Spoonbill Chiaroscuro

[Dave Mills]

I realise that was a topic a few weeks back but recently uncovered this one and thought I would post it. Converted to B&W in Nik Silver Fx and played with the lighting in PS.

[denise ippolito]

Dave, Excellent chiaroscuro work. The lighting and the mood are perfect. The water drop adds the finishing touch as does the eye. I might take a small slice off the left but wouldn't change anything else. Nice work and thanks for sharing.:)

[Kerry Perkins]

Really nice Dave! Perfect example of the effect and I just love that droplet. When you say you played with the lighting, did you use masks and brushes or did you use the "lighting effects" filter in PS? It works really well whichever (or whatever) it was. Thanks for sharing!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Kerry, I used the lighting effects filter in PS. I accentuated the droplet a bit and also softly lit the front part of the bill.
Thanks for the comment Denise...

[Christopher Miller]

Beautiful, Dave! I think this is one of the best chiaroscuro images I've ever seen. The lighting is just perfect, and love the water drop. Very nicely done!

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Beautiful Dave - I love the lighting effect and the drop takes it over the top for me :)
Hate to sound completely ignorant, but what are the lighting effect filters in PS ( have CS 4) :o:confused:

[Dave Mills]

Hi Nicki,go to filter/render/lighting effects. It's in CS4...

[Paul Lagasi]

Pretty cool subject for ChiaroScuro..like the B & W, details on the bird...very well done...missed the posting a few wee back...Happy Birthday, Grampa

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Thank you Dave!

[Dave Mills]

Thanks Paul..you had to remind me:)

[Kerry Perkins]

The lighting effects filter is one of the most overlooked filters in Photoshop. You can do amazing things with it! It only works on eight-bit images so you have to convert to that bit depth first.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dave, the lighting is great and the water droplet is really great:) Beautifully done.

[Arthur Morris]

While I have not been a huge fan of the chia-whatever stuff I do like this one; the treatment was effective and the light from behind the bird is quite interesting. I never say that about traditional sunlit images :)