High Key Kingbird

This is one from last Summer's photo endeavors.  This male is upset that I stumbled upon its nest which was on an overhanging branch over our pond.  i never would have spotted the nest if the bird remained quiet.  Nevertheless, I gave the pair a wide berth and they successfully reared several babies. This was a difficult image to process due to the back-lighting and contrasty features of the bird.  The head was in deep shadow, while everything else was well lit.  There was also an OOF tree branch that went diagonally across the frame on the right side. So I cropped the image to a vertical format and used the rubber stamp tool to clean up some of the OOF leaves and tree branch. I used Phil's technique that utilizes selection with refined edge for creating an active layer that will not be affected by the rubber stamp tool.  This technique was applied to the branch and it cleaned up nicely. I used some luminosity masks to bring up some of the shadow details and added some additional contrast as the final step. K5 IIs 600mm f5.6 (1/800 sec at f11, ISO400)......................................Jim