Squawking

[leo]

Nother PSE'd blown background shot, I like the way this one turned out a bit better than the other one ...

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=377901

Oly E 510, ZD 50x200ED, FL 200mm, Mpod, RAW, FF

 

[Hoss]

Good save, Leo. I think you got the PP down.

Hoss

 

[Browtine]

Another nice save. And I think I agree that this one came out just a bit better. Something about the sand looks more natural I think. Great detail in the bird's feathers, too. Mind sharing how you recovered the background using PSE? I'm always looking to add to my bag of tricks...

 

[leo]

Thanks all

Another nice save. And I think I agree that this one came out just a bit better. Something about the sand looks more natural I think. Great detail in the bird's feathers, too. Mind sharing how you recovered the background using PSE? I'm always looking to add to my bag of tricks...

Glad to share, I can’t really do a “tutorial” as I generally just mess with the pics till I get tired or get something I like …I cannot always tell if pic is fix-able till I mess with it some ... and I don’t always end up with exactly what I want …

I do not use/do any thing fancy, to me the key is isolating the individual areas to work on, taking my time and having lots of patience … each pic will get different amt’s and combinations of enhancement … here is basically what I did with it … any questions let me know and I will try and answer them.

Done in PSE 6...

RAW … I don't know how to isolate here so I just concentrated on the b/ground, using primarily exposure/temp adjustments to soften and to get a more sand look, color and texture …

EDIT …. Isolate the subject with the “quick selection tool“....

Click on select > inverse (isolate the b/ground) .... continue to fine tune b/ground by adjusting lighting and colors until the b/ground is like I think I want it.

Select > inverse … isolate the subject) ... use lighting/colors to try to recover anything I lost on the subject in RAW and enhance it to taste)

Ctrl D (to "un-isolate" the subject)

Hope this helps, it’s kinda a trial and error, trying and using any adjustments that I think may help … there is always the delete feature when it doesn't go where I want …. and I don't always get what I’m after or something good enough to post .... and I probably could not exactly duplicate any pic exactly with my method

I realize that their are probably a few different ways to accomplish this in PSE ... this is the way I do it and it works for me

 

[Hoss]

Added your tutorial to the tricks of the trade sticky, Leo. Neat way to save a photo that would otherwise go to the trash can.

Hoss

 

[leo]

Thanks Hoss,

Neat way to save a photo that would otherwise go to the trash can.

Seem like I have to do that often

 

[wvdawg]

Good one leo - like the angle of the light giving a great shadow!