solution was to use Photoshop in post-processing.
In the photo above, you can see I eliminated the distracting elements. I re-
placed them with vegetation taken from areas throughout the picture, and
I used a lowered opacity setting with the clone tool in an effort to blend the
colors and tones with the surrounding areas. All the work I did on this im-
age was done only with the clone tool.
The reason this picture was salvagable was because I photographed the sloth
in diffused light. Had the sun been out, the mottled lighting would have
caused so much contrast along with blown out highlights on the leaves as
well as on the sloth that the picture would have been unrepairable. §