Alright, let's have it :)

[Snydremark]

It landed in front of me as I pulled in to work today. I'm still learning to use this lens correctly and would love to hear some good C&C.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2575/4134277496_cb07b1f84f_b.jpg
40D; 100-400L @ 400mm; f/8.0; 1/80sec; ISO 400

[LeuceDeuce]

Very well done.

If only you could have shot a little more open to throw those twigs out of focus. Nothing a little post couldn't fix up.

[Flo]

Eric.lovely capture!!!! All the details are crisp, and the colors are fabulous! Post this one in the Birds!!!!;)

[Snydremark]

Very well done.

If only you could have shot a little more open to throw those twigs out of focus. Nothing a little post couldn't fix up.

Good point. I'm still so focused on getting my subject IN focus that I forget to account for the back/foreground a lot of the time.

How do you do anything about that in PP?

[JimMcrae]

I love everything about this shot. As said, remove the twigs and it's perfect, in my opinion.

[jetcode]

Beautiful bird and perch where the bird is standing. The framing is nice. Crisp capture. It's been said enough about the twigs no need to mention that again.

[lindsaytblum]

How do you do anything about that in PP?

You can use the blur tool to soften the twigs, or create a layer mask or something, then un-blur what you want to have in focus. Hopefully someone can better explain this to you.

Aside from that, lovely shot! It's beautiful :)

[LeuceDeuce]

Good point. I'm still so focused on getting my subject IN focus that I forget to account for the back/foreground a lot of the time.

How do you do anything about that in PP?

I'll show you the best way I know how. Keep in mind that the final product was done quickly, and without the use of my pen & tablet (which I find indespensible when creating masks):

1. Duplicate the background layer.
2. Create a mask for the heron, and foreground logs.
3. Duplicate the masked layer.
4. Apply the mask on the top layer.
5. Invert the mask on the layer below, and apply that layer.
6. On the masked background you can apply the blur of your choice.
7. Add a mask to the heron layer, and clean up the edges.
8. Flatten, Save, and post.

The reason I mask the subject out of the background before blurring it is because you don't want the halo created from blurring the subject surrounding it in the final edit. Better to not blur the subject in the first place.

Please don't judge me on my quick mask ability :)

Edit: After re-reading my post I may need to clarify something: Make sure the heron layer is on the top. If you have the background above the heron, cleaning the edges will be harder.
_

[Snydremark]

Damn! Very nice...yeah, that definitely helps.

Now I have to figure out how to translate what you said into something *I* can do. I only have an O-L-D ass copy of PS7 and pretty much no idea how to use it for that type of thing. :D But thanks for the tips.

Any good references for reading on what a mask is, and how to use them?

[LeuceDeuce]

Everything I did can be done in PS7 as well. No issues there.

Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 was the best book I got as a beginner to post processing. I think the only parts that wouldn't apply to you would be the Camera RAW point. So for you it would be a 6-Point System :) Masking is covered in the book, and yes you can do a good mask with a mouse. It just takes longer because it's not so intuitive to draw with.

If you had a copy of Lightroom, you could do everything there that the book says to do in Camera RAW.

[JimMcrae]

Thanks from me too LD. Just letting you know that I'm lurking and taking notes :)

[jetcode]

Thanks from me too LD. Just letting you know that I'm lurking and taking notes :)

+1^^ for LD too ... I have recently started using the lens blur tool (thanks to this forum) for isolation and it's always an interesting read to learn how others use the tools.

[LeuceDeuce]

I live to give :)

[jetcode]

I live to give :)

and you have a lot of talent and experience to share ...

[FlyingPhotog]

Call me crazy but I don't really see what the rush is to cram this through Photoshop.

It's awfully damn good as is. It's a bird .. In the wild.

IMO, nothing wrong with it being surrounded by some, well, WILD! ;)

[Flo]

Call me crazy but I don't really see what the rush is to cram this through Photoshop.

It's awfully damn good as is. It's a bird .. In the wild.

IMO, nothing wrong with it being surrounded by some, well, WILD! ;)

Lol.I tend to agree.....but on the other hand.Chris did a bang up job...
The first was as good as I would hope to get for sure!

[LeuceDeuce]

Call me crazy but I don't really see what the rush is to cram this through Photoshop.

It's awfully damn good as is. It's a bird .. In the wild.

IMO, nothing wrong with it being surrounded by some, well, WILD! ;)

The original suggestion would have been to shoot with a larger aperture to blur some of those background twigs.

Having missed that opportunity it was asked how to achieve such a thing in Photoshop.

Blurring the background seperates the twigs from the legs and feathers easier, and I can still clearly tell that it's in the wild. It's not as if the woods were replaced with a green muslin.

What you get after you click the shutter is set in the camera, everything you do in post is optional. I'm just giving options :)

FWIW: I also think it's a fantastic shot. I don't generally work on the ones I don't like.

[JimMcrae]

I live to give :)

Got a lend of a tenner? :)

[Snydremark]

You know, Jay. I mostly agree, too....but I REALLY like isolation that shows up in Chris' edit. And it gives me something to play with over the holidays :D

I am perfectly happy with the original, but it's fun to learn a few new tricks; and I definitely have a few other shots that would really benefit from knowing how to do this.

Thanks again to ALL for kind words and comments!

[S.Horton]

Call me crazy but I don't really see what the rush is to cram this through Photoshop.

It's awfully damn good as is. It's a bird .. In the wild.

IMO, nothing wrong with it being surrounded by some, well, WILD! ;)

+1

Excellent capture!

[stsva]

Looks like an excellent shot to me. The nice thing about the background branches is that they flow toward the bird, emphasizing it as the main subject. I did a little more restrained blur on the branches, and also cropped to change the framing on the bird (I would have liked a little more open area in front of the bird, if possible).