any suggestions for color

[Stan Cunningham]

No, it's not monochrome, just SE Alaska last July.
Taken as a raw image in a 50D
100 - 400 L at F 4.6 at 105 ss 1/1000 about 40 m from boat; this is the first in a series of 8 I was able to get on this one breech, even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.
I've cropped it, added high contrast to the whole image to darken the trees in the background, then selected the black of the whale and lightened it using levels, but I'm a photoshop newbie with CS5 and confused.

[Stan Cunningham]

opps, need to attach photo

[Michael Hogan]

Stan, I just love it. I think you have captured a very athmospheric scene. I wouldn't do else anything to it but that's just my opinion

Michael

[Lance Peters]

Hi Stan - I love it also - very atmospheric - all I would do is add a little sharpening to the whale and darken the BG just a tad. (Once again - sharpened a little more than you would want to - to make it easier to see)
Like so...

[Dave Mills]

Hi Stan, You caught the whale at the perfect moment. The somber,misty backround adds greatly to the image. Good placement within the frame along with the water trails adding interest. For my taste I would crop a small amount of sky. Well done!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Stan That is one fine image .... even without the moody bg !! With it is over the top !! I like the enhancements by Lance, they further enhance a good image !!

If you have any room to the right would use it, sort of give space for the whale to fall into !! Big Congrats on this one !!!! One Sweet image !!!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Stan That is one fine image .... even without the moody bg !! With it is over the top !! I like the enhancements by Lance, they further enhance a good image !!

If you have any room to the right would use it, sort of give space for the whale to fall into !! Big Congrats on this one !!!! One Sweet image !!!

[Ian McHenry]

Hi Stan
Really like the image as posted. Great atmosphere.
Also really like Lance's edit which has great impact and worthy of hanging on the wall.
If it were mine I would try Noise Ninja and Imagenomic Noiseware possibly @ "Landscape" setting and see how they compare.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[daniel valovich]

EXCELLENT!
I would relocate the copywright to one of the bottom corners.
Dan

[Stan Cunningham]

Thanks to you all for your kind feedback, I expected more critiques, but the subject (the humpack in AK) kind of sell's itself.
I have plenty to come that need serious help, and maybe can't be salvaged.
My only question is to you Lance; how did you select just the bg to make it darker and sharper?
And since I have 8 of this same breech, can any of you refer me to a site or manual where I can "batch" all of my changes? I know how to do it in Lightroom, but not PS. I'd like each to have the same qualities for consistency.
Thanks