caspa
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 121
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by caspa on Oct 7, 2021 5:14:22 GMT
This is just one of many "plain vanilla" magpies that visit/live around our home. I took the original photo about 12 months ago but since it looked fairly plain and unexciting I didn't really do much with it. Recently I have been going back through "old" photos to see if I can do anything extra with them to give them some life. With this one I decided to play with various colour gradients (using PSE 2020) to see if I could get something to work for me. This one does to a large extent. The magpie is highlighted and stands out much more as the subject with the colour grading around it. Feel free to suggest any other ideas you might have to make the image more interesting or whatever you feel it needs.  |
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Post by BuckSkin on Oct 7, 2021 5:55:30 GMT
Your Magpie, other than the white tuxedo treatment, looks like a cross between our Crow and Blackbird/Starling, both of which are blacker than a Crow's wing, with no white.
The bird stands out well in the photo and I think you have done a good job, both in the initial capture and also in your enhancement.
I might put a tiny dot of white in his eye as a catch-light and then really sharpen the eye.
I can hardly ever catch an unobstructed view of a bird; there is almost always an out-of-focus limb or leaf that gets in the way.
I guess that's why these YouTube experts set up a bunch of props and an un-obscured "perch" and then dump out a sack of feed.
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Post by jackscrap on Oct 7, 2021 6:08:41 GMT
Love maggies, and I like what you've done with the leaves around him, almost looks like he's in a direct beam of light. Swooping season has started in earnest where I live in Victoria.
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caspa
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 121
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by caspa on Oct 7, 2021 8:31:12 GMT
Your Magpie, other than the white tuxedo treatment, looks like a cross between our Crow and Blackbird/Starling, both of which are blacker than a Crow's wing, with no white. The bird stands out well in the photo and I think you have done a good job, both in the initial capture and also in your enhancement. I might put a tiny dot of white in his eye as a catch-light and then really sharpen the eye. I can hardly ever catch an unobstructed view of a bird; there is almost always an out-of-focus limb or leaf that gets in the way. I guess that's why these YouTube experts set up a bunch of props and an un-obscured "perch" and then dump out a sack of feed. Thank you for your suggestions BuckSkin. I notice there is already a very faint catch-light in the eye so I used a Levels Adjustment layer with just the catch-light masked in and lightened it. It definitely adds to at least the head standing out a bit more. I also lightened the bird over all just a tad.  |
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caspa
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 121
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by caspa on Oct 7, 2021 8:50:46 GMT
Love maggies, and I like what you've done with the leaves around him, almost looks like he's in a direct beam of light. Swooping season has started in earnest where I live in Victoria. Thank you jackscrap. Yes, swooping season is definitely on at the moment. I haven't been swooped by any maggies yet but on my walk this afternoon a couple of Indian Mynas weren't happy with me. They didn't actually strike me like maggies can but they swooped way too close for comfort on a couple of passes before I took off on a short sprint out of the "danger zone". Anyway, it was cloudy on that day and so no direct sunlight but plenty of light nonetheless. Below is the "before" - raw file imported into PSE after initial processing in ACR - and the "after" - edited in PSE and the same as in my previous post. The "before" looked just too plain at the time and so I didn't do anything with it back then. |
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Post by cats4jan on Oct 7, 2021 11:44:45 GMT
I like the “after” shot. It was a wise choice to darken the surroundings to make him stand out - the use of gradient really worked well.
I know there are other b/w birds, but somehow this one looks so unique. I just love him.
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Post by whippet on Oct 7, 2021 13:50:41 GMT
I too, like the 'after' shot. However, I do not like magpies. They will eat carrion at all times and catch small mammals and birds. Occasionally, magpies prey on larger animals such as young rabbits.
During the breeding season they will take eggs and young of other birds.  |
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caspa
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 121
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by caspa on Oct 8, 2021 6:13:42 GMT
I like the “after” shot. It was a wise choice to darken the surroundings to make him stand out - the use of gradient really worked well. I know there are other b/w birds, but somehow this one looks so unique. I just love him. Thank you cats4jan :-) |
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caspa
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 121
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by caspa on Oct 8, 2021 6:15:58 GMT
I too, like the 'after' shot. However, I do not like magpies. They will eat carrion at all times and catch small mammals and birds. Occasionally, magpies prey on larger animals such as young rabbits.
During the breeding season they will take eggs and young of other birds. Thank you whippet :-) To be honest, I am not a huge fan of magpies either, especially when they start fighting each other in our front yard making one almighty racket  |
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Post by whippet on Oct 8, 2021 15:33:17 GMT
Those and crows. What a din.
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Post by BuckSkin on Oct 8, 2021 21:59:57 GMT
Those and crows. What a din. I got my little buddy a genuine Crow Call; you ought to hear some of the conversations she has.... |
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