Been wanting to try this for a while now with a poor capture. Not sure if this is the right place (please feel free to move it). I'd love to see what people might do with this simple raw image.

Took this (snapshot)from my upstairs studio, through window glass, sideways along the house during our recent snow storm in Atlanta.

It's awkward, with the (soft) female cardinal looking out of frame near the edge. The black band along the left side is where the window and/or house limited the image.

Yes . . . A poor photo. (Hehe, I love a challenge!)

I am very curious how any of you might crop or process it to make something of it? Can a silk purse be made from this sow's ear?

Although obviously not sufficient quality to be "submitted for critique", any and all comments are, of course, welcome.

Anyhow . . . Thought this might be fun!

Hey Cathy,

Thanks for sharing. I think it is a nice photo. The main challenge, to me, is not the post processing, but the branches. They create too much of a distraction...particularly as one is cutting the poor cardinals' head off in one section. As far as cropping, you might want to consider making a shot like this into more of a panoramic-like photo.

James

"I am very curious how any of you might crop or process it to make something of it? Can a silk purse be made from this sow's ear?"

Hi James,
Thanks, you are being very kind. I do realize that this snap-shot is full of 'issues' though, and knew that from the get-go.

Since no one else wanted to play (lol) I tried some approaches myself (never said the bird needed to be included!) These cropping attempts are the limit of my creativity/skill though.

??

Hope you don't mind that I keep trying. I am determined to improve!

(The nice thing about attaching rather than embedding an image is that it's not as immediately embarrassing, haha)

next . . .

. . .and now for something 'completely different'. . .

I thought a "through a rainy window" or in this case melted snow I guess, approach might work.

Jim, that's pretty neat and entirely appropriate for our once-a-year Atlanta snowstorm. It looks as bone-chillingly cold as it was that day! I hadn't actually considered using effects and I like what you did here.

Thanks!

I like the tone and mood of this one, and just saturated and sharpened the bird a bit.

I like what you did, Robyn, the bird seems warmer and more detailed, especially around the face. Draws my eye in differently.

(Now that it's nearly 70 here in Atlanta, it's hard to believe that scene was outside my window less than a week ago!)

Thank you for working with my image. I love to see how others 'see' and creatively problem-solve. It will certainly help me improve my 'eye' and skills. I hope others like me will benefit too!

okay....I am new here and love to pay with Adobe Photoshop as well as my cheap little Kodak...I know....I am sure I will get flack for that...oh well...it suits me for now....

Anyways...since it was late at night and I knew I would not get approved before morning, I found this and decided to take the challenge...this is what I did...