I haven't been out anywhere exciting lately, so this was another image from my garden. I was hanging out clothes to dry on the line and noticed that this little guy was a bit cranky that I was walking past his nice sunny spot.
I had other photos that didn't cut his tail off, but this was the best of him really putting on a display.
Canon 40D.
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM at 125mm.
1/45 s at f/9.5, ISO 200
Image 1.
What can I do to get the BBC publishing arm to give me a ring and include my photos in their books?-- Updated 2010-01-26.
Here is the same Bearded Dragon about a week earlier while sitting in another garden and shedding its skin. It looked a lot more raggard at this stage which is why I did not include much of the rest of its body. I also managed to get lucky and have him looking directly at me. He didn't do this for very long though. I really didn't want to have anything man made in the image though, as you can see my garden wall at the bottom of the frame which is a pity.
Canon 40D.
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM at 195mm.
1/180 s at f/8.0, ISO 250
Image 2.
Cheers
Craig.
Hi Craig,
ReplyDeleteOne reason why they haven't called yet might be that the subject looks like it's looking out of the frame and taking my attention with it. I don't get a feeling of intimate connection with the subject. At first glance I start with the out of focus tail and follow the body around, kind of like accelerating around a racetrack, and end up being slingshoted from the image by the time I get to the head. A camera angle more around to the left might help to direct my attention back into the the frame.
I guess if you're going to chop off it's tail you might as well chop more of it off. Perhaps zoom in on it's head or head and fore shoulders more. Here it kind of looks documentary without being documentary. I would either include the whole animal, in focus, or just a small part of the animal in an intimate close up.
I also find the image a little flat. However I do have a personal preference for high contrast images. Since it was shot on a somewhat overcast day, I would have boosted the contrast in post processing and give the image a real black and white point for reference. Such a tweak might also help to sharpen up the detail in the lizard's textured skin too.
Overall the image looks a little cluttered as well. With that lens, I would have considered stepping back a fraction and zooming the full 200mm to throw more of the background out of focus.
I must say, although I didn't notice it at first, I love the eye level angle this shot was taken. I feel like I can see the world as it does.
Brutal Enough?
steve
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteIt does look as if he is looking out of frame, but bearded dragons rarely ever look at you with both eyes. They always go side on and keep one eye firmly on you, and the other one looking for somewhere to run in case you get too close. (I did get a photo more to the front, but I had to glimpse through leaves to do it and you can't see much of him in that one).
The other problem I had was that the only way I could get him to display properly and flatten out his tummy and make his beard stand out was to get a bit close. Anytime I backed off, he dropped down his poofyness and didn't look as impressive.
I'll do an update to this one with a photo that I did get with the entire lizard in focus and without cutting off his tail, but for some reason I liked the first photo I posted better as his beard was really well displayed in that one.
I'll have a play with the contrast. I was trying hard to keep it as shot, but maybe a little tweaking will make it more interesting even if his colours are 100% anymore.
Oh, I forgot about the eye level item. Yes this was one of the things I was going for in this one. A bunch of the other shots I took were from a higher perspective and they just didn't look right. It just looked like a lizard on the ground rather than being something a little different.
It's hard working with wildlife. They rarely take directions well.
I imagine you have that problem with BIF photography because you'd want them to be either a little closer, or a little further away to that you can frame them just right.
Have you had a look at that PhpBB installation yet? It is really easy to post back follow up images with that setup, and then I could see how you would tweak the contract in a photo like this one as well.
Thanks for your suggestions.
I'll try to post another image by Wednesday.
Cheers
Craig.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteI updated the post with another photo I took a week earlier. The reason I didn't post this one originally was that I felt it was showing a man made structure, and I didn't want that in my nature shot.
Regards
Craig.
Craig,
ReplyDeleteThe paving stones are natural items in a urban garden so as a documentary shot it's fine, even adds to the story about where it was taken.
I would probably take exception to the image if this bearded dragon was photographed on your coffee table.
steve
Hi Craig,
ReplyDeleteI like the second shot of the dragon, much more than the first. I think the way he looks at me is great, and I really don't mind the paving stone at all.
One thing I do notice in the shot though, is the bright orange leaf in the top left corner. I like the shape of it, and even the balance of colour with the other leaves in the picture, but for me the yellow is too strong, and draws my eye away from the main subject. So my focus tends to bounce between the lizard and the leaf, backwards and forwards.
Geoff.