Jelly?

All images with Canon 1D Mk III, EF 70-200mm f/4L, hand held

Learn the Basics/Fundamentals of Your DSL this weekend. We shot yesterday afternoon in Morro Bay. As the tide came in, hundreds of jelly fish started to float by. The class was out on a small pier working the Manual mode. We turned our attention to the water below and shot a few of the jellies.

The top and middle images show a single jellyfish and the green/black swirls are reflections on the surface of the water. To optimize the images, I worked a little in Adobe Camera Raw 5.4 and then sent the images to Photoshop. Shooting into the water which was heavily laden with particulates necessitated a quick Dust and Scratches filter to clean up the water.

I added another layer and ran the Topaz Adjust plug-in (www.TopazLabs.com) to add a little depth, contrast, and a hint of saturation. Back in Photoshop proper I changed the Topaz layer blend mode to Soft Light and then ran a little High Radius Low Amount sharpening to add shape and form.

I finally decided to do a little more clean up with the Spot Healing Brush.

On the bottom image, I simply launched the Filter Gallery to see if anything looked fun. I ended up using the Plastic Wrap filter and then reducing the layer opacity. Playing in PS never hurt anyone (as long as it was non-destructive.)

Fiat Lux!

Hal