Little Boy Joey

[Glennie Passier]

I found my little mob resting quietly in the shade of a gum tree. Mum was vigilant but not too concerned about my presence. Roos have pretty bad eye sight. They new I was there but just couldn't make me out as I set up just outside the car.

This little boy had his body not quite square, which made him look awkward in the frame. I'm not a fan of square crops but feel this maybe OK. I did consider making it narrower, but preferred more room around him.

In ACR - Increased exposure by over 1 stop and lightened the shadows, added a touch of clarity. Yellow and green desaturated in the HSL Panel
In PSC6 -Cloned out a couple of stumps in the BG. NR over BG. A bit of dodge and burn on his face. Cropped and smart sharpened for web posting.

Canon 5D2
Sigma 150-600mm@600mm
1/500 sec @ f/6.3
ISO 500
Tripod

C&C ALways welcomed and appreciated!

[Craig Schriever]

Very nice! Really loving the facial expression. My only minor nit would be to clone out the OOF branch on the right side. But other than that....I love it.

[keith mitchell]

Glennie agree about the oof branch it does pull the eye a bit and perhaps a tad more at the bottom if you have it, the animal itself looks smashing and sits very well on that nice uncluttered BG.

Keith.

[Diane Miller]

He's cute! Looks chubby from this angle. I agree with Keith about more space below the roo, if there wasn't something in the way. Good job cloning. I'm on my laptop for a few days so not sure about IQ. Colors have gone a bit muted but it's a look I like.

The square crop works well because of his chubby appearance, but a crop from the left would minimize the OOF bush. The OOF branch on the right would balance the off-center roo, but I'd leave a bit more space on the right for the branch to end. Or clone the branch. Then you could have an option for a vertical composition -- several good options here.

Looks like you had the center focus sensor on his face. I'd think about moving the active focus point to one higher in the frame and then aiming the camera down a bit to give more space below him. Or focus then hold the shutter button halfway down to lock focus and recompose by aiming a little lower.

Back button focus is also a good way to switch instantly between AI Servo (to follow motion) and locked focus, but that may be more than you want to get into now.

[Glennie Passier]

I did think about the OOF branch and decided to leave it in, because I thought it looked a bit more natural. I can never get it right!

There was a touch more room at his feet, but when I leveled him up a bit, I lost it.

I did try a vertical composition, but thought he looked better as posted.

Diane, I actually had the outer, top sensor on his left (my left, his right) eyebrow. I get a bit befuddled when holding the shutter button halfway down to lock focus. I know about it, but don't get the gist of it. I'll keep practicing.
I have also been trying my unco skill at the back button focus. Same deal as the "hold the shutter button half way down"!

[Adhika Lie]

Beautiful, Glennie! I do like the square crop. You might not need to clone out the OOF branch, but add a little bit more blur to it? I feel that balances out the shrubs (or grass?) on the left. Such a cute boy! :D

[Diane Miller]

That's a good excuse. I've used it myself... Keep practicing -- it will come together. That's a good camera for ergonomics.

[Jess M. McKenzie]

Great shot, Glennie. The critter's right eye looks sharp enough to me. Thanks for using these small inserts to show crop. That, btw, was the only clue I had to an oof branch on the R. Your submitted (big) image just added it to the bokeh.