Theme: Foggy Morning Kite Flying

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

A couple Topaz Impression layers gets the brush strokes with Nik Silver Efex for luminance toning, Topaz Simplify, too, mostly for saturation. A lot of cloning away painterly halo. The white foggy sky helped modify the painterly effect so I could use darker color blend to get the painterly effect in the sky and only a little on the bird. Not sure if I should live with that one little blob on the top wing tip ;-).

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Really nice and soft Michael, with a great capture here. I wonder about moving the bird to the left a little and darkening the eye just a bit. The bg is super. I would evict the blob.

[Wendy Kates]

I love the background, Michael, and the subtle contrast between the bg and the bird. I agree with Jackie about both the eye and the blob. The whole look is very effective.

[Dennis Bishop]

I very much like the relief and color of the background, and both the angle and tones of the kite are great. If you hadn't asked about the little blob, I might never have noticed it, but now that I know it's there . . .

I agree with Jackie's suggestion about less canvas on the left, but you've got a very good image the way it is.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Jackie, Wendy, Dennis,

Thank you very much for your comments. I tweeked it a little... some original blended back for eye, feet & dark spots. Removed blob. Tightened crop slightly. Pixels started getting too few so I uprezed & detailed a bit too, which added a small local contrast to the bg.



Thanks for looking (again).

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Anita Bower]

I like both versions. Beautiful processing. Love the bg and the translucence of the wings and tail feathers. The image has a cool and calming feel to it, and asks to be looked at more closely. Can you tell us why you like the bird centered in the frame? Some of us might move the bird to the left, but I'm curious about your thinking on this.

[Dennis Bishop]

If I had to choose one over the other, it'd be a tough call. There are things I like very much in both.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Anita,

I did try taking some off the left but ended up with mostly the slightly tighter version in the repost. Hmm. Just felt right? While the head is centered the composition in total is off to the left (looking at the thumbnail). Perhaps, kites glide so slowly as much room isn't needed? All I can say is I set the crop probably a half dozen times and they all ended up here. ;-)

Thanks, Dennis,

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Anita Bower]

Anita,

I did try taking some off the left but ended up with mostly the slightly tighter version in the repost. Hmm. Just felt right? While the head is centered the composition in total is off to the left (looking at the thumbnail). Perhaps, kites glide so slowly as much room isn't needed? All I can say is I set the crop probably a half dozen times and they all ended up here. ;-)

Thanks, Dennis,

Cheers,

-Michael-

I don't mind centered images, but I do like knowing why the photographer made that choice. Your answer was perfect--this is how it looked best to you, and that is what counts. Thanks for the reply.

[Nancy Bell]

I think Impressions does a super effect on bkgds! I prefer version 2 since it appears the bird is a bit more distinct. Very nice white on white effect, especially with the luminance toning.

[Cheryl Slechta]

I like the repost a little better Michael but they're both beautiful