Pushing the Bigma and an edit problem.

Still working with and pushing the Bigma to its extremes, this shot was f8 @ 1/640 with the ISO set to 200 and the lens pushed all the way out to 500mm. Must say I did not expect it to perform this well, to my amateur eyes this looks sharp, not pin sharp may be but a good performance when you realise the glass was at its furthest point, the camera was my old istDS

Did have an editing problem, removed one or two distracting twigs but was not sure about the one that is in front of the bird and runs along the line of the wing, as it is it looks as if it disappears into the bird but I am not sure I could remove it without spoiling the feathering, what you think folks?

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Thordell/Wildlife/SparrowforPU.jpg[/IMG]

Think I may give the Bigma a rest for a while and take the wide angle out and about, well not that wide on a DSLR as it is a 24mm – think I will go and see just what it can do before I decide if I want/need something wider and lighter.

Lovely shot Jackie I would take the twig out, other than that AOK.

PS..
If you ever want to sell Bertha I don't live far away.

Nothing wrong with this shot Jackie , its spot on. I would be happy with one like this, you seem to have mastered it

Wonderful shot,
You can very easely clone the twig out without losing the feathering.

Will have a go at removing stick from sparrow and see how it goes.

Think now I am getting there with Bertha I will hang onto her but like wise you know where she is if you want to date her for a weekend or so.

Twig removed

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Thordell/Wildlife/Sparrowwithoutstick.jpg[/IMG]

Hope you don't mind Jackie if you do it can be removed.

[IMG]http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr227/TTKPhotography_2009/Sparrow-take-2.jpg[/IMG]

Very nice Jackie, nice sharp shot, looks like you are getting there with the Bigma .. bet you are glad you kept it now
Glad to see you lost the twig sticking up the birds rear end as well.

Thanks Mike, was very worried about the lens at one time, think because I spent the housekeeping on it but now I am very pleased as now I could not afford it at all. And should I need to sell it I should get back what I paid for it

Another one to illustrate why you should be very careful about photoshopping pics - it's a lovely shot of a Sparrow spoilt, for me, by the poor editing of the area above and above-right of the birds head, and behind/under its bum.

If anyone's going in for this major cloning out, it's vital that you spend as much time checking the work you've done, as you do doing it.

Dan

Look at the first post there is no editing behind the bird on that and I don't think above to the right. Will go check the original to make sure I am not lying.

Taken a look, there are a couple of yellow twigs that appear from the top of the birds head and then go towards the left that have been removed from the image in the original post, nothing above to the right and nothing below his backside.

To be honest I am happy enough with the last one where I have removed the twig in front of him and reckon it would need a magnifying glass to have the editing spoil the shot but then my eye sight is not that good.

I also tried and had some problems with the bokeh as well.
Simply clone the branch away from the bird but not in the bokeh, thats the easiest solution.

Lost me now, know what bokeh is but still don't understand what you mean Stefan, how can you remove something but leave the background, sure I misunderstand.

Daniel you could take a copy and show us how it's done, I'm sure Jackie would not mind

Jackie, looking back at my post I think it might have come across a little too bluntly - I'd just had a shout from the kitchen to say my dinner was ready.

Anyway, the editing on the bird is excellent, you really couldn't tell unless you knew where to look and studied it hard. It's the background that there's a problem, and I've circled where on the image below.




I'm very particular about this sort of thing, and I just think it's a shame to have these obvious edits (to me at least) spoil a nice, sharp shot of the bird. It's why I do so little photoshopping of this sort - it just takes so long to make sure that all the loose ends are tied up.

Honestly? I think it would take too long to get smooth, natural looking background areas in the pieces I've highlighted. Especially bottom left where there's so little 'original' background to work from. I'd end up copying some bits, painting in others, adding grain to the painted bits... I could probably do it, but it would take a long time, and I'd tear a bit of hair out while I was at it.

Dan

Only remove the piece of the branch that goes over the bird and leave the rest for what it is.

I would have the branch end (that goes over the bird) with the other branch that goes behind the bird. As Dan shows you, it doesn't look pretty the bokeh.