I like the simplicity of this shot, Anura. I think you might be right about the highlights on the swimmer's back, though.
A very compelling image! Yes, I would agree; toning down the back a little would probably improve the image.
That is beautiful! Excellent Shot!!!
Thanks for the comments everyone.
I went back to the original last night (the World Cup has put a dent in my photo work) and the excessive highlights on the swimmers back and the peaks of some of the waves are in there. All I really did was darken the image up to make the sea appear darker (and more contrast with the swimmer).
All of me editing is in Picasa alone - I'm too scared of the learning curve on anything else!
A very clever and well composed image Anura and yes toning down is the way to go
I've just read up about the Picasa 'slider hack'. I might go back to the original image to try that out.
One issue I have is that I do all of my work at home on a laptop (living away from home for 2 years, it's my only machine) but when I look at the photos on a TV (through my Apple TV) or on the PC at work their are subtle differences.
Beautiful in its simplicity Anura. Well conceived.