Ruddy Turnstone

[Dave Mills]

Used a mild PB and some sharpening tools to get the effect, The backround was heavily shadowed so I felt it would look better filled in completely.

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the bird, the mussels, and your subtle use of PB. Your decision to fill the background makes sense, too. My personal taste isn't for large regions of black. I would've used a dark gray from somewhere in the shadows of the mussels. I also would've added slight noise or film grain to the background -- maybe even a gradient, too -- so it wasn't such a large solid color.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Dennis, care to show me what you had in mind...

[Dennis Bishop]

Hi Dennis, care to show me what you had in mind...

This was quick and dirty, but here's what I did.

Topaz ReMask for a mask of the foreground
dark gray solid fill layer below the foreground
Nik Color Efex -- Film Grain, masked to include just the background
transparent-to-white radial gradient from bottom to top, low opacity, masked to include just the background

[Mitch Carucci]

Dennis,

Subtle, but to my eye a definite plus. I have a lot to learn.

[Dave Mills]

Hi dennis, subtle gradient seems to work for me but not decided on the grain...
Thanks for posting...