) The less than 1/2 inch d-o-f slants down with the slope of the beach.

[Hendri Venter]

:) Ok my flyer flew out the window. Not knowing the subject distance I wont know what the real D-O-F is. Other than that I cant spot any "hanky panky"

[Bibhav Behera]

There is a region just to the right of the blue crab where there seems to be no region in focus. i.e. the OOF areas seem to merge. Flyer??? :)

[subhrashis]

Some "hanky panky" seems to have been done, as
1. There is an oof sand "bulge" above the red bit. Should it's edge be that blurred? Looks suspicious!
2.the in-focus strip of sand veers above it's straight line just above the crab claw, and bends down back again.

[Paul Lagasi]

I am a little leary of guessing but here goes..Artie I would think your camera would be level with the subject, but field of focus is diagonal a bit..so maybe you rotated the image? My kick at the can...

[Arthur Morris]

I will take a shot at the last three comments if I can. But first I shall post the original image capture in this pane.

My problem was that the bird and the crab claw were bunched up in the center of the frame. First I did some fairly extensive beach cleanup using mostly the Patch Tool. Then I made a Quick Mask of the bird and included lots of the sand to the right of the bird so that the mask would cover the front of the original bird, and moved that left and a bit up to maintain the angled strip of sharp focus. Then I painted a Quick Mask of the crab claw and moved it right and a bit down, again to maintain the angled strip of sharp focus.

BTW, for those who have not figured it out yet, I love the crab claw. Love, love, love it. For me it adds a bit of color and balances the composition. For most folks who have spent any time along the beaches where blue crab occurs the claw would be instantly recognizable by the shape and the color pattern.

You can learn about Quick Masks in Robert O'Toole's APTATS I.

[Arthur Morris]

There is a region just to the right of the blue crab where there seems to be no region in focus. i.e. the OOF areas seem to merge. Flyer??? :)

The region to the right of the crab seems--except for the dark spot that I removed--pretty much the same as in the original as far as I can see....

[Arthur Morris]

Some "hanky panky" seems to have been done, as 1. There is an oof sand "bulge" above the red bit. Should it's edge be that blurred? Looks suspicious! 2.the in-focus strip of sand veers above it's straight line just above the crab claw, and bends down back again.

Again, it seems to me as you are fishing here as both areas that you mention look pretty much as they did in the original image....

[Arthur Morris]

I am a little leary of guessing but here goes..Artie I would think your camera would be level with the subject, but field of focus is diagonal a bit..so maybe you rotated the image? My kick at the can...

Hi Paul, I believe that the camera was pretty much square to the world and the beach was sloped. That is why the strip of in-focus sand appears angled in the original image and in the posted image. I did my best to maintain the angle of the in-focus strip and think that I did pretty well. :)