Starfish Profusion

No problem with posting this here (or in wildlife), Marylynne. If we restricted this gallery to true macro, it would get pretty lonely around here. Starfish are amazing creatures, and your images captures this group nicely. I like the comp with the orange guy front and center. The detail is excellent. One question for me is whether this was hh. If so, good job as it's very sharp for 1/15. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Scott. It is handheld. Is it sharp enough do you think? I did some tonal contrast stuff in Nik which can increase the impression of sharpness. There are a few tentacles that don't look great at 1:1, but I try not to peep too much unless I plan to print something big. This is the kind of thing that works nicely in a calendar. It's kinda gross when real big.

As I indicated, I think it's quite sharp. I do think there is a little glare overall resulting from the contrast plus the moisture in the rocks and starfish. I was going to suggest before that a polarizer in this situation might help, but this obviously would reduce your light and ability to hh (although you can boost the iso to compensate).

What an amazing scene that would be to find and photograph! Starfish are such fascinating creatures IMO. This grouping is interesting with their different poses and colors. The perch they are clinging to is interesting to view too, especially in the larger version. The details look sharp but it does feel a bit bright. Maybe just a bit of overall darkening would be helpful.

Thanks, Carolyn. I think I might return to the LR processed Raw version. This one is a product of a Nik filter, and while I initially felt like it gave it some pop, I think it popped a bit too much ;-). This is the most wonderful place I've see for star fish and tide pools on the Oregon coast. People talk about the Haystack Rock, but man, go at low tide for the tide pools.

Here is one processed more lightly in LR with a bit of highlight control via the adjustment brush.

Superbly composed, Marylynne ! I love the range of textures, forms and colours. I can easily see how you were so fascinated - this image itself bears a lot of looking at !! On a minor note - I think I actually prefer the original version with its slightly greater contrast