Well I was hoping to take advantage and get some new images at the start of this year, weather has been mild, but over resent days the winds have blown through hard, plus I've managed to succumb to this dam cold, so might as well take advance and do some PP, not ideal on the laptop and I don't have everything to hand here in the other house, but...
Cannot believe next storm to hit Wed/Thurs is call Storm Rachel what else, LOL.
Thanks for swinging by and either viewing or commenting on the previous image.
Steve
Subject: Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), head on, clutching nut, sitting on base of tree
Location: Scotland
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 200-400f/4 with ext, 540mm Gitzo tripod/Uniqball head
Exposure: 1/200s at f/5.6 ISO2000
Original format: Landscape, very slight.
As far as I know am not allergic to nuts, be it pecan nuts, walnuts, all nuts, even squirrel nuts
Truly one of the best squirrel images I have ever seen, I can only imagine what this would look like when placed on the wall in my log house, I am officially placing my order now, LOL!
Fantastic colours Steve, and the foliage in the FG, together with the greens in the BG and the tree trunk frame the subject so well and no distractions whatsoever - my eye is on the subject and...well, his nuts... Too cute for words and I struggle to think of technical stuff to say, this made my day and I am smiling from ear to ear - delightful image well processed as always, and I just love your sense of humour
Well Steve i hope i get not hit by storm like i get hit here by .............. Rachel .
Good to see you post a new image , you should do more , to tell you what you can make better .I had a clown for lunch .
Regarding the nuts .... well the title really works , even i had to look very long to find one . Very nice POV and pose of the subject in a great setting and the comp also plays the game to a great and simple image , so whole thing just simply works nicely together .
Very natural looking colors !
I only think and feel that there is a slight mismatch in the sharpness between the squirrel and the bark of the tree , it could be an illusion caused by the higher contrast in the bark ?
Hope you will not be blown away next week by the storm
Just wanted to inject some humour into the the thread.
Thanks folks for the kind words.
Andreas, you know how LR works and Input/Output sharpening and so it all comes down to DoF and the curvature of the tree trunk. Single centre point of the FP was used bang on the nose.
Well I have no plans to be in UK or Europe this week so don't blame me!
I too like the image design and the comp with the curvature of the tree forming the right edge. I'm seeing the slightest bit of blue in the tail so you might look at dropping it. Details and IQ are up to your usual standards. Did you supply the nuts?
With green being my favorite color I have to say I like this one. The curved gray of the tree trunk provides and nice break in color contrast. Also like the pose of the squirrel.
Thanks guys, certainly won't win a prize with this, I just like the simplicity.
Sorry Rachel should have added that factor in. Yes Hazelnuts were positioned in key spots over a 50/60m length L to R, shooting distance was about 15-25m away. These reds are NOT habituated and so incredibly shy. They move down and across the tree incredibly quickly, stopping for only a brief moment, and ANY sudden movement by 'you' the photographer will spook them, maximum time working with them is around 20 mins before everything goes quiet, so a challenging time, but a fantastic location.
Im a little late to this party, so you are probably over your cold. If not, take out another one of 'those bottles' - that should sort you out.
Cheers Stu, sadly not, plus A has this barking cough too. The cellar got hit hard this Xmas as you saw, so 'those bottles' are under strict lock & key and requires three signatures to access anything further, LOL . Rest assured, there is a 'In case of emergency break glass' fitted.
Seems you too, were enjoying some good SA beverages recently.
Central placement is bang on in this, Steve. Love the colours and pose and soft light as well.
I might even shave some off the LHS, but know you don't like square crops much
Steve think this must be the best Squirrel image I have seen.
LOL Keith, IMHO it does not come close to your leaping Red, these sadly have not gavitated to acrobatics yet, just like Lions, they prefer to sit & eat.