Red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 1DX Canon 100-400 L IS Ii & 1.4TC III ISO 1250 1/160 sec f8
All C&C welcome

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Jon well this is a classy and lovely frame of this species ....i really like the squirrel being isolated on the stump !!!
Lovely creamy BG and the different shades of color and tone are working nicely together from my POV .
Lovely details in the fur and the tones looking good too .I think just the color needs bit of treatment .....overall a bit too warm for me . I tried to adjust with color balance and the file will look cleaner and a bit more defined from my POV .
I see you had a very long exp ....so the file might be not pin sharp , as i think you have overdone it with the sharpening a tiny bit . Looking at Steve´s recent squirrel posting and compare .....you find the finest detail there ....take that frame as a reference .

Good work Jon ....TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, 'Reds' are certainly the best looking and you have done well based on the techs, but why 1/160?

I like the old stump, a bit of character set against the more 'pastel' coloured backdrop. Love the fanned out tail as it follows the curvature of the back, nice one! I too might go a little cooler overall, but you were there, guess it was slightly overcast???

Looking at Steve´s recent squirrel posting and compare .....you find the finest detail there ....take that frame as a reference .

That's very kind of you Andreas, occasional I might hit the mark .

Overall Jon, a nice image.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Maybe you prefer these slightly different colours Andreas.
Steve the 1/160 was one of several exposures, I fully anticipated your comments regarding shutter speed and colours when I was in the hide!
Here's is an almost identical shot but ISO 6400 +0.3 1/800 sec f8 I am not convinced it is any better.
I am just beginning to consider having my glasses checked, it has been a couple of years now since last prescription.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

HI Jon! This is so nice. I like the pose, the clean BG, the tail on its backside and the busy behavior. I like the colors & the RP looks great. TFS.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Jonathan -- Fine images of Squirrel by you recently , and this one is even better than the previous images. Your RP certainly helps the image from Colour POV . 1/160 is way to risky even if you happen to get a sharp image .

TFS !

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jon - Nice pose. I can see another comp with a sliver off the top. I like the colors of the second post and spent a while looking at both. If anything, I think the op looks slightly sharper with a bit more detail but it also could be the contrast and sharpening applied. You would need to process both images exactly the same to really compare them.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the comments, you seem to agree with me that there is little difference. In situations like these I shoot with a fast shutter speed and when I have got successful images I repeat dropping shutter speed in order to try to get better quality and if I am unsuccessful it doesn't matter. I find Auto ISO is so useful, just start with the safe/ideal shutter speed, get the shots and then dial in gradually decreasing shutter speeds.

[Steve Kaluski]

Jon, trying to compare is a pointless exercise at this stage, you need to do it with the two RAW's to see any 'real' comparison, to say one is slightly sharper depends on a lot of variables, did you sharpen to the same degree for example, same brush, same amount????? ISO will also play a part too.

I fully anticipated your comments regarding shutter speed and colours when I was in the hide!

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, - said in a Tony Hancock voice , or a Sid James cackle.

[John Mack]

Cool looking squirrel like the stump perch and the background.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Steve no disagreement with what you said, it was as a consequence of making a subjective comparison of the two RAWS that I posted the 1/160 sec, it is inevitable there will be differences but to my eye they were insignificant. I hoped the second post looked very similar to the original i.e.jpeg to jpeg, if there was a readily discernible difference to participants then I would have known I had missed something at the raw stage.

[keith mitchell]

Jon just to put my little bit in and of course I'm not 100% sure about these eyes of mine but personally I am happy with your original post for colour and also texture of the fur,love that pose.

Keith.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Jon .....not comparable from my POV ....
Colors looking better from my POV ....and the sharpness and fine detail is better in the second version ....at least here at web size.
Check the two side by side ...the detail is more coarse in the first post ....
the reason is the sharpening being heavier in the first version ....look at the dark sharpening halos ...you do not have them in the second post .
Just my view of things .

Cheers Andreas

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Jon .....not comparable from my POV ....
Colors looking better from my POV ....and the sharpness and fine detail is better in the second version ....at least here at web size.
Check the two side by side ...the detail is more coarse in the first post ....
the reason is the sharpening being heavier in the first version ....look at the dark sharpening halos ...you do not have them in the second post .
Just my view of things .

Cheers Andreas

Thanks Andreas, that is what I was looking for. Over the last couple of days, I have begun to realise that less is more at the RAW stage - contrary to what I have been reading. I have noticed this more readily in bird photography.