Weekly Competition #260 - Vertebrate Wildlife Competition

My thanks to all for entering what is a difficult subject. Here are my thoughts. As usual, no right thoughts or wrong thoughts, just my thoughts:

Tyronet 2000

A very well spotted opportunity. The timing is certainly there but unfortunately the image quality isn't as I think you have already recognised. I have seen a previous exmaple where the UV filter had a very detrimental effect on IQ with the 55-300. Bad luck.

Frankie.

I like the subject and the viewpoint, being at animal level always adds interest. The framing is good but I think would have been better with all of the chin included. I think focus on the eye would have been ideal here.

Coker

I love these lizards, our stone walls are full of them. This shows the lizard's environment very well. Nicely focused on the lizard but looking at the large version the image quality doesn't quite meet my expectation of ISO200 on the K7 and I wonder if this is possibly a heavy crop.

Paulb531

A nice study of these wild ponies which also shows their environment nicely. Some research tells me these primitive breeds are not far removed from wild ponies and retain wild characteristics. I like the composition here but the image really needs straightening.

John Riley

Beautiful animal the red squirrel. I am somewhat jealous of the tameness of a lot of UK squirrels. I haven't managed to get close to one here. Nice detail on the squirrel and its natural environment is nicely shown.

Swarf

I think you have done very well to expose this so well in such a high contrast scene with quick thinking of the essence. Sharp, nice pose, eye contact and well composed. Good shot.

VonBatCat

Great choice of subject. I like the intensity of concentration of these otters but maybe the image could do with some space on the right for the otters to look into. Sharpness could be a little better but I appreciate light was low. Despite the cut logs I presume these are not captive otters so you did well to get close to them.

Arrondee

If this is a wild peacock in its natural habitat then I'm very impressed. Even if it is a captive I like the way the shot depicts its natural behaviour of hiding in a bush, a more unusual view of a peacock. A little noise reduction would be in order as would some dut spotting.

Simonarron

Nice composition, the positioning of the subject and space around seems just right. There is good detail on the underside, often difficult when there are also white patches to deal with. Th ebird looks good against the blue sky but that sky is a bit noisy and there are several large dust spots to remove.

Brianfromwilts

A very attractive bird and on the face of it a good looking shot. However it's very difficult to judge image quality from such a small size. I can't click through to a larger version. so I regrettably can't consider this image further.

BForbes

Domesticated? I don't know. At least house trained I would hope. I see you have rounded them up in a holding pen, but I do admit they look pretty feral.

Gary John

The bedraggled fox is a good subject. It doesn't look at all concerned by your presence. and it looks like quite a healthy specimen. I appreciate you wouldn't have had much time to grab the shot but it is a shame that the tail and lower legs are cut off and part of the head is obscured.

Stopher

A very attractive bird and well focused despite the hunting problems. Colours are good and the diagonals formed by the pose of the bird and the branch make for a pleasing composition. Looking at the movement on some of the out of focus branches you did well to get the bird sharp. It is a shame that the bird's eye is in shadow, a difficult thing to deal with in full sun.

Stephanie 0812

I think these are highly photogenic birds with their striking eyes. I like the way the bird is shown in the grass but I'm not sure the central composition is the best choice here. It looks to me as if the grass in front of the bird is in focus but the bird isn't, easy to fool the autofocus with a small subject.

JBurf1

Not a verterbrate and not taken with a Pentax. Sorry but disqualified.

Noelcmn

A very nice scene and a good shot. I do find the lighting a little harsh, these shots really come alive with gentler morning or evening light. A polariser could help bring out the reflections more. I feel the zebras could do with just a little more space to the right.

Dodge69

Great pose and timing, a really nice little moment of interaction. The sunny conditions have been dealt with. well and the subjects are nicely sharp. Not where I'd normally expect to see squirrels.

Mrapisit

There is no exif with this photo so I have to trust it is taken with Pentax. Nice to come across this rare moment. To be honest the van interior isn't doing that much for me but I'm glad you have a photo to be proud of.

GlynM

The squirrel itself is nicely detailed and stands out well against the background wall. The vegetation bottom right is a little distracting. Wildlife shots aren't easy so kudos for shooting this for the competition.


Geordie01

Nicely captured sharp subject, worth dangling under a bridge for. I like the way this shows the bird at work, Colours are nice and the vivid diagonal of the moss works well. I like the textures of the stonework. The element on the bottom right corner is a little distracting and takes a little away from what is otherwise a very pleasing composition, but I appreciate it was just there. I wonder how a square crop would look. This can't have been an easy shot to get.

JudithAnn

Such characterful looking creatures. I like the vivid colours in this shot. A good looking shot. I appreciate you were mindful of the cliff and so full marks for getting a tricky shot but I can't help thinking that positioning of the subject on the left hand side rather than towards the right in order to give some room to look into would have made better use of negative space.

ArsenaAl

A very good capture of a beautiful animal. I think the shallow depth of field works well here, drawing the viewer in and the sharpness brings out all those textural details well. I eventually worked out what the white speck was before I read the explanation, but I think I would clone it nonetheless.

JAK

The robin is a willing subject but nevertheless it isn't easy to get sharpness and detail as good as this. The background is natural but perhaps not the most attractive with some of the darker areas in the strong sun, but nevertheless it's a shot be very pleased with.

Drofmit

I won't accept it was luck, rather very good timing to get those two elements in shot. The line of the terminator on the Moon aligns nicely with the bird. The crater detail on the Moon is pretty good too. This does look like a heavy crop and the image quality does suffer accordingly. Maybe there is scope to pull back a bit, I think the image could take a lot more space to the right and below.

Results:

1. Dipper by Geordie 01

2. Beauty - A Terrible Power by ArsenAl

3. Touch by Dodge69

HC's Swarf; JudithAnn; JAK, Stopher

WOW thanks for the win Dr O there were some great shots in there this week.Congratulations to the runners up and hc's and to all who entered.
I will get to work on setting the next comp asap after i have had a look to see what has been set in the past.

Congratulations on your win Geordie, especially against such stiff competion. Also well done to 2nd, 3rd and the HCs. Thanks for the apt comments DrO. Its strange that I do have other, technically better ape shots but I entered the one that stole my heart, even though I too could see that the eye wasn't in focus and maybe a bit more chin should have been present. I'll try to be more dispassionate.

Tricky field for the judge there, well done all and grazie mille for the 3rd place.


( Yeah a bit odd, their California ground squirrels that hang out at Carmel beach.)

Well done on the judging.. that was a hard one to nail. Well done to Geordie and all others .

Many thanks to Adrian for another great competition.

Congratulations to our winners and everyone else for a wonderful collection of creatures.

Glyn

Thanks Dr.Orloff for the great theme, good judgment, and for my second place! Of a grain of sand .. inside me, struggling in terms of image, the desire to erase it, and from a cognitive point of view, to leave .. The desire to show what happens when a snake crawls, won ..)Congratulations to all podium and HC's! especially Judith Ann (forgive me, males!)

Well done to Geordie and other placings/HC's. Thanks to Dr.O for the competition and comments on my entry!

Congrats Geeordie and ArsenAl, Dodge69 and all the HC's. Good comp, well judged Dr O. Thanks for you comments on all the photos. Always interesting and instructive.

Nice one Geordie, and thank you DrOrloff for your forbearance of my tongue in cheek entry into your excellent competition.

Congrats Geordie....thank you to the judge for such a fine job. I love the detailed suggestions of how to improve ones photo!

JA