Advice and help with PP sought

[DickyOZ]

This little chick proved nearly impossible to snap - it stayed in dense brush. But I was keen to retrieve something from this shot. (I shoot RAW + JPEG).


I can do a half decent job of cloning out the twig but the white OOF area across the top and on its tail feathers (?) has me beat. I use Faststone as an image editor. Any advice would be most welcome.

Dicky.

[pnodrog]

I can't help as I use photoshop. With a lot of work using layer masks, cloning, burning etc I cold probably manage a bit of a rescue that may not be too obvious but would never do it total justice. If I had taken this photo while on holiday I may even get it to the stage where it could go in the album but I doubt that it could ever be a stand alone print.

[Rob Ekins]

Dicky,
Some serious cloning needed there....

Perhaps trying a different crop that still shows her in her natural environment will save you some pain..

Some quick and dirty examples.

[DickyOZ]

Dicky,
Some serious cloning needed there....

Perhaps trying a different crop that still shows her in her natural environment will save you some pain..

Some quick and dirty examples.

A great idea Rob - I completely overlooked the obvious!

Dicky.

[pnodrog]

Hi Richard, I think with the RAW file and a lot of patience you could do more than you have so far.(certainly with photoshop)

Below is a a quick (well I planed to be quick) effort that could do with a bit of localized sharpening which I have not done.
If it were mine I would work a bit more on the background even to the extent of cloning from another photo if I had one available.



P.S. On looking back at the original I see I have mistakenly cloned out some darker feathers that should be there. Sorry it is not a mistake I would have made if I had taken the photograph or had been in less of a hurry.

[Shadowman]

Richard,

Nice capture, haven't used FastStone for any serious editing, do you have the advanced version? .

[DickyOZ]

Richard,

Nice capture, haven't used FastStone for any serious editing, do you have the advanced version? .

Alas no, I should upgrade.

[DickyOZ]

Hi Richard, I think with the RAW file and a lot of patience you could do more than you have so far.(certainly with photoshop)

Below is a a quick (well I planed to be quick) effort that could do with a bit of localized sharpening which I have not done.
If it were mine I would work a bit more on the background even to the extent of cloning from another photo if I had one available.



P.S. On looking back at the original I see I have mistakenly cloned out some darker feathers that should be there. Sorry it is not a mistake I would have made if I had taken the photograph or had been in less of a hurry.

Thank you Paul, that is a lot better, I have plenty of matching scrub in other attempts to capture the speedy little chick. I can even have a go at cloning the leg lost through motion blur.


Dad will probably hang it on the wall.

[Shadowman]

Alas no, I should upgrade.

There is a healing and cloning tool in the free version, it's a bit erratic to use but works well on removing telephone lines and that sort of thing.

[DickyOZ]

There is a healing and cloning tool in the free version, it's a bit erratic to use but works well on removing telephone lines and that sort of thing.

The free version is a bit erratic but with patience I can get acceptable results in most cases. This one was beyond my skills.

[IzzieK]

Well...this turned out nice already. I am late to this post and Rob and Paul already have the edits and crops. That last one is a good shot (pun intended).