Ring Necked Parakeets

[Stan]

Often see these flyng around Barnes WWT and perching in the trees but usually without a clear view. We were lucky yesterday that just as we arrived early in the morning a number of them were perching in the leafless trees in the courtyard and by using the balcony above the shop I was able to shoot at more or less eye level and full frame

There were two in this particular tree, one perched at the top
1/500, f8, ISO 400, 280mm


and another a little lower down
1/320, f8, ISO 400, 280mm


who then got a bit lonely and climbed to the top to sit beside the first one
1/400, f8, ISO 400, 170mm


Stan

[Dave s]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

I like the composition if the third one Stan

[Montana 5]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Superb as always Stan.

Doug.

[paulr5604]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Nice shots I like the pose in the second one

[Alan_H]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Well done Stan

Alan

[Stan]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Thanks guys, the only thing missing is a better sky but by the time the sun came out with the blue sky and puffy clouds the birds had gone

Stan

[tesarver]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

++ Stan

Tom

[Norman]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

They're pretty common now all around London. I believe they started colonisation, probably from escapees, in SE London and have slowly spread clockwise around the Thames Valley and are now common throughout the suburbs. Where I live, in Ealing, they have become quite a nuisance. They strip the local trees pretty bare of early growth. I live in a cul-de-sac opposite a playing field and a hundred or more roost in the trees opposite my house. They frequently visit my bird feeders.

[Norman]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

should have said .... nice shots BTW. Must get back to Barnes soon myself.

[Stan]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Cheers Tom

They strip the local trees pretty bare of early growth. I live in a cul-de-sac opposite a playing field and a hundred or more roost in the trees opposite my house

yes, I have seen them roosting in the trees around the WWT car park in the past

Stan

[Stan]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

the only thing missing is a better sky

Following Colin's tutorial
I grabbed a few shots of the sky this morning to replace the bland sky from some of these images - here is an example

Stan

[wayne2418]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Its amazing the difference it makes Stan ....

[Norman]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Did you cut the birds out or use a blending mode? A lot of the detail has been lost from the feathers where they are against the sky.

[Stan]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Its amazing the difference it makes Stan

thanks Wayne - it really is very simple and a two minute job. This may differ slightly from Colin but all i did was open the parakeet image and the sky in photoshop, first making sure the pixel dimensions for the sky were the same as for the parakeet (just makes the job easier)

With the parakeet image open, select all and then copy and close image fown. With sky open, edit and paste the parakeet which will become layer 1. With that layer active, use the magic wand tool to select the sky, feather the selection by 1 px and hit "delete" on the keyboard and the bland sky will disappear leaving the new sky. Flatten and then any other pp you may need before a sharpen and save

Did you cut the birds out or use a blending mode? A lot of the detail has been lost from the feathers where they are against the sky.

See above for method. This image is not the original one posted so I may have processed it a bit different which could account for less detail, although I am doing nothing with the main body of the bird. There could be some minor loss of detail around the edges due to the feathering and also due to final sharpening where i would add a layer mask and run a small brush around the edges to ensure a better blend between the bird and sky

Here is one of the three originally posted, with a new sky and comparing side by side on my screen I cant see any difference in detail

stan

[MicroWyred]

Re: Ring Necked Parakeets

Nice set Stan enhanced even more with the edition of the blue sky.

Dave.