For lack of anything else to do this cool Sunday afternoon, I decided to go through some very old images that I almost threw away. Fortunately, I keep almost all the bad stuff, in hopes that sometime I can obtain the right software to maybe make something out of them. You know, make lemonade out of lemons.
Here are three examples. The first is a Vermilion Flycatcher that I photographed a few years back, with one of my older cameras. The bird was so far away, I could hardly get him in my view finder. I was using my 500mm lens with a 1.4 converter. The first is the original, the second is a new edited image. I first ran the original through my Image Focus software, then thru Topaz DeNoise to remove any noise. I then cropped it as shown, done a little more sharpening. I doesn’t look too bad.
Vermilion Flycatcher - original
Vermilion Flycatcher - edited
The second photo is a Bald Eagle, taken down at a nest near Llano, Texas. In this case, I used my 500mm lens as usual, but I also had to use my 2x converter because it was very, very far away. The problem is that when using my 2x converter, my auto-focus is inoperative. So having to manual focus I was quite lucky to get any image at all. As before, I used my Focus Magic software, my OnOne Phototune software, cropped then added sharpening..
Bald Eagle leaving nest - original
Bald Eagle leaving nest - edited
This third photograph is a juvenile Golden Eagle. We were in Michigan visiting relatives. My sister-in-law knew of this nest and took me over to the site. He was about 65 feet off the ground, near the top of a large evergreen fir tree. I had to set up on a little knoll about 150 feet away from the base of the tree to get an angle on the nest. In this case I used my 1.4 converter on my 500mm lens. I first used my Focus Magic again, then the OnOne Phototune software. After cropping and playing with the lights and shadows, then sharpening I came out with the final image.
Golden Eagle off the nest - original
Golden Eagle off the nest - edited
I hope you like the images and you may click on any of them to see an enlargement. Both Focus Magic and Topaz Denoise are available on-line at pretty reasonalbe prices. That also goes for OnOne’s Phototune. That software, by the way, has nothing to do with music. I believe they all have trial versions.
Happy birding!!
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 