Curves...

[Michel Pilon]

Hello,

Here is the first bird picture I post on this great forum...

It is very unusual (rare) to see a Little Blue Heron in Quebec...

Here it is a great example of "being there at the good moment" because this Little Blue Heron just perched here against the sun for 2 minutes before flying away! And I never saw this species in Quebec anymore... I like the curves within this picture... And you???

It was a pure 2 minutes of joy :)

Thank you very much for commenting this picture!

Michel Pilon
Sherbrooke Quebec
Canada

(EXIFs available on request)... (Picture took at ISO100, Panasonic FZ-20, Hand-held)

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Hi Michel,
Welcome to BPN!!!
Nice unusual image,I really like the pose

[Jody Melanson]

Welcome to BPN! I like the idea of the silhouette. I would boost the blacks to take it right to full silhouette.

[Arthur Morris]

I like most everything about this one and agree with Jody's suggestion. I wish that the bird's head were not so close to the branch above. With some quick masking, the bird could be lowered if that fits with your personal ethics.

[Fabs Forns]

Bienvenue, Michel, hpe you have a good time here :)

Great advise given, I'll add that yo could also bump the saturation of the sky for a more dramatic look.

[Paul Pagano]

I like this, love the perch and the tree too. Works well in this shot. Nicely done.

[Michel Pilon]

Merci everybody for your nice and pertinent comments!!!

I did my homeworks and here what I obtained following your suggestions:

First I boost the black as suggested by Jody...

Then I lowered the bird as mentionned by Arthur...

Finally I increase the saturation as advised by Fabs...

I finally I got that:




Does it look better now???

Personnally I found it is a big improvement with more "punch"!!!!

Thank you very much! It is what we call a "Team Work" :)

Cheers!

Michel

[Harold Davis]

repost looks great michel!!!

[Gus Cobos]

Great repost, Like the composition and the momocrome...:D

[Scott Goetz]

Beautiful capture and the re-work takes it that extra step.
Scott Goetz

[Fabs Forns]

Great!
I took the liberty of trying Nik Color Effex 3.0's Graduated Filter. The posterization was in the original, just more evident now. This set of filters comes very handy to accentuate silhouettes.
Hope you like it!

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Michel, Thanks for the reminder note. I get all of the Notifications and would have felt bad to have missed your re-post. Why? Because it is FABULOUS. You have excellent Photoshop skills. And I agree that your re-post really pops.

[Michel Pilon]

Thank you very much for your quick replies to my repost...

Fabs, very cool tool to point out posterization ;)

Seriously, I appreciate very much the work you done with my picture bringing a very much dramatic impression...

Interesting to see the impact of saturation on the feeling a picture can transmit...

Arthur, thank you very much for your nice comment about my pic... Coming from such a notorious photographer, it is very stimulating :)

I really like the final picture I obtained following all your recommendations (Jody, Fabs and Arthur)... and that is what I'm expecting from a forum such as BPN!!! :):):)

Thank you very much again and see you soon!

Michel