Old Man And The Sea

Is this one of those Galapagos marine iguanas ? 

From the creatures stance, it appears a regal beast, master of all that it surveys.

The sunlight on the white rock the lizard is perched upon sets up the rock in competition for my attention with the lizard. Perhaps bringing down the brightness on the rock would help direct focus back to the subject.

Gord,

Hadn't been fully aware of the brilliance of that white rock and you're quite right! I'm going to work with it a bit and see if I can't de-emphasize the rock without giving away that it's been modified... so, basically, keep the brilliance while decreasing the intensity... I think. I'll work on it.

Is quite a regal looking fellow, and I did for certain respond to what looked to me like the lizard equivalent of gray/white hair, along with the stance: "My domain. I am Lord of all I see." This Sr. Lizard Citizen was on St. Thomas, and sure looked like he'd been there for a good long time.

I'll see what comes of working on the bright rock and let you know.

David

As usual Gord has a good eye! it is an interesting animal, looks like belonging to the  a dinosaurs era. I will not repeat Gord's right suggestion, but I would like to see it later after some added work!...;-))

Glad to see you again ! David.

Gord and Pnina,

Funny how something can be so obvious as to be a distraction, yet one doesn't see it until someone else points it out! What's that you say about "hyper-focusing?" on something less than the image as a whole?!

So, here's my first go at trying to de-emphacize the sunlit rock.

Lemme know what you think.

Best Regards,

David

My last post was supposed to have the re-do attached, but I got an error message (505... something about the server not finishing or something), so I'm going to try it again. If it doesn't work this time I'll try just posting it as another image in the folder.

Regards,

David

I love the way the rock all the over on the left almost echoes the diagonal of the lizard. He is getting a lost a little, and the redo seems to have made the whole photo darker, though you got the rock in the foreground to a good point. If you can restore the luster of the rest of the photo, I think you'll be in good shape. I like the way you used the negative space of the water which puts the guy and the rocks in a tentative relationship to it. Nice detail with the hairs on the back and a beautiful shade of blue in the original.

Fred,

Thanks for stopping by! I think the difference may be the smart sharpen filter... on in the original and I'm pretty sure not in the re-do. I'll check it and get back to you.

Regards,

David

Fred - Here it is with what I think you were describing restored along with the adjustment of the rock. See what you think. BTW, in addition to smart sharpen, I adjusted the levels, too.

David

I think that  the first  redo is nice, and I think that a very tiny bit lighter will be good .Interesting animal well placed diagonally on the frame. 

What do you think?

Dave,

Your latest versions addresses the issue I had raised. The lizard  is now clearly the star of the show while having loads of context as regards his domain. A nice balance of animal and habitat. The newest version also brings back the feel of bright sunshine which did get muddied up a tad in your intermediary version. I was curious and tried my own run at this by selectively working only on the bright rock. My result was similar to your own. I can upload my attempt if you wish. 

For whatever it may be worth I  finally did answer your questions on my morel photo. Sorry for the delay I had been away from home at the time of your posting.

cheers

Gord

Gord - Speaking of not being home... I've not checked on this one for awhile (obviously!) Glad you like the re-re-do! I do, too.

Pnina - I'll try working with the levels and/or curves a bit and see what happens. Certainly worth trying. Thanks!

Glad you commented because it reminded me that I never commented on your newest version, which is a big improvement. Nice work.

Thanks! I'm very glad you like it!

Best,

David