First off acearchie, a hearty thanks for the huge effort you put in here with individual feedback again.
My shot was a close up of a pelican, the part just at the base and side of the neck. To me it could easily have been a mass of fish schooling too. I loved the gradation from light to dark when I saw it in the viewfinder and twisted awkwardly to achieve the shot, semi-clambering over a fence to get as close as I possibly could.
Thanks for getting me to think whilst out with camera in hand about B&W possibilities too.
I think this is a perfect example of how sometimes it can feel a bit odd taking a shot (clambering over a fence and having to hold the camera in an odd position) but in the end picture we don't see any of that and just see a great shot.
No problem! When I started on these forums the critiquing was the one thing that really helped me to improve (if I do say so myself). The least I can try and do is give back!
Thanks for the comments, Acearchie! I ran my photo through Topaz Adjust 5 to apply adaptive exposure to it. The sun was blinding that day so most of the snow was a solid bright white... I wanted to bring out some of the texture in the snow but you're right that it also significantly affects the cloud appearance. Maybe next time I'll use a 10-stop neutral density filter to smooth the clouds out.
Original:
![mayflower1.jpg]()
+ LR4 clarity adjustment:
![mayflower2.jpg]()
+ Topaz Adjust 5 adaptive exposure + LR4 selenium tone:
![mayflower3.jpg]()
I think it's the clarity adjustment in LR that makes it feel just a little odd for me. Have you tried using a graduated filter with the clarity adjustment to keep it off the sky? The Topaz adjustment seems to add it's own clarity style filter on top and it's the small halation around the clouds that is a giveaway for me that it feels a little unnatural.
