hehehe, super well done

I did a version with lot of contrast too. But ive a doubt about it. Your are right i think ! Thnax for comment xD

like the background image -- may find the big birds also have big droppings just ask any one near a retention pond in the spring (LOL)

So Alan2641 there is plenty of good fertilizer around... Eh?

Canada is a beautiful country, judging by this image. What time of year do these birds fly south, author? LOL, love his little foot coming OOB - he just might be heading my way!

shadow could use some work -- the edge is not as sharp as the other shadows and the area around the feet seem a bit too dark

If I get some time Alan, I'll work on that (I was torn about the shadow off the hand and the shadow off the rocks, I was going to slant more but the rock shadows are a pain THANKS!

EDIT: Tweakie tweak tweak

shadows and lighting are most challenging. Nice piece, however.

The brickpattern can barelly be seen, if you decide to make it more visible warp it to fit the form.
Use some reference to help you with the entry:
http://www.grandmas-attic.com/images/a2331.jpg

I wish I had seen this image earlier. Thanks for the suggestion greymval.

You can get inspired from it, but not use it or reproduce it, since it's copyrighted.
I posted it so that you can see the proportions, mood, lighting & how an entry should look.
The lighthouse is your MAIN so it would be better to be more detailed and occupy more space, for starters.
You can search for lighthouses on sxc, you should find plenty of shapes and environments to enspire you there.
You can edit your entry if you want to improve it My stuff-My contest entries.
There you have it: the 3 "you can"s. :P

I respect the effect you were trying to achieve, but rather see step five as the finished entry. I would just create a new layer, fill it with black, set the blend mode to color dodge, and then with a soft white 5% opacity brush paint where you want light. Painting over brighter areas with more brush strokes. Then I would create a new layer fill it with a brown color and set the layer blend mode to color and set the opacity of the layer around 25%. This will give you a more dramatic scene. good luck!

Thanks. I will try that and reply about outcome.

very good dark contrast the waves is just incredible. good work