Great Egret Preening

[John Storjohann]

Another image from a few years back; Canon 30D, 400mm, f/16@1/400. Shot in the 1904 Aviary of the St. Louis Zoo, this was an image shot at mid day in very harsh light with some shadow playing over the egret; it was one of those that I loved the pose but knew the light kept it from being the image I really wanted. Brought it up this morning in PS; applied Fractalius first, using one the Shaggy preset and then tweaking a few of of the sliders a bit; lowered the opacity on that layer to about 80%. Then ran NIK Color Efex's Tonal Contrast over it on another layer. A third layer was used to run the image through Topaz Clean, and a fourth layer for NIK's Pastel. Tweaked the opacity of the layers here and there; merged down; masked out the eye. Looking forward to hearing your suggestions and comments.

[Anita Bower]

Excellent! Semi-abstract. Great composition and flow of lines. Great colors. Well done.

[Brendan Dozier]

Nice elegant pose you captured, John, and the frac treatment works well with this image. Has a nice softness to color and texture, and black BG helps it glow.

[Dave Mills]

Hi John, you have created a flowing feel to the image which is appealing. The blue,green and yellow in the head work well together. I like the overall comp but would add a small bit to the top.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Hey John,

This is great! I really triangular comps,, very strong image. Your filtering is super, almost looks like spun glass. Nice idea for the pastel filter. Great eye contact..........super work!

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the comments and suggestion....Dave, I added a bit to the top..and after doing so, decided to add a bit to the left as well...thank you for the suggestion and I think adding a bit to the LHS as well balances it a bit more. Take care!

[denise ippolito]

John, I like the repost with the additional room top and left. This is stunning! I like the pose very much and the processing is lovely!:S3:

[Steve Adkins]

Unique and beautiful, John. One more vote for the repost.

[John Storjohann]

Denise, Steve, thanks for commenting...just for contrast, I brought the image in Topaz's new B&W plug-in...converted it using the "Classic" preset...then brought a smidge of color back in. Take care.

[Steve Adkins]

I like this version, also. The subtle contrasts of the repeating triangles and the hint of color are very appealing. Almost transparent. Neat!

[Anita Bower]

I prefer the color version.

[Dave Mills]

Hi John, I like this version also but I feel it should be a bit brighter. I also prefer the color version...

[John Storjohann]

Dave, you hit the nail on the head..it does like brightness...and contrast...and I don't think the subtle color is helping. Trying a pure B&W version as well...thank you for your comments!

[Cheryl Slechta]

John, they are all wonderful but I think I prefer the color version. Great choice of filters:S3: