Three images taken consecutively were blended together on a new document. Each was pasted onto the new document and a layer mask added, then opacity lowered to see image of bird beneath the added layer. The part covering the previous bird was painted out. This was done two times. Next the edges of the sky were blended together to make them seamless. OnOne photo Tools was used to make the image pop. Next the image was taken into Topaz Adjust and “dark Night’ added. Next the image was taken back into OnOne Photo Tools-Patina, Punch Drunk, & Sunglow were added. The image was cropped, a thin frame added and lightened slightly in Hue/Sat.
COMMENTS:
Steve
Estill
I like the idea which you've carried off well. I think it could be improved on composition and colouring. How about this for an idea:
Changing the order of the birds and rearranging so that they're taking off gives it more of a story. The sky colour / white intensity were modified using exposure with a gamma offset and then selective color. I'd have removed the sticks from their bills too, but not easy at this resolution.
Candy Childrey
Phil
Coleman
The assembly of the 3 images together is nicely done. At least on my screen, the sky looks an odd brown and the clouds just resemble dark patches.
Fes Parker
I love the original image because it exudes a ballet dance of the graceful birds actions and it should be enough to qualify for a creative image since you combined three images.
Christine Pollard
Georgianne Giese
You really make those birds pop! In the original, you have a good image of birds in flight. But they do sort of blend into the sky. By changing the light on the birds, and contrasting them against a dark sky, the focus is really brought onto the birds and stays there! Good job!
My only dislike is the brown color of the sky. Making it deep evening blue might work, but then the light on the birds would be wrong. Making it something that obviously points out that the light is not from the time of day is better, as you have done. Perhaps adding a golder tone would help. Perhaps a graduated background, with firey gold at the bottom to smoky brown/gray at the top would also look interesting. It must have been tricky for you to get just the right effect!
Leif Alveen
I can see this hanging on a wall somewhere in big format. In fact I think it is the sort of picture you would be able to buy at Ikea. I don't mean this in a bad way - I think it will go down well with most people and nothing there really hurts anyone or disturbs the peace of their living room. I think your take on it is far better than the original, and I like the composition you have created. Maybe you should have cloned a bit of the twigs the bird holds in it's beak to cover the fact that it's the same bird - unless it is your intention for people to notice that, of course.
Member Bio
Candy Childrey - Biography
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, I am a southerner at heart. My roots are in the south, but I traveled frequently as a child with my family as my Dad was in the U.S. Air Force. Now I live in the sub tropics in Coral Springs, Florida (the Ft. Lauderdale area). My true love is South Florida’s beautiful birds-both year round residents and our winter visitors. One can get completely lost from the stresses of life while observing them. I’m also very interested in the protection of our endangered species.
Not to worry though, my photography traverses all fields. I’m a very eclectic photographer and take images of almost anything that comes my way. One of my favorites, of course, is nature, but old broken down vehicles are also some of my favorite subjects.
My camera equipment is Olympus, and I use Microsoft XP with Photoshop as my editing medium. I enjoy using an image and working it to see how it can be altered or improved.
