Wood Stork Returning To Nest

This image was taken last week on our first visit to St Augustine Alligator Farm. An amazing place to visit, especially during the breeding season, as was the case for us. We had heard about it, but the experience far exceeds the stories anyone can relate. You don't need a 300mm to get good shots. This one was with my 80-200 f/2.8L.

It was processed using Photoshop, Topaz Lens Effects, Denoise, In-Focus, Simplify and the new Fractalius 2 (available for an intro discount). First time I tried the new Fract 2, a little different than ver. 1, but interesting.

Hi Mark- love the bg on this one and the pose on the bird works well in the frame. My only critique would be that there appears to be a halo around the edge of the bird-I'm on a high contrast monitor so it might not be as pronounced as I'm seeing it. This one makes me want to check out the new programs as well!-

Hi, Mark, I'm glad you checked out the Alligator Farm - it's an amazing place! Great image - I haven't downloaded the new version of Fractalius yet but this should inspire me. With Fractalius a lot of time you'll get those vertical lines along the edge (top and bottom). The easiest thing to do is to render a slightly larger image in Fractalius and then crop them out for the final version - it beats cleaning up the edges:S3: I love the dramatic sky!

Always something different and interesting from you Mark! The sky is definitely over the top. I agree about the edges, I always end up cleaning those lines for a nicer margin.

Terrific sky Mark, and great action and comp. I might try lightening the shadows on the stork a wee bit :S3:.

Thanks all for viewing and comments, appreciate it.

Being the first time with Fract 2 there are some quarks to work out. Other than that, the experience of the Gator Farm was awesome and highly recommended to anyone who can get there. Sorry I waited, but we will be back.

great sky! Like the angle on the stork.

Thanks Mitch, appreciate your viewing and comments.

I've since learned how to tone it down, with Edit/Fade, which I use a lot. However, I didn't try it for this and glad I didn't as it would have been a totally different image. :e3
But I tried it on a more recent image and it works nice to give just a hint of the fract effect. You might like Fract 2, with your maritime images.

This looks like some prehistoric creature in a prehistoric scene. Dramatic and bold. I like the composition and how you processed it.

Thanks Anita for view and comment. Appreciate it.