Sandhill Chick

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, haven't had much time this week to work on images. I was on a back road heading out from the Tampa Bay coast and saw a Sandhill crane family - a mom, dad and 2 chicks. Lighting was horrible and they were feeding along the roadside so I was afraid to scare them into the road. I used Topaz Adjust Line & Ink, then Curly Smooth. Finished off the background with Pixel Bender Oil Paint.

[Anita Bower]

That chick is adorable between mom or dad's legs. Well done. I understand you were working with challenging lighting, and I think you did a good job. The only thing that bothers me is the bg. I assume you were trying to smooth it out, but it doesn't seem to go with the rest of the image. I don't know what to suggest.

[Paul Lagasi]

Very nice capture of a lovely moment in time, well done on the effects.

[Nancy Bell]

Nice lighting on the chick to make the little one stand out and I like how it appears that mom has an eye on the chick. I also like those daisy-like flowers balancing the space under the tail of the adult. The effects look great on the birds and the foreground, but I see Anita's point about the bkgd. Maybe just reduce some of the lighter areas? If you have Topaz Detail 3, I like to use the effect that smooths and blurs. I can't remember exactly what it is called.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Cheryl, what a cute moment to see and capture! I appreciate your field ethics in not spooking the family. I like the illustration look you achieved; the combination of filters works well with this image. Love the position of the little colt. I can see Anita's point about the background. What my eye goes to is the upper half of the bg, which has the oilpaint effect applied. I think it tends to look different and I would suggest adding a bit of the PB filter to the lower half of the bg and fg. Very cute pic!