Dang!!!! I blew it!!!

Harryb

Hi you'll,

That was my initial reaction when I viewed this shot on my PC (I actually didn't say dang but the actual word had the same number of letters in it).



I really liked the shot but the blown out area on the left leg was way too much for me. I was about to send it to the cull pile but held off. My basic approach to my post work normally is that if I need PS to save a shot then the shot ain't worth saving. This time I held off on hitting delete and instead used the clone tool and the healing brush to do a feather graft on the osprey and ended up with this



I was much happier with the second and while I wouldn't sell it or enter it into a competition it was still a usable shot.

jwear

lets get him off of Bens tree and see some bifs great shots Harry sharp and great color these are going to make mine look bad :cry

gus

Great shot harry...look at those talons !!!

bfjr

Gee ain't that a pretty tree :lol4
Great shot Harry, and not to shabby on the post work either, I'd be hard pressed to tell ya did anything even you hadn't spilled the beans

gluwater

Nice work Harry, you're like a surgeon with that healing brush. I love the pose.

Seamus

you're too critical Harry : , I would be over the moon with the first one, a little blown highlight , when it is so sharp I wouldn't worry about that and you did a great job with the healing brush to fix it .

Harryb

jwear wrote:

lets get him off of Bens tree and see some bifs great shots Harry sharp and great color these are going to make mine look bad :cry

Thanks Jeff. I ain't getting to many BIFs these days. I'm still learning the 500 and the new tripod setup. I may have to get another 300mm lens for bifs.

windoze

if i just saw the 2nd pic, id never know it was cloned / repaired / "feathered" or whatever the technique is called. Id be so dang happy to get a shot like that....

its great


troy

Osprey Whisperer

**rubs eyes still trying to notice what's the difference in the pics**. So you did something to the second shot? I think maybe I need new eyes. Both very nice captures , Harry. I'm assuming you brought out some more feather detail/shadows in the highlights on the 2nd one? Boy.....detail in white is so very hard to see.:uhoh I'll have to figure out (and try) your healing brush technique. I usually try and burn in some lost detail on blown highlights. It doesn't usually work very well. :cry

BMP

Harryb

Humungus wrote:

Great shot harry...look at those talons !!!

Thanks Gus. Those talons come in very handy when the osprey is fishing

GREAPER

Geat Job Harry.

I would not hesitate to enter the touched up shot in a contest, but to each his own.

Harryb

bfjr wrote:

Gee ain't that a pretty tree :lol4
Great shot Harry, and not to shabby on the post work either, I'd be hard pressed to tell ya did anything even you hadn't spilled the beans

I bet you would like a tree like that.

I was happy with the results of the post work. It was one of the few times that PS "saved" a shot.

Harryb

gluwater wrote:

Nice work Harry, you're like a surgeon with that healing brush. I love the pose.

Thank you Nick. I loved the pose too that's why I didn't cull the shot.

Harryb

Seamus wrote:

you're too critical Harry : , I would be over the moon with the first one, a little blown highlight , when it is so sharp I wouldn't worry about that and you did a great job with the healing brush to fix it .

Thanks Sean. Its just irritating to work so hard to get the detail and then to blow out a good portion of the body. :cry I didn't mind the blow-out on the head too much but the body was just icky.

Harryb

windoze wrote:

if i just saw the 2nd pic, id never know it was cloned / repaired / "feathered" or whatever the technique is called. Id be so dang happy to get a shot like that....

its great


troy

Thanks Troy. I was kind of happy with the shot myself at the end.

ginger_55

Nice shot,Harry, love the last one. I even like the first one, I didn't notice the blown spot, guess they don't bother me.

However, those toenails, they remind me of the nails on my little dog. I am going to have to find the clippers, she sure isn't catching any fish. At least the bird doesn't have to walk.

I envy you birds. I haven't looked for them in a week or so, but if I did, they would not be that close to me.

ginger

Harryb

Bird Man Photographer wrote:

**rubs eyes still trying to notice what's the difference in the pics**. So you did something to the second shot? I think maybe I need new eyes. Both very nice captures , Harry. I'm assuming you brought out some more feather detail/shadows in the highlights on the 2nd one? Boy.....detail in white is so very hard to see.:uhoh I'll have to figure out (and try) your healing brush technique. I usually try and burn in some lost detail on blown highlights. It doesn't usually work very well. :cry

BMP

Hey Mike,

If you look at the first shot especially at the left leg yoiu will see a large blown area on the osprey. I had to use the clone tool and the healing brush because once you blow out an area all the detail that was there is lost.

Harryb

GREAPER wrote:

Geat Job Harry.

I would not hesitate to enter the touched up shot in a contest, but to each his own.

Hey Brian,

Thanks. I just feel that once I've added something that wasn't there to start with sort of takes it off the market.

jwear

Harryb wrote:

Thanks Jeff. I ain't getting to many BIFs these days. I'm still learning the 500 and the new tripod setup. I may have to get another 300mm lens for bifs.

i tried with a long lens from Ron made my soft shot look mushy do you think the tripod and swivel will help with the bifs

Harryb

ginger_55 wrote:

Nice shot,Harry, love the last one. I even like the first one, I didn't notice the blown spot, guess they don't bother me.

However, those toenails, they remind me of the nails on my little dog. I am going to have to find the clippers, she sure isn't catching any fish. At least the bird doesn't have to walk.

I envy you birds. I haven't looked for them in a week or so, but if I did, they would not be that close to me.

ginger

Hey Ginger,

Glad you liked the shot. I hate blown out areas. I'm trying to capture all the detail I can.

He wasn't all that close but the 500mm lens does bring them in.

Harryb

jwear wrote:

i tried with a long lens from Ron made my soft shot look mushy do you think the tripod and swivel will help with the bifs

Its all a matter of getting use to the new lens. and tripod. The Wimberly head is great for getting flight shots I just have to get used to the lens. Most of my BIFs were caught shooting handheld which is not that easy with the 500mm. Also it gets me in a lot closer so when the bird takes off I have to reacquire him.

Ric Grupe

Not to be a poop...
...but IMO you went too far with the clone tool. Done it many times myself. Again, IMO, knowing where the light is coming from ain't a bad thing. When one area is changed in regards to showing the reflectance angle, it throws the whole frame off.

I like the original, it's a fine shot!

Harryb

Ric Grupe wrote:

...but IMO you went too far with the clone tool. Done it many times myself. Again, IMO, knowing where the light is coming from ain't a bad thing. When one area is changed in regards to showing the reflectance angle, it throws the whole frame off.

I like the original, it's a fine shot!

There's always one.

I have to disagree with you Ric about the first one. I caught a good pose but I blew way to much of the osprey's underside for the shot to be a good shot. 95% of the recovery was done with the healing brush so I using and blending in the adjacent non-blown areas so the additions blended in fairly well, IMHO. I tried working on the crest of the osprey's head but didn't like the rsults so I left it blown out.