Hi MK,

Assumptions are always made at your own risk. I have been repairing clipped wings and wingtips and more for more than 15 years now. I always let folks (and in the old days when it was possible to sell a photograph — editors) know when I have done anything major in Photoshop. Such images are never entered in contests where such repairs are not allowed. That said, while it is easy to do a sloppy job of adding a wingtip or a toe, doing those repairs well is a skill that needs to be developed. Everything that I did to repair the image above, is detailed in Digital Basics II, but it will take most folks a while and lots of study and practice to learn to do it well.

And BTW, background clean-up is NOT allowed in most major contests. What you do with your images is your business.

artie

Fabulous images!

I have a question about the edits: while background “cleanup” may be acceptable, should one really be doing any mods at all to the primary subject? I have been under the (possibly naive) impression that all wildlife images and flower images have the primary subject “as shot”. Am I grossly mistaken? I ask because (a) some clipping here or there is the reason I’ve deleted 95% of the BIF photos I’ve captured, and (b) this is the primary reason for many of my “beat yourself up for mistakes” sessions after I return from the field 🙂