Common Tern Preening

I added the Fractalius effect to this and masked back in some details.

Denise, I'm a big fan of preening shots and this one is really nice! Love the subtle fract work and the soft quality of the light. Sweet! Maybe a slice off the top?

Gorgeous preening shot. I like the feather being pulled through the mouth. I know how much you dislike panos so I won't even go there;)

Love the simplicity. The greenery on the ground - just enough. Also like the way the background blurred to give the ground definition (flat footing area - sorry for obscure explanation). As others have noted, the preening pose is nicely captured.
When I see your Fractalius images - only time I wish I had PC (assume still not available for Mac). :D

The frac effect on the terns feathers really is sharp.....birds position is nice...well done

Beautiful composition, Denise. I love the preening action and the soft fractalius effect. Nicely done.

Thank you all for the kind comments.:)

Denise:

Lovely preening pose, the leaves echo the feathers, nice fractalius effect.

Fine job.

Randy

I really like the softness and the pose in this image. Nice work Denise.

I couldn't see the soft look in the thumbnail - when I opened it up I gasped! It's so soft and ethereal, Denise. Really outstanding the way you've blurred it while retaining all the depth and focus where it needs to be. I feel like I am looking at it through a soft morning patch of fog!

Excellent Denise! I like the overall simplicity, the minimalistic vegetation, the composition, pose, blurred foreground to background, the detail along with the ethereal quality(as mentioned.) Good work. regards~Bill

denise, Nice blend back of the details. Makes it a very engaging image. Fun to see your different techniques.:)

Very nice work of PP, Denise.

Thank you all for your kind comments. I appreciate them very much.:)

Denise, I like every aspect of this. Beautiful work:)

I'm late to the party, but I just wanted to say that I love this. :) It's beautiful in every way!