Gambian epauletted fruit bat Epomophorus gambianus

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 7D Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS II Fill in flash ISO 400 1/250 sec f16
ACR + PSCC 2018 a little tidying up here and there (foliage) but I have not altered the truth of the image.

I thought I would start the new year off with an oldie I dug up from 2014, it was taken in The Gambia hope you like it.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jon - Well worth going to the archives for this one. Nice to see something so different. Very good detail and the comp works well. I know nothing about these so no idea of what the tones and colors should be so will leave that to you. Good control of the flash.

TFS,
Rachel

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Jon, I like it and might like it better with a bit more room all around. I have a question and then likely another comment :) Was this taken at night?

with love, artie

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Jon, I like it and might like it better with a bit more room all around. I have a question and then likely another comment :) Was this taken at night?

with love, artie

Hi Artie glad you liked it. The image was taken in day time but having said that the location of the bat was dark. It was inside a large cactus like tree, some big leaves had to be moved slightly to one side so it was very deep shade. The bats gathered in untidy groups hence the vertical crop to try to tidy up a bit, the OOF bats and multicoloured leaves made for a messy primary image capture.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks John, My follow-up questions: fi the flash had not fired, would the exposure at ISO 400 1/250 sec f16 have been correct? Since you describe the overall scene as "dark", that would not seem possible ...

with love, artie

[Glenn Pure]

Jon, the first thing that struck me when I saw this was the shifty looking eyes, reinforced by the wings wrapped around the base of the head as if like a cloak. I understand your use of flash here and I think you've done well with it with good tones and detail on the fruit bat. It looks like the bat is tilted and wondered if this one need a little clockwise rotation?

[Jonathan Ashton]

Artie gross under exposure had flash not been used.
Glen I see what you mean but I am pretty sure it is the big leaf/branch that is cockeyed.

[Arthur Morris]

Artie gross under exposure had flash not been used.
Glen I see what you mean but I am pretty sure it is the big leaf/branch that is cockeyed.

Thanks John. That is where I was headed from the get-go. It means that whatever the flash settings you were actually using flash as main light (not "fill in flash.")

:)

with love, artie

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks John. That is where I was headed from the get-go. It means that whatever the flash settings you were actually using flash as main light (not "fill in flash.")

:)

with love, artie

Yes Artie you are absolutely right, in fact the image was taken on my card in my pal's camera, I always tend to use flash sparingly and as fill in but on this occasion I did not, simply because I wanted a quick shot - we did not want to cause any more disturbance.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

A nice image Jon. Love the colours and the pose of the bat.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Jon always great to see something very different ...
Lovely colors and detail , sharp where it counts .Crop is a bit tight i think , i would like to see a more loose crop .More at the bottom would work better IMHO .
After reading your exchange with Artie , i understand why this does look flashed . Too flat for my taste .....you might be able to bring some 3D effect back in with some more tonal adjustments .

TFS Andreas