As usual quality work, so much depth of field and yet lacking is disturbance from the background
Andy
Posted by John MacTavish on February 18, 2007 at 5:15 PM
Aye Rene,
You need to brush up on your PS skills, either that or get it right before going into PS.
A mediocre shot "fixed" using mediocre PS does you no credit.
Nice light
Posted by Martin Dyer on February 18, 2007 at 5:15 PM
Stunning capture
Martin
Posted by Sean Bolton on February 18, 2007 at 5:29 PM
Hi Rene
Excellent shot, lovely colours, very pleasing Waxwing image.
Only nit, maybe the waxwing is positioned a bit too centrally in the frame, putting a bit a lower might improve the composition (and would also help it's sales potential I think).
Looks like you had a good trip.
cheers
Sean
Posted by Larry Corbett on February 19, 2007 at 3:34 AM
I would love just to see one of these birds let alone have the chance to photograph one, Sean makes a valid point
Nice one Rene... agree with the compositional aspect already mentioned... I am a little bothered with the bg which I think shows the efforts of your cloning, particularly the upper left side, a better way to clone obtrusive branches is to carefully clone the ends and then use the patch tool to remove the rest.
Posted by Nick Railton on February 19, 2007 at 6:44 AM
Rene, Lovely shot and well post processed.
Cheers
Nick
Posted by Richard Tynan on February 19, 2007 at 7:02 AM
Hi Rene,
It's not been mentioned explicitly, though I'm sure John M. saw it judging by his comments, but you've cloned out the waxwings legs and feet. I'm surprised no one else seems to have seen that, except perhaps Phil H.
That and the less than perfect cloning elsewhere does let down what would otherwise be a very nice image.
I really like the birds pose with the head back, and the berry in the bill. And the soft light is very nice too.
Richard T.
Posted by Rene de Heer on February 19, 2007 at 7:09 AM
Hi Rene,
It's not been mentioned explicitly, though I'm sure John M. saw it judging by his comments, but you've cloned out the waxwings legs and feet. I'm surprised no one else seems to have seen that, except perhaps Phil H.
That and the less than perfect cloning elsewhere does let down what would otherwise be a very nice image.
I really like the birds pose with the head back, and the berry in the bill. And the soft light is very nice too.
I would like to make a thing clear: i have NOT cloned anywhere near the legs and feet! I have even called John Mactavish about this and i have a RAW file to prove it as well. I agree that it does look strange and i am happy to upload the rawfile as prove when i return from a business trip to Germany.
Also the background is streaky because of the o.o.f twigs , so is the o.o.f twig between the berries below the bird.
My ego is not hurt in anyway but i just want to set the record straight
Rene de Heer
Posted by Richard Tynan on February 19, 2007 at 8:12 AM
Rene,
I think Johns comments where a bit harsh, but I completely agree with them based on what you said (cloned out twigs) and the VERY odd nature of the underside of the bird.
You've posted some great images in the past but this one is completely spoilt (in my view) by the underside of the bird. Whatever the cause, it simply does not look right.
I'm still baffled as to where the birds feet are. There is no hint of them what-so-ever. It looks like the bird is floating in mid-air.
Show me the feet
Seriously, if this is indeed how it was, and is an illusion, then fair enough. But if it is a quick--and-dirty clone job (to put it politely) then I think it would be a disservice to you and to this forum to not point it out.
Richard T.
Posted by John MacTavish on February 19, 2007 at 8:20 AM
Hi ppl,
Rene has been on the phone to me and I offered to put up an appology on this one for my comments. He's big enough and ugly enough to take criticism from anyone and accepted what I wrote in good humour, and declined the offer of an appology.
I have seen some top drawer stuff from Rene, but in this case I just think he is capable of much better.
Enjoy Germany Rene.
Posted by Graeme Lee on February 19, 2007 at 10:49 AM
Just crop it to a head portrait Rene. All the nits would be covered
I just love the colours here. All of them seem to compliment each other really nicely. A great shot of a short-legged Waxwing
Graeme
Posted by Sean Bolton on February 19, 2007 at 1:32 PM
Hi Rene
I have come back to have another look at this shot in light of the comments (and your email).
I downloaded it and had a closer look at the image to see if I could guess where any cloning had taken place.
I thought there were 4 potential places which did look to me like some cloning may have occured ;
1. just behind the head (but could just be an effect of depth of field and jpeg compression)
2. on the left where the twig crosses the black tail feathers
3. the twig stem on the left which disappears into the body of the waxwing
4. one foot appears to be missing, possibly this is just an optical illusion but it does look odd. Maybe it is stood on one leg as some birds do when resting.
Generally I don't think you have done too bad a job, although on close inspection I think you could improve the cloning.
I do find the feet a bit odd, but I don't doubt you if you say this is as shot.
That's my honest feedback.
cheers
Sean
Posted by Paul Cook on February 20, 2007 at 3:03 PM
Hi Rene,
A year or two has passed since I last posted so much as a reply on here, but your image has prompted me. I too was a little distracted by the apparently omitted legs and feet, but that's the nature of the shot...I bet you couldn't replicate again it if you tried.
Overall it's a pleasant to change to get a shot of these seasonal birds that one can view without craning one's virtual neck.
Cloning apart, are they dust spots in the lower right segment??
At probably greater than -20'C I would expect this bird to be 'puffed up'.
If it is, it's feet are probably resting on the stem that dissappears into its feathers on the LHS and the breast feathers covering them, that said one foot may be just visable beneath the feathers at the 6 o'clock position on the main stem.
I quite like the shot - the dust bunnies just need a wee blitz.
T
Posted by Richard Tynan on February 20, 2007 at 6:18 PM
I think you are right Tom, it sounds plausible to me, the bird sitting on the (rather thin) twig behind the main one, and the feet are hidden by the plumage. It was the odd fuzzy nature of that twig going into/under the bird that puzzled me.
I still don't think that is a foot (2 toes) we can see below. They look too thin and are more in keeping with the end stems that hold the berries.
I'm sorry Rene, to have suggested you had cloned out the feet. It sounded a bit absurd then, and even more so now.
Discussion
18 repliesCanon EOS1DMark2/4.0-500/1.4 converter/Gitzo1325/black Widow/FF/ARC/CS2
Cloned out a few disturbing twigs.
Rene de Heer
Rob
Andy
You need to brush up on your PS skills, either that or get it right before going into PS.
A mediocre shot "fixed" using mediocre PS does you no credit.
Nice light
Martin
Excellent shot, lovely colours, very pleasing Waxwing image.
Only nit, maybe the waxwing is positioned a bit too centrally in the frame, putting a bit a lower might improve the composition (and would also help it's sales potential I think).
Looks like you had a good trip.
cheers
Sean
Cheers
Nick
It's not been mentioned explicitly, though I'm sure John M. saw it judging by his comments, but you've cloned out the waxwings legs and feet. I'm surprised no one else seems to have seen that, except perhaps Phil H.
That and the less than perfect cloning elsewhere does let down what would otherwise be a very nice image.
I really like the birds pose with the head back, and the berry in the bill. And the soft light is very nice too.
Richard T.
I would like to make a thing clear: i have NOT cloned anywhere near the legs and feet! I have even called John Mactavish about this and i have a RAW file to prove it as well. I agree that it does look strange and i am happy to upload the rawfile as prove when i return from a business trip to Germany.
Also the background is streaky because of the o.o.f twigs , so is the o.o.f twig between the berries below the bird.
My ego is not hurt in anyway but i just want to set the record straight
Rene de Heer
I think Johns comments where a bit harsh, but I completely agree with them based on what you said (cloned out twigs) and the VERY odd nature of the underside of the bird.
You've posted some great images in the past but this one is completely spoilt (in my view) by the underside of the bird. Whatever the cause, it simply does not look right.
I'm still baffled as to where the birds feet are. There is no hint of them what-so-ever. It looks like the bird is floating in mid-air.
Show me the feet
Seriously, if this is indeed how it was, and is an illusion, then fair enough. But if it is a quick--and-dirty clone job (to put it politely) then I think it would be a disservice to you and to this forum to not point it out.
Richard T.
Rene has been on the phone to me and I offered to put up an appology on this one for my comments. He's big enough and ugly enough to take criticism from anyone and accepted what I wrote in good humour, and declined the offer of an appology.
I have seen some top drawer stuff from Rene, but in this case I just think he is capable of much better.
Enjoy Germany Rene.
I just love the colours here. All of them seem to compliment each other really nicely. A great shot of a short-legged Waxwing
Graeme
I have come back to have another look at this shot in light of the comments (and your email).
I downloaded it and had a closer look at the image to see if I could guess where any cloning had taken place.
I thought there were 4 potential places which did look to me like some cloning may have occured ;
1. just behind the head (but could just be an effect of depth of field and jpeg compression)
2. on the left where the twig crosses the black tail feathers
3. the twig stem on the left which disappears into the body of the waxwing
4. one foot appears to be missing, possibly this is just an optical illusion but it does look odd. Maybe it is stood on one leg as some birds do when resting.
Generally I don't think you have done too bad a job, although on close inspection I think you could improve the cloning.
I do find the feet a bit odd, but I don't doubt you if you say this is as shot.
That's my honest feedback.
cheers
Sean
A year or two has passed since I last posted so much as a reply on here, but your image has prompted me. I too was a little distracted by the apparently omitted legs and feet, but that's the nature of the shot...I bet you couldn't replicate again it if you tried.
Overall it's a pleasant to change to get a shot of these seasonal birds that one can view without craning one's virtual neck.
Cloning apart, are they dust spots in the lower right segment??
Regards to you and yours.
Paul C.
If it is, it's feet are probably resting on the stem that dissappears into its feathers on the LHS and the breast feathers covering them, that said one foot may be just visable beneath the feathers at the 6 o'clock position on the main stem.
I quite like the shot - the dust bunnies just need a wee blitz.
T
I still don't think that is a foot (2 toes) we can see below. They look too thin and are more in keeping with the end stems that hold the berries.
I'm sorry Rene, to have suggested you had cloned out the feet. It sounded a bit absurd then, and even more so now.
That'll teach me to jump to conclusions