Lizzie

[Bobobird]

Was finishing up for the day and heard something drop onto dry vegetation. Kept looking for the source of the noise but saw nothing for a while. Kept scanning the area and found this guy standing exactly where I thought the sound came from but almost invisible.

I have never done replies before so some C&C would be most appreciated.

Not expecting to have any frequent photo opportunity with reptiles in the future but if there are any pointers to a good shot, please tell.

Thanks.

[Rob Douglas]

Great shot Bobo! The sharpness and color saturation are great. The background is a tad distracting being such a close color to the lizard but there is nothing you can do about that when shooting in nature unfortunately. Still works for me though. Possibly try and blur or desaturate the background a touch, that should really make the lizard pop.

[Bobobird]

Thanks Rob. One reason I could not find him initially was his close match to the leave he was on.

Will see what can be done with my minimal pp skills.

[Rob Douglas]

I've had the opportunity to shoot quite a variety of reptiles in the field and each one has it's own unique challenge to make them stand out unless by chance they are on a sidewalk LOL

[Bobobird]

You are lucky. I have great difficulty detecting any unless they fall into my lap (almost).

Here is a redo.



----
Picasa links not showing through
Found a workaround

[Rob Douglas]

reminds me of a shot I took of my son's sun fire bearded dragon.

[Bobobird]

Beautiful guy.

[Rob Douglas]

That was an easy contrasting shot being the background sand is lighter than the lizard though. Way different than shooting in the field. I only have to worry about making the glass as clean as possible and avoiding reflections :/

[Rob Douglas]

Try putting your image tag inside URL tags and see if you image shows then.

[FrankMi]

Hi Bobo! Nice capture! The camouflage works well to add interest to this image. You might want to consider cloning the background out to the upper left to mostly eliminate the dark brown but leave enough for a vignette. Being out of focus, the cloning shouldn't look out of place as long as you continue a hint of blurred pattern. The difference in sharpness should be all you need to make the lizard noticeable. Hope this helps!

[Rob Douglas]

[Rob Douglas]

This is what I did to add the image of the fish, I left a space in the front URL tag so the text would show. The text you see would be the URL tag and location to the image with the image tag inside.
[ url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/r0bdouglas/4300719028/] [ img]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2800/4300719028_da6c489ac0_b.jpg[/img] [/url]

[Bobobird]

Thank Frank. You mean extending the leaf out to the left?

Thanks Rob - nope did'nt work. Could be a PC problem here.

Edit - direct linking to picasa storage sort of stopped working today.

Found a workaround that seems to be working.

[FrankMi]

Thank Frank. You mean extending the leaf out to the left?

Yes, I think it would play down the distracting dark area. It should provide a pleasing background for either of your two edits. Your thoughts?

[Bobobird]

Thanks Frank. Sounds easy enough. Will give it a run and see how it shows.

--------
Okie - quick edit.



Perhaps the 2nd edit works better?

[jamn4ex]

hi Bobo, Its night and day from the first image! looks great !

[FrankMi]

Great Bobo! Without the distraction, the image has gained a whole new intensity! Very compelling!

You might want to try it with the hint of vignette as in the original...

[Rob Douglas]

Looks much better now. A slight bit of vignette would be perfect to direct your attention toward the lizard.

[Bobobird]

Will refine it as suggested.

Thanks Rob and Frank - your assistance has been invaluable.

[Bobobird]

Done.

Lighter


Stronger