There's a technique in photoshop where you make a duplicate layer of your image, apply a gaussian blur to the top layer, and then apply one of the blending options and vary the level of opacity. You can increase the image contrast, give it a soft glow, and much to my surprise with these birds turn them into a painting of sorts.

In this case a blur radius of 22 pixels was applied. The image on the left is blended using multiply and the image on the right is using a difference blend. Both are set at sixty percent opacity.