Before and After

Frankie_flea

Frankie_flea

Messages
805
Name
Frank
Edit My Images
Yes
BEFORE
before.JPG

AFTER
Blackcap%20%28male%29%20001.jpg


What do you all reckon? You can tell the weather is bad, and i'm bored.:thinking:
 
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frankie i like the fact you have done a before and after just to show that every bird shot on tp is not taken with a perfect background.You pp skills are very very good (how long did the cloneing take?)but regardless of the background your bird shots are always top notch anyway(y)
 
Thanks Ray, there was no cloning involved. Just made a new background, and combined the two in layers.
 
I'm torn between the two Frank, the BG in 1 is too busy and distracting, possibly a shallower DoF would have helped if that was possible. Number 2 looks almost clinical, however, if I hadnt seen number 1 to make the comparison, number 2 would be a good shot. Hows that for indecision :thinking: There is a slight halo appearing in both though, possibly slight oversharpening?
Got to say, its a good bit of cloning though (y).

If your bored, take a look at this thread Linky

Cheers

EDIT: I just saw your answer about the cloning, you still did a good job.
 
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A nice shot Frankie, I like the edited version in No 2, I think it looks slightly sharper and lighter and in my opinion better without the clutter.

Regards: Gordon
 
Nice bit of Processing Frankie :clap: I guess you used a layer mask and just painted in the bird and main perch on the new BG - always the best method when there is load of stuff to get rid of.
 
FANTASTIC SHOT (y)


Frankie_flea said:
Just made a new background, and combined the two in layers.
Click to expand...


How do you do that? Would you (or anyone else) be kind enough to point me in the direction of a tutorial for that pls. :) I have a rather lovely pheasant outside an upstairs window and I have no idea how to do layers; I've only just downloaded PSE9 trial :D
 
Lovely capture Frank and you have stirred a few thoughts here, which imo is good anyway (y) You have done a real good job with the edit, as masks and layers are something I have not touched upon yet. Not the best of edit Frank and will remove if you wish, but something else to chew on would be leaving the two main branches in the shot :shrug: a little bit of both worlds then so to speak :LOL: Again yours and others views on the subject are always good to discuss.

before_filtered.jpg
 
Roy:
Nice bit of Processing Frankie I guess you used a layer mask and just painted in the bird and main perch on the new BG - always the best method when there is load of stuff to get rid of.
Click to expand...

and for Azure.

Most image manipulation tools feature a 'layers' facility. All i did was first made a new clean background, just with a few colours picked from the original. In fact i painted over the whole of the original picture using broad unfussy strokes with a big brush. Then i gave it a heavy dose of gaussian blur, and that was the basic background. Then i went to 'layers' and clicked on 'import from file', and loaded the original file on top of the new background. Then, with the eraser tool i rubbed out all of the old cluttered background, (but leaving the Blackcap), and revealing the new one beneath.
It is hard to achieve a really smooth gradation for a background when trying this, and if you try to run the noise reduction on top of it you get all sorts of crazy blotches, and swirls. So only run your noise reduction on the bird. While you do gain a nicer looking bokeh, it is hard to retain any small hairs around the bill and chin. Yes Rich, i think the other branch could be left in, just a matter of choice. I haven't got Paintshop, this was done using Paint.NET, a free download, that has loads of tutorial backup, and numerous plug-ins. I recommend it.:cool:

PS This was going to the bin anyway. It's always best to get the right shot in the first place, but not always possible.
 
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Frankie_flea said:
Roy:


and for Azure.

Most image manipulation tools feature a 'layers' facility. All i did was first made a new clean background, just with a few colours picked from the original. In fact i painted over the whole of the original picture using broad unfussy strokes with a big brush. Then i gave it a heavy dose of gaussian blur, and that was the basic background. Then i went to 'layers' and clicked on 'import from file', and loaded the original file on top of the new background. Then, with the eraser tool i rubbed out all of the old cluttered background, (but leaving the Blackcap), and revealing the new one beneath.
It is hard to achieve a really smooth gradation for a background when trying this, and if you try to run the noise reduction on top of it you get all sorts of crazy blotches, and swirls. So only run your noise reduction on the bird. While you do gain a nicer looking bokeh, it is hard to retain any small hairs around the bill and chin. Yes Rich, i think the other branch could be left in, just a matter of choice. I haven't got Paintshop, this was done using Paint.NET, a free download, that has loads of tutorial backup, and numerous plug-ins. I recommend it.:cool:

PS This was going to the bin anyway. It's always best to get the right shot in the first place, but not always possible.
Click to expand...

You superstar Frank - thank you so much for the "how to"... will give it a go... THANKU :)
 
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