Bird on a Bird Cage

This Little Blue Heron decided to check in on us while we were having dinner on our back porch without electricity after Hurricane Matthew. The screen is blown out there I could get a really nice shot of him. He is a real beauty! Usually I paint these guys, but this time I decided to try out Lucis Pro 6.0.9 (no longer available) on the bird and really liked the results (Enhancement sliders R91/G101/B19 & Assign Original Image Color 5/95). Used the Camera Raw Filter to remove a slight amount of noise the Lucis Pro filter added. On a stamped layer above, Topaz Texture Effects 2 (see sidebar for website link) was applied using the Texture and Vignette filters. The filter mask was used to get the effect correct. Last step was to use the now free Nik Viveza 2 to draw more focus to the face of the bird. That was it. The birds are so pretty around here!…..Digital Lady Syd