Another Orton effect

[jetrim]

My young niece has a birthday coming, so I thought I'd give her one of Adorama's hardcover photo books. She loves wildlife pictures and I've got a bunch of good ones from my last trip to the Everglades. I'm trying to decide on a cover though. I don't want the image to overpower the title, but to work as more of a backdrop. I'm thinking I like this one, but wonder if it's a little "over the top" with the saturation:

[Didache]

Will it have lettering on the cover? Seems to me that if you know the colour and font of the letter, it might be easier to know what level of saturation to apply.

Nice idea for a gift btw - and very popular these days.

Mike

[SmartWombat]

A little ?

[LeeIs]

the image is awesome. if u have problems seeing the text on it, just reverse it. black, or a dark background in a particular area with light text shall get it done.

[Frog]

Its all a matter of taste and use. I find it over saturated but might not be so for a book cover if the lettering shows well enough. I think white would work.

[jetrim]

I probably should have taken a screenshot of it with the text the first time around (d'oh!)
But your feedback has given me pause concerning text color, so I came up with an alternate layout as well:

[draymorton]

I prefer option 1. And I love the original photo.

[tayl0124]

I find both covers hard to read. However I find the one with a black border easier. Try with out the drop shadow on the text. Otherwise you may need a different color text. My .02

Edit: On second thought it may be just the small size on my monitor that makes it hard to read.

[Power_Unit]

The drop shadow seems like extra noise on an already noisy image. Try a 'thicker' font and a dark navy or violet color, a color opposite of and complimentary to the dominant yellow color in the image. Such a color would not work well with the black border though.

[Frog]

I like them both but I guess the first a bit better.
The color stands out so it works for me. Its the font that's hard to read but heck, she'll know what it says and who spends time reading a cover.

[frapuchi]

I like option 2, the 1 is too black
ciao

[shootme]

Original photo is great, but looks though the colours have been boosted too much. I'd go for option 1 but use a colour to match the scene. S

[jetrim]

Thank you very much for the suggestions everyone! Even with the diverse opinions expressed, I'm pretty clear now on the direction I'm heading on this one and it's pretty much a compilation of everyone's ideas - desaturate the shot a bit, go with a much thinner medium-dark green border and adjust the text color and a minimal drop shadow if at all.
Seriously, thanks again, all! This little project was far more time consuming than I imagined!

[tayl0124]

aren't they always!! Just like a video I shot for a guy a while back. Ended up taking months to finish.

[gahspidy]

The photo is very nice. I like option #2 having it fill the cover. The problem is your font style is too fancy and difficult to read no matter what it was over. Try a simple and bold font of the same color or even white would do it.
Nice work and a fine gift.

[freygr]

Yes the Font is too fancy and the color really is not helping the legibility. I would like the option 2 with a plainer font. Remember the more contrast you have the more legibility you will have. (think of the cover being a B&W photo)