Great Egret reflection

[Cheryl Slechta]

I was working on this yesterday and think I used the same technique that Kerry just used on his kite - Topaz
Simplify, hard pencil, mono fine using an overlay blending mode. I wasn't sure of the crop but the bg foliage on either edge
seemed to balance the more centered image. Maybe I should have desaturated the egret to make it look more like a sketch but I liked the contrast. Denise, if you don't think it's "sketchy" enough - it's fine to take it out of the theme category.:)

Thanks for looking. Comments and suggestions appreciated.

[denise ippolito]

Cheryl, It's sketchy enough. The themes are always open to interpretation.That's what makes them fun. I tried to re-crop it, let me know your thoughts and lets hear what others say.

[Patti Edens]

Cheryl, I think it is very sketchy. :) I love the white, white bird contrasted against the background. I think Denise's crop works well.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Denise, I like the crop - I'd take out the little stick and I had liked the little grass reflections on either side but
I think your crop simplifies the bg and makes it better. Thanks:)

[Christopher Miller]

Very nice, Cheryl. Love the texture and how the bird stands out so well. Nice pose and reflection. Personally I would remove the grass or sticks that are just in front and behind the bird as well as the one intersecting the bird's body.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Cheryl, I like your interpretation of the sketch theme and think it fits right in. Interesting to see how the same basic approach can yield different results! I like the contrast of the egret against the bg and do love reflections. Crop-wise there are many ways to go with this one! My eye keeps wanting to crop off the top about halfway to the top of the bird. To me, this gives the image a dimensionality that makes the surface of the water look like it is horizontal and coming toward me. But that's just me... ;) Very nice work!

PS - could it use a tiny bit of CCW rotation?

[Mark Fuge]

Nice image and application, Cheryl.

As Kerry said, there are many crops to this image. I would tend to add to the right, but ... your image ... your vision! ;)

[Cindy Cone]

Interesting effects, Cheryl, and I also like the contrast with the egret. It might just be my eyesight, but it seems like a slight counter-clockwise rotation might work.

[Cheryl Slechta]

I think you all are right - it needs ccw rotation:o