Big Bird

[woty87]

I took this photo at a big bird preserve in South Africa. I've been going through some old photos and trying to covert them into monochrome just to learn the process and see if I like the results. How do you guys think I did? Does anyone have advice or some tips? Thanks.

[FrankMi]

I think the bird, particularly the head, stands out much beter in the color version.

[epmi314]

John,

The color works better for me. Too bad the background was a fence. The head and dark feathers are wonderful. It leaves me wondering if a tighter crop on the head and a little PP on the background might ramp things up a bit but it is a really enjoyable image as is.

[Jack R Mann]

nice image too bad the fence many you can fix that in pp. color definitely

[enaiman]

Very nice shot
In colour, the brown fence is ruining the photo for me
Two ways from here - get rid of the fence and keep it colour or keep the fence and make it BW - either way it will look good.

[woty87]

I tightened up the crop and try to lighten the fence area. Maybe a little better? I wish I could just remove the fence completely, but not sure that's within my limited PP skills.

[jeeperman]

I also like the color better here as the bird stands out more. I have to agree with those before me about the fence. This edit does help although....it may be a good excuse to practice those PP skills and remove it all together.

[woty87]

I will try. Can Anyone tell me how they would approach it? Clone tool? Would you try and remove the fence while keeping the rest of the background as is? Or should I make the whole background grass?

I also like the color better here as the bird stands out more. I have to agree with those before me about the fence. This edit does help although....it may be a good excuse to practice those PP skills and remove it all together.

[Bobobird]

That bird has some personality...

Nice shot.

[FrankMi]

I will try. Can Anyone tell me how they would approach it? Clone tool? Would you try and remove the fence while keeping the rest of the background as is? Or should I make the whole background grass?

Once you have selected the subject, you can mask out part or all of the background. At that point it is up to you how you want the background changed. You could choose to change its color tone, blur, contrast, brightness, or perhaps replace it entirely with another background.

The clone tool is more effective at changing small 'bits' of the image. For an area as large as the fence it usually won't produce an effective result and would be very time consuming.

For an example of how to change a background to something more appropriate, take a look at this thread, posts 15, 16,and 29 or perhaps here. Hope this helps!

[woty87]

How do you guys think I did with the background change? Is it obvious he's pasted on? I'm not totally sure what I can do about that.

[jeeperman]

I think you have done a fairly good job here. You will get better with practice but this is really not bad at all. Well done! You might clone the green grass on the bottom edge of the log.

[FrankMi]

Nice edit, John. Looks natural and really accentuates big bird. The sharp grass at the bird's feet with the focus tapering off to the background is very well done.

You may notice that the grass in the original to be darker up close than further away so you might want experiment with gradient going lighter as you get further back.

Another 'not so obvious' thing to consider is the shooting angle. The replacement background was shot at a higher angle (looking more down) than the big bird image. If the ground is relatively level, the background would logically extend to the horizon and the blurred grass detail at the back would be too far away to see. It is not something that most folks would necessarily notice, but it can give the overall image and uneasy feeling, like something is not quite right even though you might not be able to pick out what it is that gives you that feeling.

Overall, the post processing has been very well done!

[woty87]

Frank, I totally see what you mean about the shot angle on the background. I wonder if there is a skew or transform method to make that look a little more natural? I'll keep playing and repost if I make any significant progress. Thanks all.

Nice edit, John. Looks natural and really accentuates big bird. The sharp grass at the bird's feet with the focus tapering off to the background is very well done.

You may notice that the grass in the original to be darker up close than further away so you might want experiment with gradient going lighter as you get further back.

Another 'not so obvious' thing to consider is the shooting angle. The replacement background was shot at a higher angle (looking more down) than the big bird image. If the ground is relatively level, the background would logically extend to the horizon and the blurred grass detail at the back would be too far away to see. It is not something that most folks would necessarily notice, but it can give the overall image and uneasy feeling, like something is not quite right even though you might not be able to pick out what it is that gives you that feeling.

Overall, the post processing has been very well done!