Desert Spiny

This little lizard came by for a look but when he saw me, he froze. I managed a few photos before he pretended he was Speedy Gonzales and disappeared.

There are so many steps really can't remember them all. The ones I do remember are:

Created duplicate
Converted to B & W
Used Color Select to capture blue from original. Pasted to image.
Poster Edges to bark
Pixel Bender to complete image
Cropped to taste.

I purposely left it on the darker side.
All comments welcome, either negative or positive. :w3

Paul, I really like the filters that you applied to the frog...they bring out the texture, and more, beautifully. I also like the way you pasted the blue back in such a striking way. I think the background, though, is too textured...it detracts from the frog a bit. Alternatively, perhaps retaining the texture but lightening up the background would help. I would just like to see more contrast between the frog and the background. But overall you did a great job.

Paul, I like the texture of the lizard. It works well with the lizard's natural texture. I'm with Wendy relative to the bg. Something less bold and with more contrast.

The composition is well done, and I think the processing works nicely, too. The level of darkness is consistent with the subject. I didn't notice the blue part of the border, at first, but it fits with the blue you brought back in to the lizard. I agree that the texture in the background could be altered one way or another. With the tail of the lizard being a bit out of focus, it might work to blur the background some.

Lovely detail in the head/eye/leg area. It looks different on my monitors with the Ipad showing more detail in the darkest areas. I wonder about making it all b and w, and leaving it as is. The blue is adding another element vying for attention. Just my thoughts.

Interesting thing with the colors. I love the texture effects on the lizard's scales, but wonder if it might be reduced a little on the bark so there is less competition.