New Zealand Native Birds

After completing the wasp and the apples on and under the tree I decided it was time to start adding some wild life.

I have included a beautiful little jewelled gecko which rare as they are I am lucky to have a number living in the bush around where I live, they can be tricky to get photos of though as they scare and move quickly and when they do sun themselves the little beggars usually leave their heads in the bush. I have found a great photo to use though which fits in nicely.

















By far the biggest challenge with wildlife has been the birds, their wings are partially translucent especially in flight.

I had to mask firstly around the edge of the birds and then using the black brush at various opacities I brushed over the wings to alow the back ground in my picture to show through and effect their colour. Giving the Fantastic result seen below. Very whimsical I think. This beautiful fantail picture was kindly provided for the project by Kerry Mitchel, you can see more of her stunning work a http://www.pbase.com/kerrym/root

Using the same process I also added the spoonbill in flight (Top) and the pukeko (below). So that the pukeko would fit in with the background, tree and the apples that it was amongst I also ran a dry brush filter over it and then faded the effect so that it was just enough to make the bird fit with it's surroundings.