hawk...original and presto changeo...

traunerk

thought i would make an amateurish attempt at improving the terrible lighting of this original shot as well as the confusion of branches. I realize my photoshop skills have a long way to go, but at least I no longer feel like a rank novice...

How did I do?

Hope you enjoy...regards...Keith

Andy

"Feather" the selection more, it's still a bit obvious...

traunerk

Andy...
I presume you are talking about the outline of the bird against the blue background? What do you find usually is an acceptable setting?

thanks...Keith

Andy wrote:

"Feather" the selection more, it's still a bit obvious...

dallas

Its hard for me to comment about something I can't do, but my feeling is an excellent job using the tools; however so many branches are gone that it doesn't appear to be real. If you left a little more background I think it might be better.

Froggy

Good job
However I personally like the branches, it adds a sence of realism to the shot, sort of make it look like its in the wild, toning the sky up like you did will add a lot to the original image, just my .02 worth

Steve

saurora

It's a nice shot of a beautiful bird in it's natural environment, and I find nothing objectionable about that...branches and all. However, it provided great practice for you in photoshop as an added benefit! I don't like the result because it leaves him looking like he's hanging out in space. Just doesn't look quite natural. But congratulations on improving your skills!!!

Rohirrim

You did a great job cloning out the branches. It does seem a little overdone though. There is a tad of a "halo" around the bird, as Andy said you could feather the selection, or the other thing that might work better is to use a blending mode.

See these threads
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=21648
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=26732