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| It has been raining and gray here for days that feel like weeks. It seems to make the red cardinals stand out even more than usual. Click to enlarge. |
"Winter is the slow-down
Winter is the search for self
Winter gives the silence you need to listen
Winter goes gray so you can see your own colors..."
On the technical side, when I was picturing red cardinals on gray backgrounds, I realized that although my camera can take a selectively colored photograph like that, I did not know how to change an existing color image to only show reds and grays. I figured
out how to do it with Photoshop. (I have CS 5.) I opened this jpg and
called it Layer 1. Then I chose Color Range from the Selection menu, and
then Reds from the Selected Colors pull down. I copied that selection
to a new layer. Then I used the Adjustment option from the Image menu to
change Layer 1 to Black and White. That's it. Red cardinals on gray
backgrounds.
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| Works well for house finches, too. |
I have a wonderful cardinal story. When Stephen and I lived in Searsport, we had a cardinal visit us one day. He loved our feeder so much that he brought his mate to eat there too. Pretty soon, they had a little girl and then they brought their little boy. It was our wonderful little cardinal family that returned for several years. We both loved cardinals!
ReplyDeleteWe had a cardinal family in New York City. The adults were eating together, sometimes the male giving the female a seed, beak to beak. Then male came to our place many times a day, loading his beak with raisins (from us) and sometimes a worm (found on his on). He worked so hard it was impressive. Then one day he showed up with a little brown guy. Then the female showed up with another little one. It was wonderful, so I know how you feel.
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