Hey Denise,
I like the high key look of this as well as the filtering. I feel the line of skimming through the trailing skimmer is distracting as it intersects the body. Perhaps shortening it by removing it near the head area as well as the tail will eliminate the distraction.
I didn't say to eliminate all of it.......there is a slight brek in front of the trailing skimmer.....leaving most of it and just getting rid of the line intersecting the head......maybe a 1/2 inch. Then eliminating the line coming out of the tail would be the finishing touch for me but like Mark says: your image your vision! Let's see what others chime in.
I'm sold on the filtering effect! My eye is drawn to the second bird with the touching refection and parallel skimming lines. I took me a bit to get a perspective on the scene. I'm with Roman in a manner, but have another thought......if it were mine I would give a shot at extending the upper skim line leftward toward the leading bird, kind of connecting the dots that are already there. I think that might help me with a perspective on the two flight paths .........the upper skim line line off the edge doesn't bug me. Just my two cents.......Your call, of course.
I just love, love, love the effect of the effect and the three color scheme. I am fine with the skim lines as is. When I look at this image it screams "pano" to me. If it were mine, I would extend the canvas and the two skim lines on the right side of the frame. If I could make it work I might go so far as doubling the size of the frame (behind the birds). Lastly, it looks as if they are skimming uphill a bit.
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Denise, You did a good job with the filtering but I feel Roman made a valid point pertaining to the upper line. What I believe is affecting my eye is the front skimmer has a clean look to it while the top line merging with the rear skimmer is creating an entirely different look keeping the two from blending well and looking a bit busy...
Denise, I love the graphic look of this but I'm in the group that thinks the skim line into the head of the 2nd bird is distracting. I think Jay has an idea worth considering. I also like the pano idea of adding more space behind the birds and extending the skim lines if possible.
My first view said ... extend the frame to show the start of the skim lines to the right, don't have them touch the frame. This would show where the birds first hit the water and then skimming across it.
I also agree with Roman to a point. I would just make a very short break at the head of the second bird and another at the back. Length of the break would be about twice what the line break, just ahead of the head is now. That would continue the vision, while seperating the bird from the line.
But you know how they say it ... Y I Y V!!! Very nice with or without our vision corrections!
Your processing work on this one is outstanding...it reminds me so much of a pen & ink drawing that then had a watercolor brush applied to it...the mix of strong lines with subtle details and then this beautiful touch of color. I like Artie's suggestion of possibly creating a pano from this...and his comment about this looking just a wee bit uphill...and I like Jay's idea of "connecting the dots" with skim lines...I think it would just add one more piece to the composition that would draw your eye through the image. I need to experiment more with Fractalius...you have a real gift for a "minimalist" approach with some of your images that I find fascinating...I think sometime I still depend too much on the impact that broad strokes of color can make...this photo shows just how strong an image can be with a more subtle touch. Well done!
Thanks to all that offered their help. Artie makes a good point about the rotation, I missed that. Also I might consider a slight pano for this. Thanks again for the feedback.
Excellent composition and effect, Denise. I love these skimmers but can't them close enough here in Bay Area. Next year I need come your way and get to photograph them!