Potrait

[Ian Cassell]

Iguana - St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles

Canon 7D
Sigma 100-300mm f/4 EX @ 300 mm
1/500 sec f/4 ISO 800 HH

Crop for composition and sharpening in CS5

114149

[Roy Priest]

Ian, excellent portrait, great details and colour. I might evict the stone in the LL corner and add a couple of points of black to add a little contrast.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Roy. I'm on my laptop down here, so will work on the black when I get home. I sort of liked the rock, but you might be right!

[Roy Priest]

Thanks, Roy. I'm on my laptop down here, so will work on the black when I get home. I sort of liked the rock, but you might be right!

I don't think there is any right or wrong, it's just personal taste.:S3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ian, compared to the last one this does look quite flat in tone, colour, detail & vibrancy. If the techs are right, it appears you were at 0 EV, so perhaps a plus might be the route, although I guess you were fighting light based on ISO 800 and although I have never used the 7D, Morkel has often said it's a little less forgiving in the Exposure.

Based on that you are work off site perhaps this might not be helpful now, but may help when you get home?
I would agree with Roy, it does need some Curves and some Contrast/Brightness to give it more presence and to define the textures of the skin & scales. Adding some vibrance also makes it pop a bit more. Be careful of the BKG as it's looking a little sooty, so perhaps some NR would help. Applying some USM and selective USM will also help crispen the subject too.

The rock lower LH corner is no deal breaker and I guess personal choice.

To illustrate my thinking here is a RP, might be worth looking at it when you get hope, although do you use your laptop to work on there too?

Hope it helps and look forward to more.

cheers
Steve

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Steve. Yours is far more vibrant -- I like it (and like the rock eviction). No, I use a faster machine with two IPS monitors at home, so plan on going back through my stuff when I get there.

So, what did you do?

[Brendan Dozier]

Excellent portrait, Ian, love the detail, color and texture. Steve's repost really makes it pop nicely.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ian, basically what I have stated in my critique. I also just added a little more BKG tone to the bottom RH corner too, subtle yes, but it just helped define more the spines in that part. I think you will notice a big difference when you get back to process rather than the laptop.

cheers
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Ian - nice portrait with good details, the eye is fabulous and Steve's repost takes the image to another level.

TFS,
Rachel

[Stan Cunningham]

Nice shot Ian, enjoy your vacation as it's really warming up at home.