Witta Priester
June 2022 - Going After HIS Fish
Original
Original 2
About the Image(s)
I recently made the Start photo with my Canon 90D, using a 100-400 mm lens at 400mm and a 1.4 extender. I do spend quite a bit of time out with the birds.
I like the story in this photo, but think the choppy water is a distracting element.
I’ve been wanting to start doing something more imaginative, arty, grungy, or painterly with my thousands of wildlife photos. This month's image is just a first experiment, before starting on Michael Sebastian's on-line compositing course.
In PS the herons were selected using "select subject", followed by some local refining of the selection. This selection was saved, and copied to a new layer, so the herons could be put back — nice and sharp — on top of other layers as needed.
The original image was then processed in Topaz Studio 2 to add lightness and color to the water Then the herons were overlaid, followed by a second TS2 Look to add an “oil paint canvas” effect. (That resulted in the Intermediate, after TS2 image.)
Back in PS I added several of my textures to the background to try to make the background more interesting, while at the same time not distracting.
The honker was added at the last minute for balance and because I am still wanting more interest, more weirdness, and ways to enhance the story.
Your thoughts on how to do more or different with this image or how to make things more interesting are most welcome… Help!
This round’s discussion is now closed!
8 comments posted
I'm not sure about the colors in the background. If it were mine, I think I'd desaturate the background a bit more. The texture is appealing to me, but somehow the coloring of the background keeps distracting me from the bird subjects.
Nice job though. It's fun to extent out and try different things! My last surgery two weeks ago, left me pain free and walking, so I'm finally getting back to computer work! Even when to the beach to photograph sand patterns yesterday! Posted: 06/05/2022 12:19:57
Prompted by Linda's image this month I thought that with the flat light in your original it might be a nice candidate for the Lisa Langell treatment. I expanded your crop as I don't like the cut off wings and wanted a more centered composition. I increased the exposure and shadows to blow most of the background out - a mask with a gradient was used to completely eliminate the background in the upper portion of the image and I selectively brought back a bit of water at the bottom to ground the image. Posted: 06/08/2022 06:15:02
However, at what point does this move from documentary to fine art? So similar to what you did, adding some textures or different color that enhances the drama of the scene or stylizing the birds in some way would help. I didn't do that in my example, LOL. Posted: 06/27/2022 18:52:12
Your crop really makes the story pop. Thanks so much for the input! Posted: 06/29/2022 18:11:37