garden lizard

[bhavya joshi]

Well, I used my digital camera in this.. it is just an garden lizard.
I little bit concentrate in his eye.. any mistake .. Please suggest.
Thank you.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs930.snc4/74361_164687386894659_100000601962672_439506_30390 14_n.jpg

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Bhavya,

Don't forget to post the specs: f-stop, SS, ISO, Camera, lens, whether flash was used, etc....so that we can give you better suggestions on how to improve the image.

Nice tight shot on this lizard and it appears sharp where it needs it! I don't mind the black BG, but some object to it......so keep that in mind. The flash looks a bit strong on the body in a few areas, so powring it down a touch would help. Ideally I would prefer a touch more room up top as it feels a bit tight, so a bit less room on the bottom and more up top would work just fine for me. A little higher angle too would have let the moth clear the leaf a bit more......then the portrait would be complete. Overall, you did pretty well and a few small adjustments in the field would make this shine.

[Ken Childs]

Hi Bhavya,

It is important for you to always include the camera details with every shot you post here. Most digital cameras will record this information as part of the original file that is recorded by the camera. We need to know the camera model, ISO, shutter speed, aperture setting, if flash was used and if the camera is a DSLR, the lens that was used. The more information we have, the better our critiques will be. If you have any questions about this, please ask them here or send a private message to me. :S3:

The first thing I noticed about this shot was that the gecko needed more room at the top so I added some canvas in this repost. This was easy to do because of the black background. I also removed a small amount from the bottom. With a subject like this, the goal is to get the eye close to one of the "rule of thirds" points in the image. I also increased the contrast and sharpened it some more and of course I removed the time stamp. I really like the angle of the angle of the leaf. This is an interesting subject and with a little work with your editing software, it can look even better. :S3:

It looks like Roman and I were replying at the same time.

[bhavya joshi]

Thank you for helpful suggestion..

But One thing I dont get it. i was trying to focus a whole body. But i am failed.
so please can you tell me how to focus a whole body??

And many times I saw different pictures or photos of animals of different photographer , The bright flash of camera, reflects in his eye. same as in my gecko. so what you think
it is good in photography.??

and sorry for, I did not mentioned a detail of my camera details
so, here it is..
With canon A495
Shutter speed- 1-2000
ISO Speed- 80
Aperture- F/30

Thank you.:bg3:

[Ken Childs]

Bhavya,

Unfortunately you will be limited by what your camera can do. Many point and shoot style cameras do great a job taking general photos but can have a hard time with close-up photography because the lens is so small. The center of the image will be sharp but it will lose sharpness as you get closer to the edges of the photo. I think you did very well with this shot....probably as good as can be expected with the camera you have.

Roman recommended decreasing the power on your flash but I read that isn't possible with your camera so you can try this....hold a small piece of paper in front of the flash when taking close-up shots. It may take more than one piece of paper to soften the light so you will need to experiment. The light in the eye is called a catchlight and it is normal. With natural light, the catchlight will usually be higher up or closer to the edge of the eye because the light is coming from above or the side. Sometimes you can move the catchlight with your editing software to make it look more natural. The Avian Forum is a good place to look for examples of what a catchlight should look like.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Bhavya. You have an interesting subject and you have good sharpness around the eye and head where it most needs to be sharp. I agree that the image could use more room at the top and I like what Ken has done with the repost in that regard. Ken and Roman have given you some excellent suggestions to consider. I addition, I might add that you could consider tweaking the flash-generated catchlight in the eye just a little. Some careful cloning could change the somewhat oblong shape to a more natural looking circle. As Ken noted, you might also move the catchlight somewhat higher within the pupil to make it seem more like a sun-generated one rather than flash-generated. :S3: