Putting a Bird on a Bush - Minimalist Composite: I read an article in the British photography magazine, "Digital Camera" (December edition) about the work of photographer Greg Oakley...

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Putting a Bird on a Bush - Minimalist Composite

Nov 17, 2023 11:50:12 #

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I read an article in the British photography magazine, "Digital Camera" (December edition) about the work of photographer Greg Oakley, who has been creating interesting bird composites. They resemble the pictures of birds in some field guides. Typically, the pictures show a colorful bird perched on a flowered branch, with a white background. Oakley has a book out on the topic, "Homage to the Bird." I didn't wish to spend $73 on the book, but I decided to try to make something similar.

Here's how I made this picture:
- Take a photo of a branch or plant in bloom. I used a light table for that.
- Remove the background, making it transparent.
- Duplicate that layer (Ctrl-J).
- Take a photo of a bird and remove its background.
- Size bird to scale (Ctrl-T).
- Sandwich the bird between the two copies of the plant layer.
- Mask out portions of the top (plant) layer to reveal the portions of the bird you want to be seen.
- Add a white background as the bottom layer.