Lizard

[NightZ88]

newbie here.. i quite fancy tis pic.
C&C appreciated..

[Cecil]

This lizard is not trying to blend in with the environment.
Good eye contact.

[NightZ88]

Originally Posted by Cecil This lizard is not trying to blend in with the environment. Good eye contact.

thx.. any suggestions to improve on tis pic. ?

[Zaknafein]

probably can try without so many distracting leaves inside the frame... can be pretty difficult sometimes tho
other than that, i think u got a good focus on the fellow's head

[NightZ88]

Originally Posted by Zaknafein probably can try without so many distracting leaves inside the frame... can be pretty difficult sometimes tho other than that, i think u got a good focus on the fellow's head

oh.. how do i nt haf distractin leaves inside e frame? ha.. thx neways.

[cerebrus]

Originally Posted by NightZ88 oh.. how do i nt haf distractin leaves inside e frame? ha.. thx neways.

Thats the pain of taking shots like these.... I never noticed the fellows leg above his head even though I have seen this shot before.

[NightZ88]

Originally Posted by cerebrus Thats the pain of taking shots like these.... I never noticed the fellows leg above his head even though I have seen this shot before.

hahaz.. agree. canT go and adjust e leaves or wateva.. and e lizard didnT stay on e branch for long. 10s and it's gone.. oh. is dat a gd thin or a bad thin den?

[cerebrus]

Originally Posted by NightZ88 hahaz.. agree. canT go and adjust e leaves or wateva.. and e lizard didnT stay on e branch for long. 10s and it's gone.. oh. is dat a gd thin or a bad thin den?

The leg? Not good or bad, I just never noticed it before. I like the colours alot.

[NightZ88]

Originally Posted by cerebrus The leg? Not good or bad, I just never noticed it before. I like the colours alot.

hahaz.. i like it dere though. like it's hangin on e leaves and peekin into e outside world.. glad u like it bro.

[Zaknafein]

hmm, as what cerebrus said its not a good or bad, but to me it does look a bit awkward lol.

as to how to get rid of the leaves in the frame... tats a tough 1. im a newbie myself hahaha.
u can try a different angle of shooting the lizard tho

[cannonball]

great picture!!

difficult to take a picture of such a fast lizard and taking
this lizard w/o his camo. colours should be even more difficult..

[Cecil]

You can select the crop tool, rotate it until the branch is diagonal across the picture (bottom at right corner and top at left corner), select the wand tool and blur the two leaves that is taking away the attention from the face of the lizard.
This arrangement should roughly conform to the "y" composition - the perfect rectangle concept
Try this and see if you think its a better picture.

[espion]

I like it. Don't think the leaves are distracting as the lizard's face and features are so interesting and they 'shout' so loudly, that I dont really 'see' the leaves.

Can't really improve much with processing.

The only improvement is the next time you shoot, to compose it better in real time, on-the-fly, and fire off 10 shots in less than 10s.

OK, what I am saying is you need more experience. See more, shoot more, self-critic more, and next time you can compose, shoot and think instinctively and instantaneously.

Some compostional ideas:

1. get both eyes, or at least more of the second eye.
2. get into greater details on one eye (I can see a hint of red, and it looks exciting, and I want to see more.)
3. incl both fore limbs

Or yet something else.

You see we were not there. But you were and you must capture what is most interesting and exciting to you and to present it to us as a photograph so that we share your same excitement and delight too.

[nottipiglet]

I like it a lot. It's a very nice shot.

Personally, I think you can improve it a little by cropping a bit off the top, left, and bottom (not too much).

[cerebrus]

Originally Posted by espion I like it. Don't think the leaves are distracting as the lizard's face and features are so interesting and they 'shout' so loudly, that I dont really 'see' the leaves.

Got to agree with that. First thing my eyes go to are the lizards eye & head.

[nottipiglet]

Originally Posted by cerebrus Got to agree with that. First thing my eyes go to are the lizards eye & head.

I don't think the leaves are distracting. But by cropping it in different ways can yield different effects. It really depends on what the photographer is trying to achieve.

For example, if you crop more from the right side, the lizard will appear more on the right side. As he is facing the right edge, and there is more negative space on the left, the lizard will look a bit 'trapped'.

If you crop more from the left, the lizard (being placed more on the left side) will appear to be staring into more space on the right. That make the lizard appear more forward looking.

A lot of portraits put the subject such that they stare into space because it appears more positive.

There is no right or wrong.... just what you think is nice.

[NightZ88]

geez.. thanks guys for all e comments as well as compliments. i'll try to work on all those.. like wat one of u has said, e most important thin is to continue practisin. if there's anythin more to add, plz do so.. esp. critics. it's wif dat dat we can really learn and grow..