
Originally Posted by
Julie Kenward
Alexandre, this is a strong image that, with a few minor tweaks, could become really strong. I took the liberty of trying a few minor things to see how it would affect the image. Here's what I did:
1. Cloned out the branch pieces that weren't needed.
2. Toned down the specular highlights on the frog's face and back by clicking on a green tone on his body and then setting a soft brush to 30% opacity and painting over the highlights. (They still shine through but look a little more natural now IMO.)
3. Cropped the original to show the frog, the main branch and the flaming BG but in a tighter composition - giving more focus to the frog instead of to the 'flames.' After all, if the frog is the focal point, he should command the greater majority of space (in most cases.)
4. Tweaked the color by adding a boost of saturation and a bit of a hue adjustment.
5. Evened out the flames in the BG by using that soft brush set to 30% opacity and painting on a midtone green where the BG was a bit too dark or light.
Little tiny things can make a big difference to a final image. I'm certainly not inferring that you have to take any or all of these suggestions...just wanted to remind everyone to take a second look at your images and explore the little things that can be done to take a good image up a notch or two.