Common Striped Skink

[Carl Walker]

A Striped Skink ( Trachylepis striata )
Back of driver seat but might as well have been HH with heavy panting mutt in the back. Gauging by the slither off sloughed skin and shiny body I presume it is has just been through the whole process.

1D MK IV - 300mm f2.8 plus 2 x extender MK III
ISO 800, f9, 1/200 sec

LR5 - basis - WB - some eye work
PSE 9 - LM's - Adj layers, levels hue & sat, some mid tone adj - pulled some red, yellow and blue from skink and did similar to BG

Chose this comp as even at f9 half its body was slightly oof and did not look great but an ant had crawled on his nose and it stuck its head up as in the image - so thought that this might work. NR of 5% on BG which is massive branch of a wild fig tree.

C&C all welcome - thanks

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Carl, this looks really good, seems your PP has taken a huge jump forward.

Good detail and overall colour, and I like the way it almost blends into the environment and no doubt for good reason too. Personally with shots like this I find it very hard to know how to crop, but I feel you have done well, is this a large crop? I think you could exclude sharpening the left foot as it looks a little odd to me, just let the DOF work and if that includes including it in the NR mask then fine. Techs look good and I like the trailing bit of skin behind the leg, be nice to see some future shots with the whole body in view, albeit no all in focus. Getting close in can sometimes mean much greater DOF which may not be possible due to light, so don't worry too much about trying to get everything in focus.

Just a thought but slightly darkening the BKG makes the subject 'pop' a bit more?

Great to see another species, keep them coming.

TFS
Steve

[Carl Walker]

Thanks very much Steve. It was not that large a crop and although I did think about that left foot and attending to it then and there but it was missed. FYI I did darken the BG to try and pop it but perhaps a bit more will be better. As for other suggestions I will work on it thanks.

[Carl Walker]

Tried slightly darker BG and removed mask from the other foot. WDYT

[edwardselfe]

Hi Carl,

I can see that you darkened the bg because there's a slight halo on the lower jaw at the front, but I really had to look for it! I would run a bit more NR on the bg, as suggested, but I think the skink's right on - perhaps without the left foot as Steve mentioned.

Ed

[Carl Walker]

Thanks Ed. If its the same thing we are looking at it is not a halo although it looks like it. Went back into PS to check.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Carl

Love the RP, Steve's suggestions executed!

Cmd+ a few times, halo is left lip.

Well done!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Carl - Rp is a nice improvement. There's less noise in addition to the darker bg but I would still run another round of NR on the bg. The comp works fine for me and I like the reflection of the sky in the eye. It's great to see a lesser represented species.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Carl,
Really like the RP , i think you got nice tones throughout, the darkened BKG works nice too.Colors look good to me, like wise the crop .Good to see a reptile here, they are sadly not that much present.

I am not happy with your sharpening, think it is the sharpening.

Skink scales are usually , there are others,smooth and very soft and shiny looking.The scales of this specimen in your image look rough (surface),so i would try an edge mask when you sharpen, so you do not sharpen the surface.Just give it a try.

TFS Andreas

[Carl Walker]

Thanks all for your input. Andries - Thanks for pointing out that it perhaps needs to be sharpened differently. Sometimes I concentrate so much on getting the PP work right that I forget to look at the basics. I tend to agree now that I have tried it. It might not be 100% but I feel there is an improvement. WDYT now. I am limited to Photoshop Elements 9 for now and still inexperienced in PP work For those that thought there was a halo it was actually a part of the chin which I have now incorporated into the mask as I did with the area on the top LHS of skinks body

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Carl,

I love the fact that you shoot, process and post just about everything that moves, for I do too. I am often jealous of your opportunities and would swop my work with yours any day. I am so happy to see the progress you have made in such a short time, I enjoy each and every one of your posts, the variety, and the way you present your images - with respect for Nature and Wildlife. Another lovely image, this Striped Skink, glad the other members appreciate the little things in nature and well done with processing-love the RP!

Warmest regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Carl,
looks better with the sharpening, do not know what you used .I like the tones in OP and and 1st RP a bit better.Maybe in between.
I think for the basic stuff, PSE should be good enough.If you know (better said almost know ) what you are doing then PS would be the way to go.

I in my case do almost nothing in the RAW converter, just a basic exposure and WB , the rest i do in PS.And still learning even after intensive hours and days and months.

So keep your eyes open , and listen to some of the BIG guys and girls, they will help and point out things and thoughts.

Cheers Andreas