Pintail
I've revisited Topaz Simplify once again for this image using only the edges function. Layer masks and painting with various shades of grey have brought me to this point. My issue now seems to be the left side. I feel it needs some cropping there but I don't want the pintail too centered. So I'll bring it to the members for thoughts and guidance. Of course all comments are welcomed. I added the stroke because of the light colored bg.
Dave, I think I like the composition just the way it is. It's fairly centered as it is but with the feathers and his head pointing to the right it feels like it's farther right than it is. (Does that make any sense). I like the edges treatment and I love the pose
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly" - The Little Prince
http://tuscawillaphotographycherylslechta.zenfolio.com/
I really like what you've done with this. It's hard to take my eyes off the pintail, but it's worth doing to enjoy those wonderful ripples. Especially with the muted colors, they're almost mesmerizing. I agree with Cheryl about the composition. (Yes, Cheryl, I understand what you're saying.) It looks good.
Nevertheless, I played around with a number of other compositions, and I think several of them would work but none was without a compromise or two. Here's what I finally settled on. It's a golden rectangle positioned so the divine proportion lines relate to various elements in the image. Probably the most important are the eye falling on the upper horizontal line and the duck's forward progress being pretty much marked by the left vertical line. (The lines are superimposed on the image in the next post.)
Here's the one with the divine proportion lines.
Thank you so much for your time and thoughts Cheryl and Dennis. I'm not totaly dissatisfied with the original. My mind just keeps saying that's a lot of dead space, although the overall image looks balanced. Maybe I'm overthinking. Dennis, you have often referred me to devine proportions as opposed to ROT, and I try to wrap my mind around that. Your repost with the lines makes things much clearer. Thank you both once again.
Dave, I like the way you filtered this. I am thinking that Dennis' repost with more space all arond would be the way to go here. I love the sketched/realistic look of the duck!
Thanks Denise, I'll give that a look too. That may well be the direction I need to go.
Posting Permissions
