Spiny (Kalahari) Ground Agama

[Gabriela Plesea]

One of these strokes of luck in terms of capturing this image, no time to change settings or think about composition. Shot while driving around Gharaghab camp, in the dunes (Kalahari). This chap disappeared as fast as he came into view...Quite a heavy crop to eliminate some bits and bobs in the BG, cloned out some debris on the sand I thought you might find distracting. Don't know if I should do something about the dark blob behind the subject, I can clone it out if it bothers you. Taken in relatively harsh light, dunes are really bright red/orange up there and I have already reduced saturation in anticipation of your requests:t3. Not my best image I know, but a species I do not remember seeing in Wildlife on BPN yet, posted for interest' sake and diversity. He is cute, isn't he?

Nikon D3S
Nikon 500 F4
F 6.3
ISO 400
1/2000s

Have a great week-end, Happy Easter everyone!

[Colin Driscoll]

A very good result Gabriela. I guess that blue face is an Agamid blush :S3:. I like it just as is and the little plant is such a bonus.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - I don't recall seeing this particular agama here either. I really like the colors and the comp. The blob doesn't bother me at all. Good use of dof. Overall, a really nice image.

TFS,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi gabriela, very nice image, good colors, and a cute guy. I find the crop a bit tight near the tail, perhaps a bit more space there? Loi

[Don Railton]

What an interesting and pretty looking lizard Gabriela... I like the detail you have captured , dof is perfect and agree the greenery is a nice bonus... Nothing to suggest, I just like what I see..

Don



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[Marc Mol]

Love the desert and contrasting head colour here with nice BG Gabriela, I have posted a few agama quite a while back, but not this particular species.
The dark blob is not conflicting here as mostly hidden with the little tuft of greenery adding a nice touch.:w3

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you friends,

Really appreciate your comments and time to view.

Loi, there was a little space behind the tail but also lots of debris and little "blobs" I would much rather take out by cropping than cloning out. Thought the space was sufficient but now that you mention it, I will try give more space there when I reprocess. I value your opinion, thank you for mentioning this detail.

Indeed a pretty looking chap and I wish he gave me a chance to take more images of him. I find the creatures of the dunes very skittish and that is probably because they are not in contact with humans/vehicles that much. Gharaghab is a very remote camp and quite easily accessible with a 4x4, but that is only when going in. Going out is a different story, more difficult to negotiate the dunes and especially when someone travelled that road before you without lowering tyre pressure. I have a hair-raising video that proves my point, copies on request:bg3:

Have a great week-end!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela,
cute little chappie , not chap. She ? looks like a female with some eggs in her stomach, from my POV.
I like the colors and the overall tonality , like wise the comp is working for me. I do find the sharpening a fraction over the top and you sharpened not the whole subject , i feel . Or your masking was not made properly , mostly visible on the back of the subject and the eye brow, where you have a fall off on sharpening.
To me the image is slightly too dark for a sunlit day in the KTP ?
So i tweaked it a bit ,plus i used the PPW panel for color and some contrast. No need of being frustrated with this panel , tell Andre :t3 :bg3:, easy to use, LOL, if you know how.
Suggestions are made just from my POV , not saying they are just the perfect ones :w3.

Hope you like it.

Cheers Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Andreas! Welcome back!

A SHE? As in CHAPPIE? Great news! Well, I could not tell, but I trust you. And she has eggs- brilliant, that makes it really special, thank you!

There was no masking Andreas, and I did try to sharpen where I saw fit, the tail was already out so I did not even touch it. This was lazy processing, cropped to get rid of debris and plants, adjustments in LR that applied to the whole image, exposure and curves in CS6 and selective sharpening... But I do like your tweaks...Still do not know what PPW is, maybe you will show me in a few months' time? These days I try to keep things simple, we have the most delightful visitors and not a lot of time for PP work. It is 01:51 am now when I am replying to you, just wanted to thank you for taking the time to do the magic tweaks, I must jump into the feathers, tomorrow we are off into the Game Reserve:w3

Nitey nite, chat soon,

Have a great day!