Grey Squirrel

Rob Barron · 08-12-2006, 20:40

Some ******* had burnt off part of this poor squirrel's tail. Now don't even get me started on what I would like to do to the mindless thug that thought seeing a little animal in terror and pain was funny! Anyway, thankfully this adorable creature was trusting enough to come and take a few morselfs from me and let me grab a few shots :o)

fionaB · 08-12-2006, 21:37

beautiful.. mind you i would have thought that it wold be even more wary of people!.. i really should go and try that down the road...... but given my usual luck they will head off in the opposite direction
Fi

ftmftm · 08-12-2006, 21:41

Great picture Rob, love the colours and lighting, it looks very sharp aswell.

skipper954 · 08-12-2006, 22:40

Dang squirels were the bane of my birdfeeder. Still no excuse for what happened to this poor fella.

Portrait-wise, good photo. But my taste would have been a little smaller aperture to capture the whole guy in focus, but still blur the bg if possible.

skip

lolyton · 08-12-2006, 23:29

I like the focus as it is with the exception of the sharp foliage to the left of the squirrels head. It's a shame that is so sharp as it competes for attention with the squirrels face. I'd like to see another edit with it either blurred or taken out (cropped), though i think the later would then ruin the comp..

Rob Barron · 08-12-2006, 23:42

Sorry, i don't get you Loly, why do you think I should blur the leaf? It is on exactly the same plane as the face so would expect to be in sharp focus. Sorry if I am missing something.

Cheers,
Rob

skipper954 · 08-12-2006, 23:56

I am with Rob on this. The leaf is great.

namllihs · 09-12-2006, 00:02

Cracking Squirrel shot.

**Markulous** · 09-12-2006, 10:04

I'm with Lolyton on this one! LOL! The leaf adds nothing and is a distraction but no probs with DOF

Offer up this, not so much as a suggestion as to what to do (too much editing) but as a possibility as a theoretical comp. Main bugbear to me was the two lots of FG leaves but think the BG ones look better if more in the BG!

lolyton · 09-12-2006, 13:58

The reason i was saying to blur the leaf or remove is that the image by going on the title is of a Grey Squirrel, not of a leaf. The leaf being so sharp (as sharp as the face) is a (as Markulous put it) distraction. It is competing for your attention, which isn't helped by the way the squirrels face is leading you into it. By having the leaf there (as sharp as it is) does nothing to help the image of the Grey Squirrel.
I know sometimes things should or shouldn't be taken out of an image, and i don't want to go down that road of discussion. I just think if it takes away from the image (ie it would look better without it) then try to get rid of it digitally or re-shoot with a different composure. In this case re-shooting may prove tricky, and with Rob's skill in manipulation shouldn't be too tricky to alter.
Markulous's attempt does seem to make the squirrel more dominant and i prefer it. Maybe there would be another way to go about altering the image, but i think his effort is a definite improvement.

That said, nature photography is a tricky area because creatures (depending) don't tend to stick around for long so you have to be quick and there may well not have been another image that would have worked (so many factors ie. focus, composure, exposure and reflexes to name a few all make it tricky). I feel the capture is a good one, however as it is a critique i am pointing out a way i feel a good image could be made better.

skipper954 · 09-12-2006, 15:07

Mark, you did a great job on the leaves.

But it now seems like something is missing. I still think that the leaves directly in front of squirrel are important to the composition and feeling. It is almost as though the squirrel is going to eat the leaves. I know, I know, they don't eat leaves (do they?).

skip

lolyton · 09-12-2006, 15:36

Alright then, i'm going to suggest something else that may keep Skip a little happier. As it was one of his "where does the eye go" posts that got me thinking about it. Try loosing soe of the brightness in the leaves. Maybe remove the ones by the foot and just dull down the ones by the head. What say everyone else?

skipper954 · 09-12-2006, 15:42

That would seem to be a good compromise, but really we are just nitpicking here.