Toad in a tree

[thijs broekkamp]

I walked in a forest in france when i saw at the bottom of the tree this toad. He sat in the tree. This was the first week with my new camera and lens. From tripod en remote.
Canon eos 30d
Canon 70-300 IS
1/60e
f 5,6
iso 800
Flashed

[Ron Boisvert]

Hi Thijs, perhaps it's my monitor, but this image looks a little underexposed to me. Also, my eye keeps going to the OOF green blobs because they are so bright. If it were mine, I would try to brighten the shadow areas and darken the green areas to see if that improved the image.

my 2 cents,

[Alfred Forns]

Good suggestions and would also tighten a little more to zero in on the the important part ... the eye !!! Different and I like it !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi - Like the idea - I am a bit of a sucker for OOF foreground elements - hard to make them work really well but when they do...
Doesnt quite work for me here -- the OOF green areas are too bright and there is not enough focus on your subject - MR Toad also appears to be alittle on the soft side - some additional sharpening might help.
Keep them coming ?)

[Mark Fuge]

Besides the above, of which I agree, I think one of the problems is that the green area is not continuous. If it circled or at least formed a horseshoe around the subject, it might work better. I think the eye would then circle and find the subject as you have placed it. The other comments however are important to make it work.

I agree with Lance that if done right it can make an interesting image. The idea is good, but the execution needs some practice. Keep on practicing and seeking advise and you will find how to make it agree with your vision.

[thijs broekkamp]

Thanks for the comments guys! Perhaps some of you could edit a bit with what you guys mean? I'm still not that good in editing.