Weekly theme: Starlit Oystercatcher Abstract

[Keith Carver]

Original photo of this American Oystercatcher was taken in diffuse light which gave a featureless light sky background. PP began with Fractalius, rendered with 100 Glow effect to a dark background. The sky was then black but still no features. I masked the bird and water, then added a black layer, then added some Gaussian noise to sprinkle lots of white tiny stars, actually way too many. Then did a levels adjust to eliminate many of the stars. Stars were too sharp so I used the Blur tool to fix that. Finally, used the brush tool at 25% opacity to dot in a few larger diffuse stars. Whew!

[denise ippolito]

Keith, I think your title is perfect. It really does look like a starlit night. The OC is placed well in the frame and the pose is nice. The sharp eye and bill color really adds to the image. Nicely done.

[Christopher Miller]

Great work. Keith! The starry sky is perfect for the image. I love the colors, pose, and glowing edges.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Very nicely done Keith, love the colors, the pose and the starry sky!:)

[Cheryl Slechta]

Keith, I love the stars and the glow in the water. Nicely done:)

[Indranil Sircar]

Keith, I love the stellar oystercatcher! excellent work.