I was actually out shooting for the Wild Things side challenge and this looked like a perfect shot for this challenge. The sunlight was bright causing the swan to be exposed ok and the water and background way underexposed.
pp in CS3:
Cropped to portrait rather than landscape.
Adjusted the exposure slightly to get the background even blacker.
Saturated the reds first so I could then desat browns to brighten the swan as it was a bit dirty without desating the beak!
Very slight highlights and shadows.
Slight Contrast / Brightness.
Resize
Border
USM
SFW
Would liked to have used the dodge / burn tool to bring out the Swans face but can't in basic!
eta, the thing in the corner is leaf, couldn't get rid of it in basic :(
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