Red Panda in the Snow

I was going to start looking for some backyard images for the theme, but I can't yet tear myself away from working on zoo photos. Here's another red panda photo, one that I set out to give a wintery feel.

I used three of my textures to replace the original BG. I then added multiple layers of snow using Dave Seeram's snowscape action, brushed a little snow onto the panda's face using some splatter brushes, and added a blur overlay.

I thought I was done at the point, but something still didn't seem right about it. So I opened it in Viveza 2 and really upped the contrast. That seemed to do the trick, though now I wonder if I overdid the contrast. What do you all think?

Christopher,

Greetings. Nice looking snow pic. A bit of an edge to the bottom dark to snow transition might give an impression of a burrow. I really like the bits of snow on the nose.

Cheers,

-Michael-

The snow frames this red panda nicely. Since you only see his head, it does look like he is poking out of a burrow!

I think the contrast is great, Christopher. Wonderful job with the snow effects. It looks like a real snowstorm to me!

Too cute Christopher, it looks like he has popped his head up for a look-see:bg3:. Really well done with the snow.

Christopher, I wouldn't change a thing! I love the snow on his nose:S3:

Thanks a lot, everyone! It was a fun image to do, especially making the snow on the face look realistic. :S3:

I'm late to the party here but I LOVE this! The contrast is perfect, for me, and the snow is extremely well done!