First Step

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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MarkHopgood-FlamingoBlend.jpg
MarkHopgood-FlamingoBlend.jpg2000×2000 910 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

A few years ago I had seen a few artistic animal images and decided to try my hand at one. The idea was to simplify the subject within a blended background using different textures and Photoshop blending modes. I felt that a limited palette helps to mimi’s distractions.
This weekly challenge criteria matched my efforts perfectly.
The image was taken in the Bolivian altiplano. There were hundreds of flamingos feeding in a large lake.

Technical Details

Canon 30D, 100-400@400mm, ISO 200, F9, 1/1000s.
Cropped, converted to monochrome and a sepia tone applied. Two additional texture layers blended with differing blend modes plus masking to achieve the desired effect.

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I love this!! The antique look is so well done and has taken the image into the realm of fine art. Two things I might play with – possibly lowering saturation of the reds in the UL corner, and maybe adding a subtle dark vignette at the base, probably matching whatever color you go with on that top corner.

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@Diane_Miller Thanks for the feedback. I never noticed the red cast before. Revisiting all the layers there was a red cast to the texture that I re-coloured but the mask seems to have negated that corner. I’ve changed my original now and added a very, very subtle vignette to the base :grinning:. Thanks again