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Hi Artie, the details on the Iguanas are amazing. I can understand why you chose f14, but at 1/6? Didn't they move at all? You probably had no choice on the BG, but I feel it is a bit distracting. Loi
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Forum Participant
nice capture,great detail's and sharpness,love the color's,must agree with Loi about the out of focus iguana,but still a nice image.
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Hi Artie, a subject I often found hard to achieve the correct DoF.
I like the fact the main group are offset to the right, with a solitary horizontal one on the LHS. The FG rock spreads across the whole frame at the foot of the image and does not fall short to the RHS leaving a gap, the small hint is there which is key IMHO, but a bit more below I feel would be better, just a sliver more. I like the curve of the LH Iguana in the group, as for me it mirrors the arching back of the RH subject, albeit just the back. No issues for me, with having one set of eyes closed. The only thing for me is the OOF Iguana in the BKG and whether the front leg should have been down resting on the ground, it just catches my eyes with the splayed 'V' shaped claws, as if it's a very laid back subject saying 'peace man'. 
Artie, what was your rational for such a slow SS/ISO in this shot, I assume MLU was deliberate based on SS to avoid any vibration/movement, as these are not going to move with the noise of a shutter firing?
Loi, most of the habitat these subjects bask in is volcanic rock.
TFS
Steve
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Well, NatGeo could not have done it better! Interesting questions asked about the settings but all I can say: it worked perfectly here, well done!
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Originally Posted by
Loi Nguyen
Hi Artie, the details on the Iguanas are amazing. I can understand why you chose f14, but at 1/6? Didn't they move at all? You probably had no choice on the BG, but I feel it is a bit distracting. Loi
Thanks Loi. The only movement before it starts to warm up is their breathing. Pretty much. I don't mind the iguana in the upper left BKGR; I did my best with this crowded scene.
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Thanks all. Note that that f/14 only the main group is in focus. d-o-f with long glass is extremely limited even at small apartures.
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Hi Artie - nice colors, sharpness and detail. I do wish the leg of the one on the rhs was not cut.
As an aside and a learning opportunity, you commented on my wild dog image that having an oof animal cut in half by the frame edge was punishable by wet noodles. Why is it ok to have 3 animals cut by the frame edge here - the oof iguana on the lhs, the leg of the upper in focus one and then I believe that is the body of another iguana coming in at lrc?
TFS,
Rachel
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Originally Posted by
Rachel Hollander
Hi Artie - nice colors, sharpness and detail. I do wish the leg of the one on the rhs was not cut.
As an aside and a learning opportunity, you commented on my wild dog image that having an oof animal cut in half by the frame edge was punishable by wet noodles. Why is it ok to have 3 animals cut by the frame edge here - the oof iguana on the lhs, the leg of the upper in focus one and then I believe that is the body of another iguana coming in at lrc?
TFS,
Rachel
Hi Rache,
I hope that you do not think that I did not see your comment coming :)
The two images are completely different. In your iimage a single extraneous animal, one of four in the image, is cut cleanly in half by the upper frame edge. For me, that is an image killer.
Here, all but the tail of the scratching iguana is included neatly in the frame with room for the curve of its lower back. That following additional principles that I espouse. And the back of the animal in the lower right corner forms a nice frame for the group. Note that the two claws of the animal just above the back were carefully included in the frame.
In this case I think that the 4th major iguana here adds rather than distracts.
You are of course free to learn from, buy, and embrace my position and you are equally free to feel that I am full of it :) As a lover of what is I am truly fine either way.
Folks can see the image that Rache is referring to here. Do scroll down to see the repost by Andreas.
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ps: note also the clean upper edge and, just barely, the clean lower edge in the iguana grouping image.
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It is a very good image and those fellows, slow or not, are not easy to compose (I was there once, buggers lay in all positions). My only nit for this tremendous shot is that the f14 has made the BG iguana somewhat more distracting than would be perfect. Darkening the BG would help remove the distraction somewhat, blurring might look a bit obvious.
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Hi Artie - I just figured I'd throw you a slow pitch and hoped that it would lead to some discussion that would benefit all. I do understand your points about the differences but don't think the oof dog kills my image. Would I rather have had the entire dog? Absolutely, but there were 25 dogs running around and it was difficult to get clean frames. Btw I still would prefer to have the full arm of the top in focus iguana in your image rather than it cut. 
Thanks,
Rachel
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BPN Member
Hi Artie , very nice detail/sharpness given by the techs
, good job .
This image has no embedded color profile , for more accurate color , you should assign a profile , think you just forgot this Artie , but no big deal.
I like the position of the Iguanas in the frame , but agree about the cut off leg and the OOF Iguana a small bit distracting , i think backing off on contrast in the BKG would help a fair bit, to make the FG animals stand out more.
For me the sleepy Iguana is also not ideal , i would like to see the eyes open .As you commented to Loiīs elephants , the viewer is just seeing the scene as is ........
.
Still a nice frame , specially we do not see them as often as all the African animals here.So keep them coming.
TFS Andreas
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Originally Posted by
Rachel Hollander
Hi Artie - I just figured I'd throw you a slow pitch and hoped that it would lead to some discussion that would benefit all. I do understand your points about the differences but don't think the oof dog kills my image. Would I rather have had the entire dog? Absolutely, but there were 25 dogs running around and it was difficult to get clean frames. Btw I still would prefer to have the full arm of the top in focus iguana in your image rather than it cut.
Thanks,
Rachel
Understood, and there is some good dicussion going on. For me, the dog cut in half from top to bottom is fatal to the success of the image. By miles. So yes, a wider framing with that animal fully in the frame with at least a bit of a border would have been greatly preferred all things being equal. By that I mean if it did not introduce other distracting elements/animals.....
Ah, I just see that I mis-read what you wrote so I agree and understand now :).
As for the complete arm of the iguana I would agree all things being equal. But all things were not equal. I believe that had I gone wider I would have introduced another iguana head.... Like you, I am always doing my best.
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Originally Posted by
Andreas Liedmann
Hi Artie , very nice detail/sharpness given by the techs

, good job .
This image has no embedded color profile , for more accurate color , you should assign a profile , think you just forgot this Artie , but no big deal.
I like the position of the Iguanas in the frame , but agree about the cut off leg and the OOF Iguana a small bit distracting , i think backing off on contrast in the BKG would help a fair bit, to make the FG animals stand out more.
For me the sleepy Iguana is also not ideal , i would like to see the eyes open .As you commented to Loiīs elephants , the viewer is just seeing the scene as is ........

.
Still a nice frame , specially we do not see them as often as all the African animals here.So keep them coming.
TFS Andreas
Thanks Andreas.
I will have to be more careful with the profiles. When I use Save for Web the box for Convert to Web is checked.... Should that not do it?
When I have some time I will do a repost that addresses your and other concerns. See my note to Rache about the right side framing.
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Neat shot of neat looking creatures. Great colors on these guys. And I like the one in the BG with the claw in his face, looks like he's trying to maintain his privacy and not take part in your picture. Regarding the cutting off of subjects, it seems okay when every animal in the image is cut by frame edges, other animals, or environmental additions such as rocks or logs. When only one or two are cut and most of the other subjects are not, it stands out and becomes more of a distraction (though not necessarily an image killer for me.)
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Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator
Hello Arthur,
Hope you had a lovely week-end,
I am so sorry to come in so late, been away and trying to catch up with recent posts, so much to learn from each and one of them.
Love the RP, but I could not really find the "small change" you mentioned, although I looked carefully at both images. Opening one image on the Mac and the other on the laptop does not help either, I guess it must be such a subtle change - would you please tell us, if no one figures it out? I shall not sleep until I find out
, kindly spare me the sleepless nights?
What great IQ you have here at 1/6s, although I guess these guys do not move much, and one can almost shoot them as if they were a "landscape"...
Love the colours, the detail, that enigmatic look on the subjects' face - beautifully captured, Sir!
Kind regards,
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Hi Artie , RP is an improvement , i did not look that long and did not take it into PS , so no idea what else you have done.
Cheers Andreas
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Thanks Gabriela. The great part about learning to love what is is that you always have a great weekend and a great day every day. That's my choice so it is easy. The very small change is that I opened the eye of the iguana on the upper right before I borrowed if for the iguana that was sleeping :).
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Nice one Artie! Good post processing work too
I'd love to go on that trip but don't think I will be around in 2105! ;)
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I will. I am eating really healthy. Thanks for catching my typo. If you are interested, see today's blog post. :)
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Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator
I am slightly embarrassed for not seeing the change, I guess I never thought you'd go that far and was looking for very subtle changes instead...I have always been kind of jealous of your avian images, they look so perfect and effortless and most of all... unaltered. Thought you were against cloning/altering and image - was I wrong?
Trying to compare the two images and aware now of the "open eye", I really wonder whether it was necessary...I would like to believe it was just an exercise, more of a tease, since - in my opinion - the one character with closed eyes has a prominent role to play in this image and to me he is just as interesting (maybe even more interesting) than his friends. He does look alert in the RP and very "out there with the other guys", but there was something special about him being rather "different" in the OP. He had this "enigmatic" look about him, and an almost evil look on his face, as if he knew a secret which he did not want to share. Perhaps he did not want to give you the satisfaction of a "perfect shot"
?
Before I go, just a thought: there's something special about your posts, something that makes me look always and want to interpret your intentions behind the image, in this particular instance the RP has a deceptive tendency despite the change being so obvious...I failed to see the obvious, shall not punish myself for missing it though
, looking forward to another Wildlife post from you...
Wishing you a happy evening and a wonderful week ahead,
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Originally Posted by
Arthur Morris
I will. I am eating really healthy. Thanks for catching my typo. If you are interested, see today's blog post. :)
YAW. Used to spellcheck websites as part of my job a while back and i spot these things from miles away. Trying to get out of the habit.
The trip looks great. Maybe some other time. Cannot make it this time round.
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Artie,
I'm enjoying this discussion immensely and learning, although I don't have much to add. I would never have thought to use such a slow SS. The image is getting me very psyched as I'm going to the Galapagos for the first time the first week in November.
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Gabriela, Thanks. Any changes one makes in post are subject to their own personal ethics. I was fine with the eye more tighly closed and with the sleeping iguana. It is early for them :). I made the changes for two reasons: folks mentioned those things and showing what I can do helps sells lots of copies of Digital Basics :)
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These are such cool customers! I actually like the OOF one on the left, adds good context for me.
Some good discussion here for sure (sorry that I only jump in now). I would have to add that I personally would prefer cutting animals off on the sides than on top or bottom - a taste thing.
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