Buzzard

detail looks good just a shame about the white sky - you could always replace it
 
Lovely image of very underrated birds

IMHO, difficult to replace the sky in this image without it being obvious around the edges of the bird
 
pooley said:
I don't actually know how to replace a sky, not something I'd ever do - might have a look at the technique just out of interest!
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I have a collection of sky images just for the purpose although they are used mostly for landscape shots rather than wildlife

Quite easy to do just open both bird and sky in PS. With sky shot select all, copy and then paste onto bird image and hide layer by turning off the eye icon.

Make background layer active and with magic wand select the background and then inverse so that the bird is selected. Now make the sky layer active and then visible by turning the eye icon back on. You should still see the selection you made, so hit "delete" on the keyboard and you will now see the bird against the new sky. To avoid it looking "pasted" reduce the opacity of the sky to around 50%, flatten and then just run the blur tool round the edges of the bird to further reduce the sharp edge - took longer to type than to do

Stan

zzzzz.jpg
 
pretty good Stan - something to note for the future

RH front wing edge could do with a little more careful attention
 
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I think it stands as a good shot as it is, Mike. Some good detail and a hint of movement.

Dave
 
stanm said:
I have a collection of sky images just for the purpose although they are used mostly for landscape shots rather than wildlife

Quite easy to do just open both bird and sky in PS. With sky shot select all, copy and then paste onto bird image and hide layer by turning off the eye icon.

Make background layer active and with magic wand select the background and then inverse so that the bird is selected. Now make the sky layer active and then visible by turning the eye icon back on. You should still see the selection you made, so hit "delete" on the keyboard and you will now see the bird against the new sky. To avoid it looking "pasted" reduce the opacity of the sky to around 50%, flatten and then just run the blur tool round the edges of the bird to further reduce the sharp edge - took longer to type than to do

Stan

View attachment 74522
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Stan, I'll give at a go at some point

Every days a school day ! (y)
 
RacingSnake said:
you have loads of sky pics, but to be fair - that one is pretty rubbish! lol
(rubbish = dull, not rubbish = poor effort (y) )
Click to expand...

First off the sky was used just as a demonstration of what could be done. I have lots of blue skies with nice fluffy clouds but when replacing a sky you need something akin to the conditions in the original shot which is why I chose a fairly dull plain one really just to bring some slight colour to replace the white
 
Stan

Do you find you often need to change the background for BIF when shooting from below? I have tried spot metering but found it a bit hit and miss.
 
The detail looks superb Mike, cracking shot (y)

I'm not a fan of changing the bg at all, the subject is the bird, if its flying in a white, featureless sky, then that's what it is.

I suppose some may say its no different to cloning stray bits of grass but to me, one is enhancing a shot, the other is creating a composite.
 
Sorry Mike, thought I'd already commented on this.

It's a really nice, sharp shot of a buzzard. The level of detail, under the wings, is extraordinary. Whenever I snap Buzzards, their plumage under the wings just looks like a fuzzy mess.

Well done (y)
 
i prefer the original mike ,somehow the plain sky adds to the detail in the bird
 
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