Tail of a Whale

[Nancy Bell]

One of my most wanted experiences in Hawaii was to see a whale breach out of the water or a dramatic tail slap, up close. On one of my last days I was quietly sitting on a lovely beach and I saw this whale fairly close. I set up using a nearby rock as a support and watched the whale through the viewfinder. After approximately 30 minutes I was rewarded with this wonderful tail slap. They happen so fast that I really missed the first one by just looking away for a minute.

I used fractalius and buz sim, with variations in opacity. The water spray looked like delicate sparkles falling back into the ocean. I wanted to portray this very brief moment somehow, and maybe capture the splendor a massive animal can create. I would like to have a hint of color in the water spray similar to the sheen on the tail, but not sure how to accomplish that. Any ideas?

[Dennis Bishop]

That must've been a thrill, and this seems like a good expression of it. It's nicely composed, and the gray/blue sky is perfect with the water and whale.

I tried one approach to coloring the spray and got something close by masking a texture layer with the right colors and applying it with Color blend mode. If it doesn't work for you, I have another idea.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Nancy, what a thrill to see! I think Fractalius was a good choice for filters. I like what Dennis did with the repost also.

[Christopher Miller]

What a great sighting, Nancy! I love the moment you captured and especially the filter effect on the water spray.

[Nancy Bell]

Dennis, that's a good idea! But I am curious, what is your other idea? Cheryl & Christopher, thank you.

[Dennis Bishop]

Dennis, . . . I am curious, what is your other idea? . . .

The trouble with what I did is that it colored the background and not the sparkles. Well, that's one of the troubles. The other is that -- while the colors are about right -- they aren't distributed very well. To remedy that, I'd make my own texture using the colors on the tail and disperse them all widely. That layer would go on top of what you already have. The next thing would be to generate a mask.

I'm guessing the easiest way to do that would be to use the same settings you used to get your Fractalius layer but to adjust the saturation slider in Fractalius so there's no color. It'd be much easier to make the mask that way, probably with the help of Levels and/or Image>Adjustments>Threshold. Then, mask the custom texture layer, and the sparkles should be the right colors. At least I think it'd work that way.

[Mark Fuge]

Very nice image and application, Nancy.

Like the action of the spray and the fract effect.

It brings back memories of my five trips to the islands. My first trip I saw a humpback breaching repeatedly about 1 mile offshore. I did get a photo, but he was too far for detail. Since then I have been on a few tours on Maui with the Pacific Whale Foundation on Maui. The last trip we had a baby humpback wave at our boat. Your image calls me to return, though I don't know if we will ever be able to again. But then there are the memories.

I know what you mean about almost missing them. They don't give a blowing horn sound when they decide to surface and they can be anywhere in the 360 degrees if you are at sea, as we were. You have to be ready and you have to be set for the action which is very short in most cases.

[Anita Bower]

This simple image tells the story! I love the various blues. Your filter use brings out the sparkles in the water. Dennis' version is also nice, but, the color of the spray is uneven between sky and water. I think I'd go with your OP. So glad you got to see this.

[Nancy Bell]

Dennis, you have given me some ideas to work on. It will take some studying for me to get anywhere close to your PS skills! Thank you Anita. Mark, glad to prompt some good memories!

[Paul Lagasi]

I like the captured image, these animals are so special to see...love both the images and effects...TFS

[Rachel Hollander]

Nancy - great timing and this works well. I hope you'll post some whale shots over in wildlife too. We need the variety.

TFS,
Rachel