The Night Is Near

[Amy Marques]

Taken at Turkey Lake Park, Orlando, FL.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF400mm f/5.6L USM
1/640 sec @ f/8, ISO 1600, bean bag

[Steve Canuel]

Amy,
I like the golden light, the hanging over the limb, peekaboo pose, and the color contrast of the lichen/moss covered branch with the BG. IMO these are photogenic animals. Too bad they don't come out more often in light like this.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Amy, a very cute capture.

I really like the way you have used the tree to frame the subject and the angles of the two trees, couple with, as Steve mentioned, the golden light in the BG. Personally, I always like to see the subject looking to camera as I feel it engages with the reader/audience and with the pose/posture it gives a cheeky, inquisitive look to the image which is rather endearing.

Looking at the 'techs' & high ISO you have done a nice job in creating this image. :cheers:

TFS
Steve

[Harshad Barve]

gotta love this , excellent frame
TFS

[Rachel Hollander]

Very cute. I agree that the framing between the branches and the eye contact really make this image. Nicely done.

TFS,
Rachel

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Amy,
I like your image and agree with all that has been mentioned above.
I would think of cropping a little of the tree trunk on the right to get the eyes of this cute critter on the intersection of the upper right third. I think the composition may look a little stronger.
Well done and thanks for sharing.
:5

[Amy Marques]

Thank you all for your kind comments and suggestions for improvement.

Mark, the crop you suggested was my first choice for the very reason you stated. However, that crop didn't feel right probably because it seemed to cut through the unseen animal's body. I appreciate your thoughts... thanks again.

[Amy Marques]

Hi Steve, I totally agree about the animal looking directly at the lens. I missed it with this pose, but achieved with others. Unfortunately, the light and poses were not nearly as nice as this. Thanks for taking a look!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Amy, like Mark, originally I too thought you could crop a little off the RHS, but feel you have it about right, but cropping is a personal thing. :w3

Although still away, I took another look and perhaps not ideal, but if you lighten the face in Curves as an adjustment layer I think you can retrieve a bit more detail, especially in the eyes & nose and ideally through the original file. As I say, it might be a little too much, but hopefully you get the idea.

cheers
Steve

[Steve Kaluski]

BTW, can you check your original post was sRGB and not RGB as there appears to be a slight colour shift?

Thanks

[Morkel Erasmus]

Very cute pose and framing here, Amy!
Techs nicely handled. I think Steve was going in the right direction, though his repost might be a bit OTT to illustrate his point :w3
There has been a lot said regarding sRGB conversion both in these forums as well as the discussion forums, worth a read!

[DanWalters]

Nice image. Like the way the raccoon is framed between the branches.

[Amy Marques]

Hi Steve,

In taking your point, I have gone back to my master tiff and pulled out all the available detail from the dark areas of the raccoon. Better? Also, the image was indeed loaded using sRGB. I also went ahead and warmed up the image very slightly, though I do not notice any color shift in the original post. A sliver was also cropped off the right edge. Originally, this is how I cropped it but I second guessed myself thinking that the crop appeared to have been made through the animal's virtual body.

I'd love to know what everyone thinks of this re-post. Thanks!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Amy, now I am back I can see your image better rather than on the laptop. Certainly an improvement, with better detail don't you think? Obviously having the high ISO hasn't really helped, but a good result overall IMHO. You could have dropped say to f/5.6 to give a better SS as I assume you used a tripod.

Hope to see more.

Steve