Sharp focus, very good in-flight shot. Left wing down- turn to portside.

No kidding! I see the rope that was cloned LOL
Otherwise - agreed with Raj who knows all about portside & starboard turns.
SAM & SAAB

Amazing Ritchie!!!! I don't know how you do it, but you do. This image is worthy of placement in a educational book of raptors. Excellent as Always!!!!!!!!

Super focus and lighting. love the sky.

A nice shot Richie.

A wonderful capture Richie - the details even the eye are so clear - beautiful shot.

Come on, you're surely better than this.
Not sure if this is a genuinely wild bird, but it definitely isn't in its right background/environment.

Impressive bird and well-spotted.

Such a wing span, they are beautiful raptors. tigs=^..^=

Good detail and sharpness shot on the bird.....

If SAM was right in her above comment, it would have been a FBWB (Flight By Wire Bird), lol.
Excellent capture (as usual Richie).

OK, so you must either live on a mountain top or in a very high tree house... I am in awe at not only how you mange to capture these enraptured creatures but also the clarity and details that enriches these shots. Bravo!

Beautiful capture of this marvelous looking bird with such detail - excellent post work did you replace the sky? I'll have to try that sometime

Stunning capture Richie.

Fake! i agree with MJ. why not just put it in the manipulation category R? is there something wrong with manips these days? if so im off this site and just leave it to you fotographers.

Colour Gradient on an otherwise white sky...Are all images on here straight out of camera,Or are they enhanced with an ND,Polariser or Gradient filter.Is their exposure toned down or even their highlights adjusted ?...Is this classed as Manipulation ?,Every image should go into the Manipulation category in that case.....R.

If a filter is used in front of the lens like in the good old days, then it will be straight out of the camera...
Obviously, most images will require some work to bring out their best qualities. Depending on the image, sensors still aren't good enough to capture the full dynamic range using a single setting of Aperture and Shutter Speed, so editing is done to rectify that. Corrections can be made to White Balance and Sharpening will invariably need to be applied. The list of what you can do to an image without it becoming a manipulation is pretty extensive. The only real proviso, is that you don't go totally bonkers with the sliders!!
However, I feel, that you have 'replaced' the sky with something that wasn't there. If you can't get it back by normal editing - Shadow/Highlight recovery, levels, etc. and have to resort to other means, then just say so. It doesn't make any difference to the viewer, all they want is a pleasing image to look at and I'm pretty sure that if you admitted that you had replaced the background, then they would just say 'OK, probably looks better for it'.
That's my take on it anyway...

I don't know how many times I have to say this but the sky has NOT been replaced..It's a gradient filter done with the gradient tool in PS,Not a separate sky from another image,If you care to look that closely you will see an area at the birds right wingtip that I failed to spot when editing,This contains the original colour that the sky was.I will not post a shot where anything has been replaced from another image without stating that fact..I reiterate the background has NOT been replaced..If you can't see that all well and good,I'm done explaining..

Hey Richie,

why not shut everyone up and put them in their place by posting the original with EX Values from the camera? thats what i would do :) no use in getting all worked up about it...we all get the hot plate from time to time... Welcome to Ceades!

Now as for your Gradient, or ramp in color...gradual shade of color ect... i dont see the blue changing from dark to light that much? i see white clouds is all. Whoa.. to get all that blue color to travel that far you really had to drag them bars, eh?

so if there was that look of what most of us call a true gradient? (gradual change from blue to white) it would make a difference, or prove that you did use the gradient tool and just not painted in the sky blue/sky-replacement...whatever. now im not saying you didnt use the gradient tool but...still some things i just dont understand as i true Picture Manipulator, myself.

around the opened wing you sure can see in between the top three feathers where you did...well a most sloppy job and the strongness of blue-to-white contrast is most definitely there. so gradient or paint? now there is blue tint left on the wing..huummm! well that would justify gradient for sure, although a very strong one at that...WOW lighten up on the solid color and allow for some blending my good man.

however, the strong solid color of gradient used that we just justified?(or i dismissed) how did you return those white coulds in the sky? after turning them blue?? thats what i really want to know. I personally would have use another layer and blending mode...but that makes it a manip if another layer was used... then again everyone is not me, thank god!
now now, dont going getting upset with me. im not worried about gradient or no-gradient. but how did one get thoses white clouds back? thats a neat trick i would like to know :) Please!

thats my take on the matter as well...why not just say so? thats why we are ask to give a narrative! when a person sees all those mistakes? they start to wonder.

so if you say its real and categorized properly, then so beit!...because its the Mods we all have to convince in the end.

oh yeah, one more thing if i may? use some feathering on your bushes...a little goes a long way and could have saved you lots of time around the wings when you had to erase away that gradient/paint whatever you wanna call it...and a layer mask used to go back if you earse too much.

now see? its all good :)

I used the gradient tool...The fore colour and back colour were the same..I prefer it to the bucket fill..Here you can view the original image.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/biffo4rtr/17783635348/in/album-72157653198192516/ .....

Like I say,I'm done explaining...If I wanted to enter it into a contest which I don't,I would do further editing...As it stands,It's good enough for online storage....It's really no big deal.I had no intention of spending lots of time on it..The whole thing was done in under 5 minutes...And that's that....

"I will not post a shot where anything has been replaced from another image without stating that fact".

Really?
How about this one: The Eyes

An image that just so happened to win a contest...

If I wanted to enter it into a contest which I don't,I would do further editing...As it stands,It's good enough for online storage....It's really no big deal.I had no intention of spending lots of time on it..The whole thing was done in under 5 minutes...And that's that....

Don't you think that you are being somewhat dismissive and perhaps disrespectful of Caedes and its users by that series of comments?

Caedes is online storage? really.. now thats news to me. why all the rules and COC then? kind of an insult to the rest of us that treat it as the artist community it is, maybe you should read the front page, eh mate? its a place where we all can learn from others and grow with our talents...my thoughts anyway. richie that was nothing more then a slap in the face to all of us that try so hard on Caedes and you know it!...as was the link you post i couldnt get to, yet surprise i did..and whats there? the same damn thing you have posted here! if your wondering why im busting your ballz? because your not following the rules the rest of us have to!!!!!! this is a damn sky replacemnt and you know it!... i gave you the chance to prove it, yet you give me the same thing on Flickr? "put up or shut up" and then and only then will a give my public apology on this so called online storage site...geeeze what a joke. im out of here!!

Oh, before I forget, how do you do a Gradient in Photoshop and still manage to get clouds in your final image?

Apologies to the rest of Caedes Users.

There appears to be a bunch of Geeks arguing about something.
Normal service will be resumed shortly...

By using my own personal cloud brush that's how,You can purchase a CD from the Ultimate photoshop brushes collection...All bought and paid for..Here's the original image,Before editing with the gradient in PS.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/biffo4rtr/17783635348/in/album-72157653198192516/ ..R.

Oh and by the way..The eyes was taken at Harehaw Linn,The owl isolated and the background blurred....

"Don't you think that you are being somewhat dismissive and perhaps disrespectful of Caedes and its users by that series of comments?"...Not really,You either choose to view or you don't,I have no control over what you like or dislike...Plenty like and those that don't just move on..Bit like turning the telly over really till you find something you like....I don't use other peoples images skies or whatever...They are all my own..The image is there to be seen.Most people don't want to know the ins and outs of how you edited it,They just want to look at an image and either like it or not...If Anyone PMs me and asks me how i did this or how I done that,I do my best to tell them and plenty have...It's an image of a bird flying,Get over it...

The Eyes image is a cropped version of this Turkestan Eagle Owl . Are you really trying to say that you saw a wild Turkestan Eagle Owl in the UK and you managed to get a photo of it flying straight at you?

If you're adding clouds to a sky turned from white to blue, aren't you effectively carrying out a manipulation?

Erm...Did I say wild...Seeing that they are extinct in the wild I don't think so..Up here we have bird of prey centres and they do exhibitions in natural enviroments..Costs are normally �40 per and hey,Sometimes you even get lunch..Here's another this time at Roughting linn http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Caedes::Infopage&image=biffobear-1340277749.jpg .....Seek and ye will find..

If that were the case 50% of the images on here would be in the Manip gallery..HDR,brush use you name it...The main subject is the bird so it went into the bird catergory....If you have a problem with that inform a mod or whatever,I've had enough...I will put up I used a brush if that will keep you happy..

The image you refer to European Eagle Owl has been classified as a manipulation. Also, on this one and others in the same series, you can see where you've tried to clone out the jesses.

On the subject of claiming wild or not, how do you explain this one Right Place... Right Time...

My guess, is that you went to a falconry show in a field, got some nice shots in a controlled environment and plonked them into a natural setting and waited to see if anyone would notice...

Anyone wanting to know how the sky was created here's a short tutorial
Isolate the bird from the background
Invert the image so it's the sky that is selected.
Choose a colour for the sky this can be blue fading to white or a single solid colour.
Drag the pointer from the top of the image to just beyond where you want the Gradient to stop.
This will turn an otherwise bland sky to the colour you want.
you can fade the gradient to your taste.
Simple and can be done in less than 5 minutes..
Adding clouds can be done using a cloud brush.
Mine are from a bought and paid for CD.
You can download them freely from the web brusheezy does nice ones but make sure to credit them.
and that's it..I have no will or intention of explaining every-time i upload an image how I edit it.
If anyone want's to know..PM me and I will try my best to explain,As sometimes I just fiddle on till I get something that works,Then forget how I done it..
Some people on here feel I'm disrespectful..I have been a member now for around 9 years and people that know me know that's not true.
All I say is..If you don't like what you see move on,Find something more important in your life to concentrate on other than an unimportant digital image..I know I do...
That's it for me,I'm done with topic of conversation......

European eagle owl is not a Manip and will be making that point clear to a mod...It happens to belong to the Beal falconry centre and he does regular trips to Roughting linn so get you facts straight before spouting off..Here's another at Roughting linn.. http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Caedes::Infopage&image=biffobear-1392405948.jpg same bird

http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Caedes::Infopage&image=biffobear-1340201173.jpg ..Also Roughting linn...does that explain it....and here too..that's it explained ... https://www.flickr.com/photos/simonjlynch/7250914410/..So get your facts straight before you post

and another https://www.flickr.com/photos/simonjlynch/7250916512/

Maybe if you had said you had added the clouds at the start of this discussion, it wouldn't have escalated into the bun fight that it has... :)

Have to agree with you about manipulation being a bit of a grey area and with HDR being a prime example. Done subtly and it can reveal shadow and highlight details that you couldn't do otherwise, even with lens filters, etc. That I would say is acceptable, as you're basically returning the image to what the eyes actually saw. However, HDR can be over used and then it all gets a bit blurred about what is real or not...

No bun fight here..simply answering questions...Like I say take them or leave them..I have been in touch with a Mod about the European Eagle owl in the Manip gallery..It doesn't belong there...Taken with a Canon 600D...55-250 lens,Now gone...

OK, so they do falconry displays at Roughting Linn.
However, how come in 'Right Place... Right Time...', you quite strongly allude that the owl is wild No sooner had I set my camera up when this swooped down out of the trees..5 Metres away and showing no fear at all?

Yes It did..I wasn't part of the exhibition,I was primarily taking pictures of the fall,When the Owl swooped passed and landed on the rock..Obviously it was a perch it was well used to..Around 5 minutes later the keeper turned up with the party..Roughting linn is pretty secluded in dense woodland and the approach isn't easy..I saved myself �40 that day..I took the pictures from behind the party snapping when I could...

Yet, you go on to say: One of the top predators around these parts. That does sort of suggest that the bird is wild and not part of a controlled show...

Why not call them and find out how free this owl considers itself...It's hops between the various perches of it's own accord..I never stated the owl was wild only that it swooped past me .."No sooner had I set my camera up when this swooped down out of the trees..5 Metres away and showing no fear at all."..If I inserted everything i did with/to an image and waht circumstances it was taken in it would run into paragraphs of text..That's not what this site is about...The site is about Desktop wallpaper not about the technicalities of the image.Save the tech stuff for other sites..As I said earlier,There is no need for Q and A on here..Just look at how this thread has developed,It's rubbish..Started with a Kite against a blue sky and ending with me being interrogated and all but called a liar about my Eagle owl picture....One of the few blessing of being and old 71 year old codger like me is,You don't give a damn !..You take me and what I do or you don't,Your choice..One way or the other...It really doesn't bother me one way or the other...

"One of the top predators around these parts"...Gawds sake...If you feel that suggests the bird is wild all well and good....I'm done with this constant nitpicking..No more input from me....

Totally agree with you, the finished image is everything and all that really matters is that it is pleasing to the eye when used as a wallpaper.
However, there does need to be a bit of honesty of how that was achieved. If you change a sky to make it more dramatic. So what? If it looks good, go for it. Just maybe drop a comment in the description to that effect. Whether that gets classed as a manipulation, I don't care one way or the other. Let the mods decide on that one...
If a photo is taken of an animal that is essentially domesticated to one degree or another, then that should be stated in the description as well. It can still be classed as Photography>Type of animal, but the viewer is left in no doubt as to if it's wild or not.
You can obviously apply the same criteria to any other image where ambiguity might occur.
That's my viewpoint on how people should be presenting their images to other users. Anyone else care to comment?

My Goodness... Dear friends, my beloved Caedes friends! For god's sake please stop this lengthy exchange of comments. I have spent 45 minutes and have not even reached half :)
Of course I will investigate the entire issue with due diligence as always, but for the time being I declare this dispute as academic thus finished until further notice - from the undersigned AND NOBODY ELSE.
HOWGH.
SAM

Being a certified quick reader, I finished reading now and repeat: Stop this academic discussion, dear friends, and get back to more useful tasks.
Either we agree that all posts are manipulations or set some limits. As to intros - the author's commentaries - apart from stating the sources, if any, members are free to say whatever they feel like. I call Boris a fearsome beast roaming in wild and nobody can hold me guilty of manipulating, if the picture shows himself lying on balcony. LOL
MJ shall report to HQ - I assure you, agent SAAR.
Seriously as always
SAM
SAAB is presently busy ROFL & cannot sign

SAM, I want to see a photo of Boris luxuriating on your balcony, but inserted into a new background with volcanoes, giant millipedes and other dramatic stuff!!! :)

Pops head above parapet...

Firstly, apologies to Caedes as a whole for turning this comments area into a bit of a bun fight. What started off as a genuine query about a simple alteration to a photo, somehow escalated to something entirely different. I blame home brew beer and a little bit of pig headiness... :)
Secondly, apologies to biffo, if I've miss interpreted some of your comments on the Eagle Owl series and came up with the conclusion that you were insinuating that they where photos of a wild owl in its natural environment.
However, lets put all this behind us and perhaps concentrate on what caused this and maybe clarify a few points that might be beneficial to everyone that uses Caedes. So, here goes: -

1. When does editing become a manipulation.
2. Transparency/honesty of new image descriptions.

My take on point 1. I can see why people are reluctant to label an image as a manipulation. They want a particular image to be classed in a particular way. Why not, it's easily searchable and is more likely to be 'found' by people looking at similar images. As long as any wholesale changes are believable, I can't see why they can't remain in a specific classification, as long as the owner states in the opening description what they have done. That's hopefully a compromise that should suit everyone.

My take on point 2. Honesty is everything when it comes to uploading images that are going to be looked at by other members of Caedes. If for example you go to a air show and there's a simulated helicopter strike on a target, then the opening description should state that it was taken at a air show and perhaps not be ambiguous and say that it was an Apache taken out a stronghold, etc. Both descriptions are true, but one is a bit more likely to grab the attention of the viewer...
So, unless you're a bad ass photographer in the heat of battle, perhaps best to say that you took the photo in a crowded field whilst sipping a can of beer straight from the cooler... :)

what if...your a photographer battling the heat dragging ass with hemorrhiods, it would explain the bad ass part. oh yeah..right, the cooler of beer! grab a can and sit on the cold cooler...got it! ☺