Resting Willet

[Cheryl Slechta]

This Willet was resting at water's edge before sunset. At first I thought there was something wrong with it but it got up after several minutes and was fine:S3: I used Topaz Mild Color Pop and Mild Details, Nik Reflector Effects to light up the shadows on the Willet and then Fractalius Rounded with a Luminosity blending mode to finish him off.
Thanks for looking. Comments and suggestions appreciated.

[Mitch Carucci]

You held the high tones in this pic just at the extreme, but still with detail. I like the pic, and am glad the Willet was OK!

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Cheryl, Very nice use of fracatlius and I love the meandering edge of the incoming wave. I wonder about a crop from the top to eliminate the bit of beach showing in the upper right corner, but that's just me :S3:

[Steve Adkins]

I like the depth of field in this image, Cheryl. As Mitch said, great control of the high tones. Allows the Willet to shine. :S3:

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the colors in this. It is nice and peaceful looking. I agree with Andrew about cropping from the top but for a different reason. The incoming water is soft, so it's really a supporting element to help show place. Therefore, there could be less of it, which would also help to showcase the willet. I cropped from the top and both sides to a golden rectangle sized so the leading edge of the gold color (and nearly the willet's eye) was on a horizontal divine proportion line and the eye was on a vertical divine proportion line -- all for the sake of composition. Then, because the rest of the background was nice and soft, I used a soft brush at low opacity to paint below the leading edge of the gold and temper the transition. All personal preference stuff.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dennis, I like your crop. Thanks for reworking it for me:S3:

[denise ippolito]

Cheryl, The light and the soft colors are gorgeous. This has a very nice high key look to it that I like. Cute pose and Dennis' repost looks great!

[Maureen Allen]

Willets are such nice birds. I love the way the smaller shorebirds hang out with them.

This is a lovely peaceful image, Cheryl. The processing is super. I prefer the original crop.