King of the Castle II

[Paul Lagasi]

On my recent trip to Arizona, my first ever in July, I was surprised by the number of reptiles...it seemed everywhere you looked their were lizard of varying sizes, shapes and colors. This little guy was only about 4 inches long and he let me get really close. Usually they scurried away, I guess when your on everybody's diet it pays to get out of the way of anything big.

I used Topaz Clean and Topaz Adjust to get the look I wanted.

I am now working on all the other reptiles but need to wait until Amazon delivers my new Guide to Identifying Reptiles, so I can ID them.

p.s. - I finally bought my web site now it can be found at www.birdquest2004.com

[Hazel Grant]

Amazing that you could get so close! Great DOF. The contrast of his texture and the rock's works so well. Good eye contact.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hey, Paul, cute little critter. I can see how he would have blended into his surroundings and I like the Topaz Clean for the image. (PS - your website looks great and belated congratulations on the hole in one!!!)

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Great pose Paul, I might clone out the one stick on the uppermost part. Now you will be in to "Reptile Quest"

[Nancy Bell]

Love the repetition of multi-colored pebble effect throughout the image; sharp on the lizard and nicely diffuse in the bkgd. That major stone makes a great perch for the lizard; I like that it does not have the pinks/oranges of the other stones but does have the same grays. Great composition.

I need to read all those entries on your website for some vicarious bird watching!

[Anita Bower]

Wonderful how the reptile blends in with the surrounding rocks. Lovely details on this little reptile and on the large rock. Nice pose, also. What do you think of cropping some off the top, down to the break in the two parallel diagonal lines?

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Paul, looks like you got a young-ish earless lizard there! Will be interesting to see what the book says. The Southwest is great for reptiles and I used to be a real reptile nut with a house full of them, and not all in cages! I had two large green iguanas that roamed around the house.

Your processing was perfect for this scene, and the lizard stands out well from the background. It seems that the Clean filter made the perch a little busy and I might consider brushing out the effect there, but it's not a big deal. Maybe a bit off the top... Looking forward to seeing more herps!

[Diane Miller]

Very nice! I love the treatment and gradation in focus on the BG.

Kerry, do iguanas eat ants? I've been contemplating getting an anteater, but not sure if they can be housebroken....