Garden Calotes

[vishaljadhav]

This is a Garden Calotes, in the breeding season the other name Blood sucker is more apt as the color below the neck becomes red
I was out to shoot frogs however it was difficult to find the frogs in the mornings , so as i roamed around with the equipment found this guy on a culvert by the road side so decide to make a image
5D MII + Macro 100 mm 2.8 L IS, 580 EX II
1/200 , f 10, ISO 250

126236
I did not like cutting the legs off however they were in the moss and were not visible hence decided on this crop.
Critiques and comments are welcome

[Jonathan Ashton]

I really like the colours of the lizard the lighting is really good, the detail is excellent and there is almost an iridescence in the scales. I am guessing you exposed manually and the flash did the rest? The image is very clear and the subject is fine.
I sense you feel there is a "but" coming! I think it would have looked a little better if you had perhaps gone for AV mode and used fill in flash, that way we would have seen a little of the surroundings, as it is it makes me think the image was taken at midnight and I am not too sure if this animal is active at midnight. What do you think?

[vishaljadhav]

Jonathan,

Yes this was in manual mode, AV is my normal mode for any photograph guess except macro. I will try and and apply this next time i am clicking in light, The conditions were over cast and the bg was black as it was more of a thicket at base of a tree , saying this the flash has rendered it darker than it is and depicted the image as if taken in the night. ( the calotes is only active in day)
I take the point , next time around in light i will go out and try the AV mode. Suppose thats the part of learning i am here for.

[prasanna av]

Nice image and even nicer suggestion by Jonathan.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Vishal. You have good lighting and excellent sharpness on the lizard! While the dark background may not be ideal (depending on one's point of view), I like that it is not completely black. I think the image would be stronger if the front foot had been visible (but I understand that it was covered by moss). I wonder how the image would look if you had enough room at the bottom to include the "virtual" foot? As an alternative comp, I think this could make a nice vertical portrait if you crop on the right a little behind the elbow and also from the left. Just a couple options to consider. :S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Very nice, Vishal. I do think the dark BG compliments the colors on the lizard. I too like the glowing look of the scales. That and the amount of details that are visible on the scales really add to a dragon-like feel!

[Roman Kurywczak]

A bit late.....but yet another opinion.....I don't mind the very dark BG as it has a bit of texture.....so works for me. I will give yet another thought on the crop.....just off the bottom eliminating all the FG OOF vegetation....leaving a nice curve of the spine to a very nice portrait! Just another option to a very nice image!