Great Egret Flight Capture

[WIlliam Maroldo]

SonyA700~Sony70-400G@400mm~ISO400~F9~1/2000sec~manual exposure~11-1-2009~Brays Bayou, Houston, Texas~CS4/Topaz Simplify2/Topaz Adjust3(small detail preset/Topaz Clean2
My goal was to simplify the background,which usually consists of the standard noise reduction and/or Gaussein blur.

This time I selected the egret/ copied to new layer/ on bottom layer I used Topaz Simplify, then Clean2. With the top layer(bird) Topaz Adjust(sm detail preset), fade effect 50%, then Clean2, flatten.
comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

[Harshad Barve]

nice psoe and great treatment on BG
TFS

[Christopher Miller]

Very nice image, Bill! Excellent pose and details. I would just remove the partial leaf on the bottom right, the dark area in the LLC, and the white line in the ULC. Minor distractions, but I think removing them will greatly improve the image.

[denise ippolito]

Bill, Nice pose and effect applied. For me it's a bit too tight. I like the workflow-seems to have done the job nicely!

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thanks! As per Denise, well there is enough room on the original to give the Egret more room, but Christophers' was so easy to change! I'll have to try to remember to give more room on the next one. Regards~Bill

[denise ippolito]

Bill, The repost looks good. I know that some people like tighter comps. and that is okay. :)

[Christopher Miller]

Repost looks good, Bill!

[Mark Fuge]

Nice image and application, Bill. The repost is better, but it would be nice to have maybe about 1/3 to 1/2 of the open area in front also behind the bird. It's hard to tell if the feet are in or out of the frame. But

Your image ... your vision.