Eastern Phoebe Looking at Me (Graphic Novel filter)

I've already posted too many phoebe photos in a row, but I really liked the pose and the way that this picture turned out with the Graphic Novel filter. (The colorized version is ok, too.) Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Eastern Phoebe Preening Redo (Graphic Novel filter)

I had previously processed this image with a dry brush filter, but I like the way that the Graphic Novel filter brought out the lines (where lines could be brought out.) Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Eastern Phoebe in the Leaves (Graphic Novel filter)

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Eastern Phoebe in the Leaves (Redo, Graphic Novel filter)

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Eastern Phoebe (Graphic Novel filter)

This is another photo re-visitation in which I applied the Graphic Novel filter and colorized it. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Phoebe on a Cool Looking Branch (Graphic Novel filter)

I really wanted to salvage this image, but... I'm not sure how much was there to actually salvage. Today's picture is a crop from the original image, which made this one quite small. Try as I might to get something on the bird, I couldn't get it to turn out as I might have hoped. 

What really shines in this image, though, is the branch on which the bird is perched. I really like how it turned out, especially in the Graphic Novel filter and the colorized version as well. Trees and branches (with lots of texture) tend to lend themselves as interesting subjects for the Graphic Novel filter treatment. 

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Aurora HDR 

Graphic Novel filter

Graphic Novel filter with color layered in

Phoebe on a ... (Graphic Novel filter)

I desperately wanted to call this picture "Phoebe on a Tree-be," but it was so kitschy that I couldn't bring myself to do it. Besides, the Phoebe isn't on a tree; it's on a tree branch.

What I found challenging about this particular project was the darkness of the image. This was due partly to the shaded environment and partly to generating a shutter speed that would capture the subject. When I brightened the image, however, the white streak of a road in the background became overly bright, somewhat overshadowing the bird in the foreground. So... I brightened the image just a little, and I also merged the color with my Graphic Novel filtered version at 50% opacity. (My favorite of the three is the BW Graphic Novel version.)

Thanks for stopping by and for looking at my pictures! :)

Maybe a Phoebe? (Graphic Novel filter)

A Phoebe appeared outside the other day, and the lighting was somewhat poor. This was one of my first attempts, having bumped my ISO up to 400 (and my exposure bias down a little bit,) I managed to get an exposure time of 1/30 sec. The original is slightly fuzzy. The graphic novel gives it a little bit of definition, which maybe carries over into the colorized version of the image. I did take several shots, changing my settings as I went along, so maybe we'll see if I came up with something better. Thanks for stopping by and for looking at my pictures! :) 

A Surprise Visit from Phoebe (Graphic Novel filter)

A couple of weeks ago, this Phoebe (I believe it's a Phoebe) stopped by for a visit. I happened to see on on the branches of a fallen tree limb. Thanks for stopping by!

Phoebe (Graphic Novel filter)

I believe that this bird, visiting my yard, was a Phoebe. It's been a while since I've seen them around, so I was a little bit surprised. Below is the BW Graphic Novel, the Colorized Graphic Novel, and the original edited version. Thanks for stopping by!

Phoebe in the Leaves (Graphic Novel filter)

As I have been poking around on Photoshop's Graphic Novel filter, I have usually been using the Painted Gray preset, adjusting the darkness level to get three shades to layer together at varying opacity levels. In addition to the Painted Gray (top), I also played around a little bit with the Twisted Plot preset, which as more of a hard black and white feel to it. It's difficult to put into words, but it's perhaps easier to see as you compare the two photos below. The top definitely has a grayness to it; does the second have a twisted plot? 

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures!  

Bird in a Tree, Maybe a Phoebe?

Here the Phoebe (I think it's a Phoebe...) was posing very nicely for me in the tree. I like the quizzical look on the bird's head as it is looking in my direction, probably wondering what I was doing....

Thanks for stopping by!

Phoebe Looking Back from the Branches (Dry Brush Filter)

Here are two edits of an image of a Phoebe that I saw earlier this fall. (Yes, I know it feels like winter already, but technically I think it's still fall until December.) I like the way that the bird is glancing over its shoulder here in this image. The first edit is with Adobe's Dry Brush Filter, which I like to use. The other is the image without the Dry Brush Filter. (Looking at the smaller images, it's not as easy to tell the difference between them. The difference is more apparent when looking at the images full size. I tend to like the effect that the filter has on the pictures, but... it's not for everybody.) Thanks for stopping by! 

Eastern Phoebe on a Branch (Dry Brush Filter)

The Eastern Phoebe is a pretty little bird that visited our backyard this past summer. It's been a while since we've last seen them; I suppose they'll be around again next summer. Thanks for stopping by!

Eastern Phoebe in the Green (Dry Brush Filter)

I'm pretty sure, from the pattern in its wings, that this is an Eastern Phoebe. I've seen this bird here in my yard before, although, comparing notes with my bird book, this one seems more gray (as compared to the one pictured in the book which seems more brown.) I like these little black/white/gray birds. Thanks for stopping by!

Eastern Phoebe (Round 2) (Dry Brush Filter)

Here's another view of the Eastern Phoebe that was featured in yesterday's post. Thanks for stopping by!

Eastern Phoebe (Dry Brush Filter)

To the best of my determination, this was an Eastern Phoebe that I saw the other day. It was a little tricky figuring out what this bird was. One big help (sometimes) is, in Google Chrome, to right-click on an image and "search by similar". (I saw a lot of great bird images this way!) I happened to find something on this list that got me to looking at the phoebe, and from there, I went to a bird identification site and narrowed it down to Minnesota and found... ta, da! The Eastern Phoebe. Thanks for stopping by!

Mystery Bird: Eastern Phoebe

This little bird is a mystery to me. I saw it flying strange patterns in my backyard. (I say 'strange', because it wasn't flying like the birds that we usually see in our backyard.) I'm not quite sure what it is.

5/16/15 Update: Mystery solved - This bird is an Eastern Phoebe.