A big improvement on the original

I'm not allowed to swear am I...... the shot is great, love the depth, and texture, and the fact I can taste the salt from here................the little bug is great, love it....... does he have a name.

Got the book today!, love the Clans signatures...... thanks again all...... csj

After looking at the original....wow! Talk about making a silk purse out of a sows ear...you did it. Great job.

I'm not entirely sure about this one. I think it is better than the original. I think that the water in the bottom left looks too mercuric and therefore artificial compared with the other part of the wave.
I personally like the small whit sail/lighthouse/thing on the horizon. It is a detail that fires up the imagination. If only it was to the right more, you could have explored keeping it and losing the wave on the bottom left.

SheyMouse

This is the reason I have revisited my own photo archive, to dig out the photos that I didn't think I could do anything with.

It's also (one of) the reason(s) I signed up for your Photoshop tutorials!

I like the "mercurial" appearance of the wave - the breaking water captures my attention at first, but it's only at second glance that I notice the water doesn't look quite normal.

I'm also in two minds about the white thing. I think it's more of a distraction than an interest though.

Well worth the time and effort! Now - back to my dull, lifeless pictures...

Bonjour,
Well done effect..Beautiful waves..Bravo!

I would say that it detracts somewhat as it isn't quite distinct enough. I love the minute detail to the waves though.

Um, the insect, what's that about? A little programming fun. I get a creeping feeling on my flesh with it...

This is perhaps one of my favorite shots in the last few weeks. The waves look like the milk commercials you see on TV :).
Titus

It was worth the hours spent on this one. You achieved a really dynamiccomposition and what a difference from the original shot. Glad you left the white object. It adds more interest to the photo and make the viewer look to the whole composition and not only to the waves.

as a surfer, i really love this image, although its not even a great wave, but you really captured the energy and the beauty of the wave well. job well done!

If one considers that the wave on the left is the major subject of this photo (my opinion), then the "lighthouse" is a distraction.

Wow great processing! Well worth the effort.

Interesting action where the backwash meets the lip. Now that I've seen the lighthouse/sail/buoy thing, the picture would seem to missing something without it.

Definately fantastic and an improvement from the original! My vote is that the white object adds interest. Love it!

Nice shot, but I think the little white thingy is distracting indeed :-) It should be removed, or it should be bigger, zo it really is a thing you can 'see'... :-) Nice processing, really makes a difference.

nice one.i like the sharpness and the details of the wave!

wow! the spray and the shell-like inner wave are fantastic. I think it's only the hump of the wave in the bottom l-hand corner which could have been knocked back a bit. It's a little bit too glossy (like chrome) and draws your attention off the break point instead of along the line of the wave.

Cool. Love the colouring. the drops frozen in time look really cool contrasted with such a dark sea. a close up or cropped shot of just the wave would remind me of a Japanese painting.

It's a gorgeous photograph that exudes a feeling of calming power.

Terrific, love how you've frozen the waves in place like that. All the fine droplets of water everywhere look great too.

Thanks everyone, and I agree - there's something not quite right about the wave in the bottom-left of the shot. I think ‘ao tomato’ was probably right; i.e. it should have been knocked back a bit.

Craig: no, it doesn't have a name, I don't want to get too attached to it ;-)

That processing works a treat. Thanks for sharing the original :)

Wow, nice processing on this one. I would've given up too. You did a fantastic job. As for the white object in the distance, I can't decide about it either - in one way I like the way it draws my eye to the horizon, but on the other hand I find it slightly distracting. But not enough to ruin the shot. Great work as always.

Awesome - love your work.

Superb frozen action

Beautiful shot, David... Personally, I like the white object on the horizon - adds some character and wonder to the composition. I really enjoy how the inner wave component in the left-center makes it look like a timed exposure, yet the sea-spray makes it appear as a shot at 1/800 shutter, when it was, in fact, at 1/400. Amazing!

Alchemy in a way, making something valuable out of the ordinary. I like the image for it's interesting looks, but I feel it doesn't carry much meaning, except for the mood (which is the "makups" merit).

i'm creazy for this shot.