Background Clean-up

[Arthur Morris]

Friend Rex Hewitt and I spent about 20 minutes cleaning up the edge of the water feature at the Cozad Ranch, but with the birds being active there was soon seed and other debris on the set. I loved this simple HORZ portrait of a stunning male Painted Bunting so much that I spent another 20 minutes cleaning iy up on Photoshop. (See the ORIG next pane.)

If you live within an hour or two of the Cozad Ranch it would behoove you to get there this week. We have four male painteds on the set at once plus several females, a gadzillion Cardinals, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bronzed Cowbird, Black-throated Sparrow and lots more. See the blog at www.birdsasart-blog.com for more images and contact info.

Don't be shy. All comments welcome. I am here to learn too.

ps: Headed for Sabine Woods, TX in five....

[Arthur Morris]

This is the ORIG capture. I used the Patch Tool, the Clone Stamp, and several Quick Masks as described in detail in Digital Basics for the clean-up.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

Lovely bird, nice angle in frame and head angle. Good exposure.

Nice clean up. I prefer the slightly warmer background color in the original file over the cleaned up version.

You didn't post your particulars, and if shot in aperture priority would be curious how much EC you needed.

I shot a Baltimore Oriole yesterday, -.7 with D300, still smoked most of the orange. May try spot metering on him next chance I get. I had like 2 seconds on him, so didn't have a chance to check the histogram until after he flew off.

Have fun, be safe, keep up the reports!

Randy

[Stuart Bowie]

Amazing colours Artie, and a great clean up job. I like the comp, and maybe a slight dodge on the eye would bring it out even more. Still, well captured.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Beautiful specimen and thanks for sharing the original image. I think it was well worth the effort. I might clone out the OOF grass in the lower right. The colors in the original look more vivid. Did you desaturate a few points? Enjoy your trip!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks guys. I was worried that I had made it too cool. Here is a warmed up version with the iris lightened a bit more. I like the single blade of o-o-f grass that I left--I think that it helps with the compositional balance--but will likely make a version without it.

Here is something that I just learned on this trip: in full breeding plumage the lores and the chin, as they are with this bird, are. With individuals not quite as handsome these areas are more brownish.

As I toned this down with a color balance adjustment and I save my master files as flattened TIFFS I would need start over to make the dirt even warmer. Yikes!

[Raul Quinones]

Love the third one, great colors composition and pose, like also the eye work. The only thing I find kind of strange is the wavy lines on the water, but I see them in the original.

[Arthur Morris]

Ooops. The image was created with the Canon 800mmm f/5.6 L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D MIII. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/640 sec. at f/8 (wide open). Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -2 stops.

[Don Anderson]

Love it, but the LR piece of grass is really distracting. Still amazed
how sharp with the 800 and 1.4x

[Juan Aragonés]

Stunning bird and stuning colors. I love the third version but I think that the OOF grass is a bit distracting.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Your last repost is the one to go, at least in my opinion!

Love that palette of colors and that lovely light.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks to all who commented above. Above is the last repost by popular demand. (Also featuring redder dirt.)

[Ian McHenry]

I like the last one for stunning colours.
However although never seen this beautiful bird I have a hunch that the first image posted is more natural colours,and this is the one I like best.
Last one would be great for an identification pack of bird cards.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[kevinmat]

Again stunning bird. I must say that I much prefer your 11:44 posted image, the last seems over saturated - for me spoiling the image - though I am aware that this is really a personal preference. The absence of any foliage in the water adds to the dislike I have of this version. I like your comment - and agree that the grass added some compositional balance (though I would reduce its luminosity somewhat)
Lovely head angle and eye is sharp sharp sharp. Congrats again on a great image.

[Art Kornienko]

Colours of the bird are amazing, not sure about the shadow underneath the bird.

[Kobus Tollig]

Super colours. Great detail and comp. Great work well done

[Charles Wesley]

This is very nice. I think the shadow gives it a 3D effect. I am also on board with the third version. They have incredible color. Had one come to my feeder twice in the past month but must be a migrant. My friend PP in Texas gets to photograph them.

Thanks for sharing...
___________________
Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Mark Dumbleton]

All been said Artie, just adding my well done on a great image. Love the colours and super sharp detail!

[Karl Egressy]

Looks fantastic. It was worth all the work you put in, Artie.
Love the colours, composition, and the pose is just great.

[Magnus Thornberg]

I love the light and the stunning colors! Nice job with the cleanup! Maybe to clean for my taste but that´s my personal opinion!

I i have just ordered the new Canon 580EXII flash! And i love the way Americans work with fill flash! None does that in Sweden, most of the photographers like the natural light more! But i wanna learn to master the fill flash technics! But i can´t find any good tutorial about it!

/Magnus

[Arthur Morris]

It will be great to see some Europeans embracing fill flash. It has its moments...

Best advice: with close subjects, experiment with flash between -2 and -3 stops. Use a bit more in sun. When attempting to light the shadowed side of a backlit subject you usually need lots of flash, as much as
-1/3 stop or zero (in ETTL).

Best treatment of flash including fill, main light, and manual can be found in "he Flash Simplified" section of my CD book, ABP II: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=19

[Magnus Thornberg]

Thank´s Arthur! I´m going to get a copy of your book soon! I think and hope it´s going to get my photography to the next level!

/Best Regards
Magnus

[Arthur Morris]

Thank´s Arthur! I´m going to get a copy of your book soon! I think and hope it´s going to get my photography to the next level! /Best Regards Magnus

It will for sure. I wish that ABP and ABP II were around when I was starting. With digital and the great info available today folks who apply themselves can get very good very quickly. You guys and gals are lucky!