Pelicans Taking Off

[WIlliam Maroldo]

SonyA700~Sony70-400G@400mm~ISO1000~F8~1/1000 sec~manual exposure~HH~2-8-2010~Flood control reservoir, Houston, Texas~CS4/Topaz Detail V2/Topaz Clean2/ Redfield Fractalius

comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

[Mark Fuge]

Very nice image and application, Bill.

Just enough filter to make it great.

If there is a neg, it is the lack of space to see the wing tips, but I can live with that given the image.

[Julie Kenward]

I thought the same thing as Mark about the wings but at least they are both partially clipped - it looks more intentional that way! I like that the water in the FG is darker than the rest - it really pulls my eye to the birds and gives the image a strong anchor.

[denise ippolito]

Bill, I like the comp. as is. the wing tips are not important to the scene IMO. I like the Fractalius work and the water splashing.

[Christopher Miller]

Nice action, Bill. I really like the water splash. In a perfect world it would have been nice to have the wing tips, but no big issue IMO.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Appreciate the feedback as usual! Cropped this way on purpose. About the wing tips: in the original the left side wing tip was not clipped, though very close to the edge. The right side clipped a very small amount, easily fixed. This could easily be "repaired", which would then require additional space between them and the border. The problem is the more I spread the image out, the less impact of the subject. This was not my intent. If anything I might have cropped in closer (left and right).
Julie: the darker foreground was created for the exact purpose you sited: In ACR I used the gradient tool. Sometimes it improves an image, sometimes not.
Thank you Denise, Christopher, Julie, and Mark. regards~Bill