Red Squirrel Portrait

[William Dickson]

Canon 5D Mk3
f/4 500mm
f/7.1
1/640
ISO 2500

I was going to post this on the Wildlife Forum, but, thought I would post it here, as I am not quite sure about wildlife photography, other than birds, where I post frequently.

It is always feathers and not fur I process, so any tips on making the image better would be much appreciated. Processed with CS6

I was actually photographing birds which I had attracted by using bird seed and a feeder, the reason for this crop is that the squirrel was on the feeder

Thanks for looking and for any comments

Will

[Diane Miller]

Sheeesh! I only get homely ground squirrels at our feeders! (But they can climb pretty well.)

Cute little guy, good color and sharpness, nice BG, lively reflection in the eye. I'd clone out the hair exiting the bottom of the frame -- small thing.

I love portraits but if you can get more of an action or environmental shot it would be a nice opportunity. Maybe a photogenic perch?

Let's see more of this guy!

[Gianluca Molina]

Very very good!

But you're all millionaires here?

5D Mk3 and 500mm f/4

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear William,

I am following your posts with much interest, be it feathers of fur:) This is one cute squirrel and I love the pose!

I like your processing here and only have two suggestions: try crop a tad from the top of the image and see if you can remove a wee bit of the magenta cast.

This is lovely, I like the sharpness and the detail in the fur, the reflection in the eye a bonus - great work!

And may I thank you again for your lovely post in Story Sequences Forum, it made my day!!!

Kind regards,

[Patricia McMurtrie]

Just love the reflection in the eye...always a plus when you can actually make out what it is ! also love the detail in the fur.

[Hazel Grant]

No, not millionaires....far from it. some are pros and some of course can afford high end equipment, but so many have middle of the road cameras, etc. I have found that when I observe close up clear shots of birds, small animals, they are in the 500-600 mm lens area. Guess that's what is needed to get "close enough" but I don't have one yet so I'm wishing, not lecturing.