Blog Archives
Harrier Portrait
Friends, More book images to work on, this image of a Harrier was tilted so the bird looked wrong. In straightening the image I found that two corners were white background, selecting the white corners, i filled with content-aware. This did a pretty good job of filling the background area, but still had to clone some texture in, after cropping the image, the headroom needed to be increased. So much for the photoshop details, if you need more, just ask. The plumage of this bird and his lemon-yellow eyes mark him as a semi-adult. His gray feathers around his ruff are just starting to appear and when he is totally adult, his back feathers will be very gray. He looks like an owl with his facial disk, but he is a Harrier. til Tomorrow MJ
Before and After
Friends, today I am processing more images for my book on Hawk Ridge, this image of a Northern Goshawk grabbed me but i didn’t have a solution for the problem of no space at the top of the bird’s head. Arthur Morris to the rescue, on his blog Birdsasart, he just gave a video tutorial on adding space that was dynamite for me, you can see his video at: http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2013/01/01/free-photoshop-tutorial-video-i-how-did-that/ . Thanks Artie, In short I also used the detail extractor from Color Effex Pro 4 and used a layer mask to add the details only to the bird. the top image is right out of the camera (raw) and the second is after processing. til Tomorrow MJ
Back From the Edge
Friends, I feel a little sassy and assertive this morning, back from the depths of a head cold that dumped me in my bed for three days, back from the edge of darkness. The face of this broad winged hawk woke me this morning and started giving me a pep talk, something about rising and shining. Well i will rise but the shining will have to wait until i have my fourth cup of coffee, so far only two. This hawk face needed something, so i started working with a new ( to me) piece of software, Color Effex Pro 4. I added some detail extractor and tonal contrast to liven up this image. I would highly recommend the detail extractor for raw images as it can sharpen without adding the outside ghosts that photoshop seems to excel at. While this added some noise to the background (sharpens noise) I could have easily edited that with a layer mask, but later. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:My 2012 in Pictures
Friends, a short summary of my best shots from this year, in response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: My 2012 in Pictures
til Tomorrow MJ
Another Winner
Friends, I know i showed this image last spring, but it bears repeating since it won a monthly spot in our club calendar. These are one day old Canada geese chicks nestled between mama goose and papa goose, when we returned the next day, the whole family had moved across the road to the big lake and they were no longer in good camera range. I love the huddled mass of warm fuzzies, til Tomorrow MJ
One of my Calendar Winners
Friends, this first day after all the festivities I am showing you my winner for this year, this image of a 12 week old Common Loon Chick was taken this summer, this image won the calendar contest in my photo club and adorns the cover of the Calendar for 2013, I am proud of it and waited by the waterside for hours photographing the growth of the two chicks raised by the Adult Loons on Main Dike in Crex Meadows. Dead space at the top was perfect to put our title on the calendar. Hope you enjoy, til Tomorrow MJ
May You Have a Blessed Christmas
Friends, this Gray Jay is a northern bird , they are very drab gray but talk of winter and sunflower seeds, they come to the feeders in the bog of northern Minnesota and are very common up there. Sometimes wonderful things come wrapped in gray small packages, such is my greeting for a happy holiday to you and yours, my family celebrates Christmas so i say Merry Christmas and to all a Happy New Year. til Tomorrow MJ
Another Sunset-Full Moon Rising
Friends, this sunset also has the moon rising, I have seen this sight many times when the Sandhill Cranes are gathering on Crex Meadows before they migrate. This image is the only one i have been able to capture showing the cranes moving across the moon. The exposure is difficult to nail precisely, but this one comes close. Focused on the birds so the sky is a little soft but seems to be a colorful shot for Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays to you all. til Tomorrow MJ
A Christmas birdie
Friends, this Christmas birdie is not your traditional cardinal, but a pine grosbeak (male) who is attracted to sunflower seeds in bird feeders and the pine cones of the northwoods. He is a delicious color and resembles a small parakeet or parrot in his actions. til Tomorrow Happy Holidays MJ
HDR Tree
Friends, this is a bit of color left over from last spring, this is an HDR image which is a composite of three images, one overexposed, one underexposed and one right on. HDR stands for high dynamic range, meaning that the three images can encompass the all the dark details as well as all the light details. In the winter i have more time to process photoshop images and i needed something to fill up my color meter this morning, til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 