[ray]

Taken today

[Markulous]

Think you need to get the blowtorch out and burn all that wood thingy right back................... to reveal a very nice Nuthatch!

One of the few UK birds that's actually on the increase (apparently) and moving northwards. Global warming?

[Dabhand16]

Got to agree with Mark here. The wood in the bottom RHS draws the eye far too much. I'd like just a tad more space behind the bird too.

There appears to be a dark outline around the head, down the back and on the chest and also a halo from the legs to the tail, so I wonder if this is due to sharpening?

The positives are the nicely blurred BG and the composition. As a picture, I have to say I prefer the one in the sharing forum.

[ray]

ive tried my best, but im afraid im not so good with photoshop

[Rob Barron]

Here you go Ray, rather than clone out the board altogether I have used what was there of the rough wood and cloned it in. I have done it using lots of very small areas so that repeating patterns are not too obvious. I then burnt it in and desaturated slightly so that all the focus stays on the beautiful bird.

Hope you like it,

Cheers,
Rob

[ray]

WOW that's great rob ill practice that...Ray

[Dabhand16]

Rob's version is exactly what I had in mind

With regard to Photoshop - just keep practicing and it will gradually get better. You can't loose if you keep the original file - if it gets messed up, you can just bin it and try again.

You might find the Photoshop tutorial DVD's handy - they take you through processes step by step with videos of the screen so you can see what is happening. They are available to buy, or some mags have them on coverdiscs.