Background of shots

[Seajay]

This is the first time I've put an image in a thread so I hope it works. Pete (Eeyore) please note - he's my mentor

Why I've hopefully put this in for critique is I think the image of the actual bird is good enough for the main Gallery but the background is totally unacceptable therefore have put it in the forum bit where I suppose you can delete them when you've finished.

What I would like to know is how would you rescue this image or if you would even bother?

Thanks, Colin

Please be critical I will never move forward if people are not honest.

[glsammy]

Firstly, the only thing that would prevent that shot from going in the main Gallery is its crop size. The image is absolutely fine so far as quality is concerned.

You've got the bird spot on. If you wanted to alter the background, to knock it back a bit, there's plenty of way of doing it.

I've had a quick go:



I masked around the bird and the branch, inverted it so I was working just on the background. Photoshop has a feature called lens blur, this is what I applied to the selection. You can vary the amount and aspects of the blur until there's nothing left at all if you want to!
After that I reduced the brightness of the background.

[Muggsy]

quite a difference

[pressld2]

Very nice shot Seajay!

Graham's work on the background has definitely improved it but I didn't personally find it overly distracting in the original. If it were my shot I wouldn't have worried about it.

Dave P.

[Ollie]

Hi Colin, like Dave P said I myself didn't find the background distracting either.

The bird was spot on for focus and exposure and that's what took my eye not the background. It's not always possible to get a clean background.

Admitted Graham's edit has toned it down quite a bit, but it was a very nice image anyway
Roger

[mh68]

Ditto Roger and Dave`s comments. Both versions look good to me, I prefer to see some elements in the background as opposed to a clean,plain one.The latter doesnt look as natural to my eyes despite being popular with many people.

Mark H

[glsammy]

Just to make it clear, I agree with you all on the original. I thought it was just fine as it was. Not noisy, there's nothing wrong with seeing it as it was.

[Seajay]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Firstly, the only thing that would prevent that shot from going in the main Gallery is its crop size. The image is absolutely fine so far as quality is concerned.

You've got the bird spot on. If you wanted to alter the background, to knock it back a bit, there's plenty of way of doing it.

I've had a quick go:



I masked around the bird and the branch, inverted it so I was working just on the background. Photoshop has a feature called lens blur, this is what I applied to the selection. You can vary the amount and aspects of the blur until there's nothing left at all if you want to!
After that I reduced the brightness of the background.

Graham I am most impressed! I do not know how to do any of these things, however I have bought Elements 6 for Dummies (just about sums me up for working on images) so I'll read up on masking, inverting and lens blur. I have only read the first chapter so far.

The other good thing is it's still the original image - all that's being done is blurring the background which is acceptable I think.

I personally think that in this case the background was too much to swallow. For some reason I found it extremely irritating, it was competing with the subject though many of you don't seem to agree. It's strange how people see things differently. Looking at Graham's work I feel much more at ease now.

Finally I take it I observed the correct procedure for putting an image in a thread i.e. uploading a small version of the image to the forum, cutting and pasting it in.? If I did it's pretty simple really. What I did was open two links to WAB.

Thank you all for your help very much appreciated

Colin

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Seajay

Graham I am most impressed! I do not know how to do any of these things, however I have bought Elements 6 for Dummies (just about sums me up for working on images) so I'll read up on masking, inverting and lens blur. I have only read the first chapter so far.

The other good thing is it's still the original image - all that's being done is blurring the background which is acceptable I think.

I personally think that in this case the background was too much to swallow. For some reason I found it extremely irritating, it was competing with the subject though many of you don't seem to agree. It's strange how people see things differently. Looking at Graham's work I feel much more at ease now.

Finally I take it I observed the correct procedure for putting an image in a thread i.e. uploading a small version of the image to the forum, cutting and pasting it in.? If I did it's pretty simple really. What I did was open two links to WAB.

Thank you all for your help very much appreciated

Colin

You did it right! By cutting and pasting, I assume you mean the forum code. You had no need to make it small though, 880x 600 is the ideal size as this is the size the site software uses for the screen image.
I suggest you upload a larger version to the main Gallery, (Don't forget to get the title correct!) the original is certainly good enough, never mind the background.

[Brocker]

Nice work Seajay. The shot is certainly a good one. I did not find the background distracting. The sought of backgrounds that spoil wildlife pictures are usually ones with an un-natural or man made look or feel. Also images where the background is almost the same colour as the animal or bird. This is good as it is part from, as Graham says, the crop size. Well done.