Comments
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I do like the colouring in this shot - have a very real feeling to it which we don't often see much in digital shooting as was seen in the film era
However it seems that your focus missed his head and hid the middle of his back, if you can in such shots you really want the eye of the animal (which is looking right at you in this shot) to be in focus, even if nothing else is. I would have either zoomed/stepped back to get the AF on his head (using a single centre AF point only) or used manual focusing to correct it.
Also the lighting has been tricky for you and very harsh. I have done an edit where I used the highlights and shadows tool in photoshop elements; I added light to the shadows to bring out his head more, whilst also adding a lot of shadow to the highlights to lower the glare in the shot to a more acceptable level. I also used a layermask on this (though you can use a selection wizard instead) so that it only affected the insect and the rock he was on and not the background, which does not need the added lighting.
However it seems that your focus missed his head and hid the middle of his back, if you can in such shots you really want the eye of the animal (which is looking right at you in this shot) to be in focus, even if nothing else is. I would have either zoomed/stepped back to get the AF on his head (using a single centre AF point only) or used manual focusing to correct it.
Also the lighting has been tricky for you and very harsh. I have done an edit where I used the highlights and shadows tool in photoshop elements; I added light to the shadows to bring out his head more, whilst also adding a lot of shadow to the highlights to lower the glare in the shot to a more acceptable level. I also used a layermask on this (though you can use a selection wizard instead) so that it only affected the insect and the rock he was on and not the background, which does not need the added lighting.
excellent capture.ray
Thanks Ray for your comment and a special thank you to Alex and Necia for your kind comments and modifications. Yes, Alex, the lighting was harsh (midday in Turkey!!!) and I'm kicking myself I didn't get the lizard any sharper. I'm not particularly good at wildlife (probably due to not practicing enough) but was fairly pleased with this modest effort.
Thanks again, Alex, for giving up so much of your time to make some very constructive comments, much appreciated indeed.
Andrew.
Thanks again, Alex, for giving up so much of your time to make some very constructive comments, much appreciated indeed.
Andrew.
Go on, 18-135's not THAT long, you'd been on the pop the night before.
I see what you mean about the sharpness, but I think it's the focus. The AF seems to have locked onto the rock under his front left foot. Consequently, his head is going out of focus. You just needed to check what the AF was doing before snapping.
Nice shot though, but a little too tight a crop for me. Personally, I'd have liked a deeper shot top to bottom, to give him some breathing space. Underneath may be more interesting, as the rock presents good texture, where the BG is out of focus.
All round, not a bed effort.
I see what you mean about the sharpness, but I think it's the focus. The AF seems to have locked onto the rock under his front left foot. Consequently, his head is going out of focus. You just needed to check what the AF was doing before snapping.
Nice shot though, but a little too tight a crop for me. Personally, I'd have liked a deeper shot top to bottom, to give him some breathing space. Underneath may be more interesting, as the rock presents good texture, where the BG is out of focus.
All round, not a bed effort.
Thanks Dave for your comments, I'm not sure about being on the pop the night before I did so much walking during the day most evenings I didn't even have the energy to go out!
I rarely use autofocus, as I prefer to use focus manually, although there are certain situations where it is essential to use it.
If you study my work I do prefer to crop everything fairly tightly to give the image more impact. Too much room and the subject can get 'lost' amongst the background. On EPZ you only have a thumbnail to start with before someone decides whether to look at that image larger or not, so you need a fairly impressive thumbnail to start with otherwise no-one looks at your work. Saying that I could easily upload a couple of modifications (including the original image) and gauge people's opion on my selective cropping! But I take your point and may upload a modification.
This image is actually a panoramic and thus appears in the panoramic gallery!
Andrew.
I rarely use autofocus, as I prefer to use focus manually, although there are certain situations where it is essential to use it.
If you study my work I do prefer to crop everything fairly tightly to give the image more impact. Too much room and the subject can get 'lost' amongst the background. On EPZ you only have a thumbnail to start with before someone decides whether to look at that image larger or not, so you need a fairly impressive thumbnail to start with otherwise no-one looks at your work. Saying that I could easily upload a couple of modifications (including the original image) and gauge people's opion on my selective cropping! But I take your point and may upload a modification.
This image is actually a panoramic and thus appears in the panoramic gallery!
Andrew.
