arctic ground squirrel

[greg cowle]

Arctic ground squirrel near the Tolbachik Volcano in central Kamchatka, August this year.
400mm, 1/2000, f8, ISO4000.

[John Mack]

Nice alert pose and the environment is very nice. Like the composition and the details look nice.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Greg!

Such a cutie you have here

I like the framing, this is a well balanced image. Pose is superb, nice HA from the subject.

BG is great and I like the bit of vegetation behind the squirrel. You could perhaps pay some attention to the bright spots in the FG, if you like. As well as reduce the blues - although not sure it is a blue cast or maybe this is what those rocks look like?

First time for me to see an Arctic Squirrel I did not even know they existed. Thank you so much for sharing!

Kind regards,

[greg cowle]

Thanks John and Gabriela for the comments. I had not thought about the foreground highlights, but can see now I could work on them. The rocks here are young volcanic, dark grey. I can revisit to see if there is blue cast, it was also dull and a bit foggy when I took this, that may contribute.
Seems a tough place for a squirrel to live - only about 3 months break from the snow each year.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Indeed - a tough environment for those little ones. Amazing how they adapt and survive, wonder how they find food and what they eat...

Was just thinking, I quite like the cold - or rather cool - atmosphere in this image, as it portrays the harsh environment. As well as the sparse vegetation. Hope you have some more images from Kamchatka, with squirrels or other animals:)

Kind regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Greg, nicely framed and I like the fact the subject is small in frame. having a clean backdrop nice separates the subject and I like the small plants peppering the rock. Getting a better WB to start with will help avoid the Blue & Magenta coming through within the colour.

Please remember to add both camera and lens within the techs.

TFS
Steve

[greg cowle]

Thanks Steve. I am not always the best with color, but I would note that the colors in the young volcanic regions in Kamchatka are not what you see every day - I think this is reflected in the colors of the rocks.