I captured the below image of a Red-winged Blackbird this past February while co-leading Art Morris’ IPT (Instructional Photo Tour) in Southwest Florida for a couple of days. The blackbird landed on a perch close to a Cormorant that was drying its feathers and resting. As soon as the blackbird started calling and moving closer to the Cormorant the Cormorant closed it’s wings and started moving up and down the perch readjusting its position. Every once in a while the Cormorant would shout back at the blackbird, the two of them continued to argue over the area and it was fun to watch them interact. The below image is a composite of the two while resting. I do wish the perches were connected. To enhance my silhouettes I used a curve adjustment in Photoshop. I also sharpened the images with the Unsharp Mask filter.
Image © 2012/Denise Ippolito Photography
Image © 2012/Denise Ippolito Photography
The Cormorant trying to reposition itself after being startled by the Blackbird
Image © 2012/Denise Ippolito Photography
The Cormorant shouting back to the blackbird
If you would like to make a brush preset in Photoshop that will be similar to a “stamper” from an image that has a black silhouette against a white background it will be very easy to do. First make sure that your image is no larger than 2500 pixels on the longest side. To do that go to IMAGE>IMAGE SIZE. Next go back to the top drop down menu and select EDIT> DEFINE BRUSH PRESET a small dialogue box will appear and you can name your brush preset. Once you have done that you will be able to use your saved brush preset as you would any other brush.
You can see Denise’s website at www.deniseippolito.com.
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