Duplicate background
Select nose - layer
~ nose layer
- USM (6,100,0)
- USM (1,100,0)
- Noise Reduction : Salt & Pepper (3,2)
Merge all
Brightness & Contrast : Histogram (5,1,245)
Duplicate background
Clarify +1
Opacity 65%
Crop
Merge all
Duplicate background
Select head and neck area - promote to layer
~ head/neck area
- burn mode, 6% opacity
Merge all
Minor burn and cloning to reduce a couple of hotspots
Resize
USM (.50,100,10) +luminance
Noise Reduction : Salt & Pepper (1,1)
Border
Save as JPG
orig -
This turtle was quite a family event - our oldest (13) caught it at the pond on our property and brought it up for all to see. Of course I had to grab the camera... ;^)
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I think the shallow DOF is fine. It really makes you study the old guy's face. I think what may have hurt you in a Free Study is just the fact that it isn't quite as visually appealing, considering such diversity in that type of challenge. Had it been "old" or "animals" it would have scored much higher. Not to say that everything has to be eye candy and pretty, but that's just my take on it. I thought it met the challenge, but just didn't give me the pow factor I was looking for in a free study.
Nice detail in the head. I love the little blade of grass. Great backstory and title. I do agree with the DOF and angle comments. But it's still a really nice shot. Thanks for your comment, too!
Your photo is fine. It's Grumpy's fault. His features don't stand out. Consequently I can't relate to him, can't get a real clear idea of his expression. There isn't much range in the tones, so the contrasts are subtle. As far as the dof goes, the shallowness didn't bother me that much. However, a sort of(?) similar shot used deep depth to offset the close-up of the face and it worked. Better luck next time.
Love the point of view here.
A little brighter in the background around his head would really strengthen the main focal point of his/her head by separating the tones & levels a bit more.
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