Did I improve this pic at all?

[bohonk445]

What else could I have done besides a little crop? I was unable to get an unobstructed view as the Portland Zoo has very natural surroundings i.e. tons of foliage.

Please feel free to show me a few things.

[jburly]

Beautiful picture!! Shame that there just wasn't a better place to be, but sometimes there's just nothing you can do. Except in post... :roll:

I know this is small, but I hope maybe it will be helpful!



I cropped so that you'd be closer to the eagle. Then I used a "paint with light" technique.

1. I created a new layer, filled it with 50% gray, & set the blending mode to "soft light".

2. Next I used the elliptical marquee tool with a feather of 10 pixels (may have to change value with a full res photo) to select an oval area around the eagle.

3. CTRL-I to invert the selection.

4. Select a large, soft paintbrush & paint black on the 50% gray layer. You will be adding shadow to the area outside the oval.

[geo47]

See nothing wrong with your overal pic, the colors on the bird look a little muted, overal, very good. This one is a wild one, but in much better light, however like yours, sometimes you don't get to choose where you get the shot.

[Roy]

In the original, is that branch what he is perched on? That's the thing that bothers me about it most. It draws my eyes away from the bird and I want to look at the bird. :D I'd probably crop it out or something to tone it way down.I wish I could get a shot as good as that though. You sure have to be at the right spot at the right time. Not easy to do. I like it other than the branch.