Cloning tool and the yellow-headed Amazon parrot

Yellow-headed Amazon Parrot at Kangaroo Farm, Kelowna

I photographed the above parrot a few weeks ago and just got around to working with the image today.  I decided that numerous areas could be improved by making them disappear.  Photoshop has many ways to achieve this task, but I find that the clone-stamp tool (see icon inset) is one of the best.

The inset image of the parrot was before I removed the distractions.  Two branches, a blue dish, and a leg ring were the target of the clone tool.  It takes numerous strokes, many brush changes, and a careful selection process to get it just right.  I like to work on the full-sized image first and then reduce it to whatever proportions to make the alterations as seamless as possible.

The resulting image had far fewer distractions and displayed the bird in a more natural-looking setting.  I use this technique often when I need to alter parts of an image.  The magic-healing tool is faster and works well when small spots or annoyances are present, but the area to be healed has to be bordered by a homogenous background without much detail.  

Yellow-headed Amazons are endangered; they live in northern Central America and parts of Mexico.  The one I photographed was a rescue and is being treated with great care and attention.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com


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