It's no secret that I admire William Maroldos' frac techiniques. I am far from equalling his talent, but feel this is my best attempt yet at emulating his style. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, so they say, so please forgive my shortcomings and accept my admiration. Would enjoy all thoughts and suggestions.
Methinks you did a great job with the fracting, Dave. Love the soft feathering of the breast. The only distraction for me are the tail feathers. They draw my eye away - though thankfully it is stopped by the branch.
Very nice subtle fracting on the junco, Dave. I like that one. As far as the tail goes, I agree with Kora. But, I have a fairly sharp chickadee shot in almost the same pose as yours except for the tail also being somewhat OOF. It's almost impossible to get enough DOF to bring that into focus. You did an excellent job with the situation given to you.
Lovely image, Dave! Fracting really lends itself to those bird feathers and you really caught the soft fluffy look well. Lovely glow around the bird and nice catchlight in his eye!
Thanks everyone for the kind words. I really owe credit to William for the inspiration of minimal frac, and his explanation of how he achieves it. I do use a heavier touch on some images, but then there are certain shots that just lend themselves to the small alterations. Kora, I struggled with that tail as the light was just really strong there and I brought it back as best I could. Thanks again to all for the thoughts, and again to William for the inspiration.
Dave, A fantastic job with the Fractalius filter. I might try to paint in some hint of color on the tail area. You could do it on a new layer and adj. the opacity. I love the minimal look here. VWD!!:)
Junco
