Quick question about owl photo

[Bubbahotep]

I use a PC version. I'm using Topaz Photo AI and the Topaz suite (Denoise AI, Sharpen AI, and Gigapixel AI). The Photo AI changes the images the most but provides the fewest number of user controls.

 

[Bubbahotep]

I'd do this!View attachment 41207

Did you change the sky?

 

[SteveReid]

Did you change the sky?

Luminar Neo. Very easy to use. Your image is very good and needs very little and sometimes changing the background will do the trick.

 

[Whiskeyman]

IMO, it would have been much better to remove the limbs at top-center and top-right before changing the sky. The work done on the aforementioned limbs is too obvious. The clouds are a good add.

 

[fredheidepriem]

I'm playing around with the new Topaz Photo AI. While I wish it allowed users greater control over the processing, like the subject sharpening in Sharpen AI, I think the resulting images are more detailed and resolved. I don't have the old image for you to compare the attached image to but I would like to hear what you think of the image's detail and rendering.

I apologize to those who feel this should have been posted in the Post Processing forum. I realized that after I had just posted and gotten my first response.

View attachment 40834

It’s beautiful!

 

[Bubbahotep]

IMO, it would have been much better to remove the limbs at top-center and top-right before changing the sky. The work done on the aforementioned limbs is too obvious. The clouds are a good add.

I agree that I should have removed those limbs in hindsight. I just struggle with the new background because it sure didn't look like that when I took the photo. I guess it looks natural to those who weren't there when I snapped the picture.

 

[DRwyoming]

I agree that I should have removed those limbs in hindsight. I just struggle with the new background because it sure didn't look like that when I took the photo. I guess it looks natural to those who weren't there when I snapped the picture.

The big issue I have with those kinds of sky replacements are they're impossible from a depth of field standpoint when filling the frame with something like an owl through a 500mm lens. Sure many folks that aren't photographers may not notice that keeping both the owl and the clouds sharp with a long lens isn't really possible in a single image but to my eyes sky replacements in long lens wildlife photography often jump right off the screen and detract from the beautiful main subject.

No right or wrong here as there's lot's of ways to create wildlife art but it's not for me.