I took two photos next to each other and blended them in Photoshop. Then I added texture and, lines and a vignette. Bryant Park is an odd place — migrants of all sorts wind up there.
Created in Photoshop. NIKON D750, f-stop f/5.6, exposure time 1/125 sec. ISO 2200, focal length 400mm, and max aperture 5.
This Hermit Thrush was standing in green grass – boring! So I perched it in grasses photographed on the High Line the day before. Outlines and filters plus other effects created this misty image.
Created in Photoshop. Used 20141102_High-Line-extension_10.jpg for the background. NIKON D750, f-stop f/8, exposure time 1/1000sec. ISO 720, focal length 85mm, and max aperture 4.3
Tricks of layer styles and transparencies of a Corel Painter version of the Hermit Thrush in Photoshop produced this other worldly effect.
Created in Photoshop and Corel Painter. NIKON D610, f-stop f/5.6, exposure time 1/500sec. ISO 3200, focal length 400mm, and max aperture 5.6
The foreground is original. The leaves really were that color! I added duplicates of the branches and applied effects in Photoshop.
Created in Photoshop. NIKON D610, f-stop 5.6, exposure time 1/500sec. ISO 1600, focal length 400mm, and max aperture 5.
Version 2. Response to a request to make the bird stand out.
This softly colored photo of a female Purple Finch needed very little work to enhance it. I added a few outlines in white for separation.
Created in Photoshop. NIKON D610, f-stop 7.1, exposure time 1/500sec. ISO 5000, focal length 400mm, and max aperture 5.
Version 2. Added more definition to the bird and altered background.
This intent little Black-and-white Warbler was taken at Jamaica Bay in the Fall. I wanted to have Fall colors in the background, so I used a muted reddish photo of leaves taken a few days before in Central Park for the background.
Created in Photoshop with 20141002_Central_Pk_05 for background. NIKON D610, f-stop f7.1, exposure time 1/800 sec., ISO 1250, focal length 400mm, and max aperture 5.
I liked the background in the first version as it makes the bird and branch part of the scenery. I deleted the second version.
The sparrows were coming and going like mad and splashing away. Making a composite of 5 images reproduces the feeling. I grayed out the background and added a soft tree to it to balance the composition.
Composite of numbers 51 to 55 in Photoshop. NIKON D610, f-stop 6.3, exposure time 1/200sec., ISO 150·to 100, focal length 400mm, and max aperture 5.
A happy Thrasher who’s found a ripe berry. He flew to the ground with it a shook the berry by the stem. Odd! Some light outlining was all it needed, along with some color enhancement in Lightroom and Photoshop.
Created in Photoshop. NIKON D610, f-stop 1/5.6, exposure time 1/320 sec., ISO·1600, focal length 400 mm, and max aperture 5.
