Galapagos #4/Is it Real, or is it Counterfeit?

But all was not lost, with the help of the sharp-eyed detectives who spotted the bill tip work, I went in and redid the image. I think that the results are much better. Ilija, Ramon, Doug: whaddy think?

Thanks a ton to all who played and especially to the sharp-eyed three who helped me create a better image.

ps: As you can see, I have already lightened the dark eyes and did not want to over-do it....

Well, I love the repost even better, but I would still suggest to blur a bit more the edges of the bill. Great image as said though. Something a little more like this IMO looks even more real. What do yuo think?

Congratulationos again.

I would defenitely go for Ramon's repost IMHO. Some of the edges of the bill were still too sharp compared to the rest of the bill in your last repost. The shot itself is really cool! Love the chicks vivid look, heardoo and dark parent really sets the chick off. It might be my work monitor but could there be a slight halo around the parents head, maybe because of lightening the blacks in shadow/highlight??? Great shot Artie......in these kind of situations it is just great to have PS isn't it!

Thanks Ramon. It looks as if your blurring was along the upper section of the bill. I will take another crack at it ASAP.

Arthur Morris said:

But all was not lost, with the help of the sharp-eyed detectives who spotted the bill tip work, I went in and redid the image. I think that the results are much better. Ilija, Ramon, Doug: whaddy think?

Thanks a ton to all who played and especially to the sharp-eyed three who helped me create a better image.

Click to expand...

Sorry for late response, spend the weekend at the beach (some marshes too). Yes the bill tip is much better now, the lower edge follows the dark curve in the lower part of the tip and creates perfect natural feel. Ramon's repost is great too, but I'm not sure I'd noticed that if he didn't tell us. I certainly didn't notice in the first post. In any case great work here by everyone and learning a lot by me.

Arthur Morris said:

Thanks Ramon. It looks as if your blurring was along the upper section of the bill. I will take another crack at it ASAP.

Click to expand...

You're welcome Artie, upper section was blurred but also the lower and a tad on the tip too.

Thanks again. Did you use Gaussian blur?

I used the Blur Tool so I can, easily and quickly apply some blur only to the edges. It is a basic tool, but IMO for these type of needs it can be very usefull.