sharpening the eye then the whole bird???

[Paulyoly]

lately i've been sharpening the eye first then sharpening the whole bird, i was wondering how many people sharpen certain parts of the bird seperate? I have yet to get photoshop or elements, i'm still using the olympus software that came with my first digital camera. here's a pic that i sharpening around the eye first, then the whole bird, i over sharpened the eye ,but you get the idea.

http://www.pbase.com/image/14955776

[Tammie]

That's a pretty amazing picture!!

[jvhigbee]

That is a fine picture. I have also found it good to sharpen eye first. I do this in photoshop with the sharpen tool before I go to the filters section to sharpen. It seems to make eye a little sharper without oversharpening rest of picture.

[IanF]

Excellent technique. Looks like I will have to practice that one when I get a bit of time.

[Andy Bright]

Another ploy to bring birds to life is to bring out the catchlight by selecting the eye and boosting contrast. Also applying the dodge tool (set to shadows and about 10-20%) can often bring out iris detail that would often be lost.
Andy