King Penguin blur

[Nancy Bell]

I went on the same extraordinary trip last month to South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean that Denise and Artie went on. I have tons of images and it is taking me a while to sort through them. This is an in-camera blur of a King Penguin on a stony beach.

The trip was beyond amazing and the entire experience of remoteness, animals, ocean, terrain, weather, the boat, the staff and participants, etc, have left a deep impression that I hope I can always recall.

[denise ippolito]

Nancy, the trip was truly amazing and I will remember the experience for my entire life. I really like this one. The layered background is nice but the water at the top is wonderful the way it crashes and flows. Nice composition with the penguin looking into the scene and its wing looking like its skimming the water.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Nancy, this is a lovely blur..it looks like everybody had a ton a fun and got lots of great images!

[Nancy Bell]

Thanks, Denise. Andrew, thanks & we did have a ton of fun...and I was so tired at the end of each day that I slept well in spite of the ship rocking & rolling!

[Paul Lagasi]

I must admit I am a bit jealous, looks like good time had by all, someday. The image is a very nice blur, the penquin's blurring gives a sense that it is hurrying towards the water, very nice capture

[Arthur Morris]

I like the layers and the way the head is positioned against the white water. And the blur. I'd wish for a sharper and single head though

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the layers and the way the head is positioned against the white water. And the blur. I'd wish for a sharper and single head though

I agree. It would've been nice if there had been a frame immediately before or after with no blur so a stationary head and beak could be masked in to this one partially or completely.

[Indranil Sircar]

Beautiful blur, Nancy! Love the color and the crashing waves. Agree on the second head; you could still clone out the shadow of the second head. Looking forward to more from the trip.

[Nancy Bell]

Good suggestion about the double blur on the head. I was able to remove the 2nd bill and reconstruct it with bits and pieces from another image. I didn't have anything to reconstruct the top of the head and bill, however. It was delicate surgery and hopefully an improvement.

[Nancy Bell]

Still not satisfied I looked again through my images and found a suitable head. Here is the transplant surgery. Better?

[Dennis Bishop]

I'm not sure if I prefer the first or second re-post. They're both good. On both, though, I wish there were a gradual transition from the blur of the body to the head.

[Nancy Bell]

Dennis, I tried to work on that both with the blur tool and cloning the edges with a very low opacity. Will work on it a bit more. Thanks for the feedback.

[Dennis Bishop]

Dennis, I tried to work on that both with the blur tool and cloning the edges with a very low opacity. Will work on it a bit more. Thanks for the feedback.

I rarely venture onto this site with an iPad, but that's all I had last night. Looking at both of the re-posts, now, on a real computer, I think they look pretty good. My approach -- if I were going to try for a gradual transition -- would be to put the new head and a bit of a new body on a separate layer and do some masking with a soft, low opacity brush and/or a gradient.

[Anita Bower]

It is good to read that you had a wonderful experience on your recent trip!
My preference is the last image posted, with the more focused head, which allows me to focus on something. The waves, the position of the wing are very nice.