Uncaging a bird

[Ding Carpio]

Tried shooting the caged but-still-majestic Philippine Eagle in Malagos but the bird stayed too close to the cyclone wire so could not press the lens on the wire to make them disappear through diffraction.

Since the bird was moving slowly, I kept shooting in the hopes that two shots would have similar pose but what was hidden by the wires in one photo would be exposed in the other.

I was rewarded for my patience. Here are the two shots.



Then, layering and aligning them in PS, doing a bit of masking and cloning, the final product.

[tina mallari]

WOW Your patience obviously paid off. Beautiful outcome !

[alainpascua]

Hi Ding!

I will be in Davao in May, I hope to drop by in Malagos and get pics of the Philippine Eagle even though in captivity. Hope to be able to hav the chance that you have.

Regards!

Alain

[Edwin Matias]

wow... great work...

[eman campos]

ahhh .... the patience of the obsessed.

Great work indeed!

Thanks for sharing your technique. Reminds of the "stacking" thing.

Reminds me of Malagos as well.

geocities.com/lakbay_gubat/myvisit.html

First 2 photos are not mine though.

In all the photos i've taken, this one puzzled me.



I was thinking if the monkey in the middle and standing might be trying to tell me something.

Or maybe the monkey thought i'm his brother and wondering why I was now out of the cage and he's still in.

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

now THAT is incredible!

Setting a bird free... even if digitally.

[Teddy Regpala]

That's not just "a bird" ... you uncaged one of Philippine's pride! ;D

Very very nice Ding. Your subject is worth the time and effort you put on it to uncaged it. Bravo!

I thought about doing the same thing with some birds I shot. But my cloning and masking skills, or the lack there of, can't make it possible.

[Ding Carpio]

Thanks, guys.

Ted, that's a vey nice perspective: uncaging a pride of our country.

It was also rewarding that, while I was shooting it, I overheard a couple of German and Filipino tourists asking each other if the bird was the Phil Eagle. I butt in and, aside from telling them it was, went on to discuss with them its habitat and even shared the anecdote (albeit embarrasing) when we came up with the Flora & Fauna coin series and mispelled the scientific name of the bird on the 50 centavo coin.

I never considered myself an expert on avifauna but the tourists were so amazed at my "wealth" of knowledge that they thought I worked there! He-he. I guess, in a community of blind people, the one-eyed man is truly god.

[Lydia Robledo]

He, he Ding. First, you are really matiyaga! You beat the cyclone. There's a lot of learning when you go out in the wild. What I studied for 4 years, I have to say, I could learn out of school (like counting money). BTW, did the Germans give you a tip? With your get-up, I'm sure they were expecting some freebies. Did they ask if you are the owner? telyd

[Elvin Sansona]

well what can i say with Mastah's "disciples". very good pp'ing!

[Ely Teehankee]

Your subject fits to a "T" on your pictures. I never imagined that this could be done in this manner. Thank you Ding for sharing your process and technique. Mabuhay.