Curious Badger

Image Critiques Wildlife Critiques
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Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction

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Image Description

I photographed this cute little guy from a hide near a badger set in Scotland’s Dumfries & Galloway. He came in near dusk, so I didn’t need to push the ISO too high like I did later in the evening when I was shooting at 16000 ISO.

Technical Details

Sony a1, Sony 200-600mm at 474mm. Manual exposure f/7.1 @ 1/800th, ISO 4000.

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This is a very sweet portrait. I haven’t seen a badger so am enthralled by the eyes, and details of it’s fur and it’s wet nose. The surrounding grass is a lovely colour and a nice balance of detail and softness. I would be curious to see more of the animal but this stands very nicely as a portrait.

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This badger looks like it is smiling at you. I can see why European badgers were often the subjects in childrens’ books. Well done…Jim

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First reaction: sweet (I’m avoiding the “c” word!). Also, could be cropped more from the left to make it less central. Aha, you used the “c” word!

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It shows some kind of emotional connection.
Beautiful portrait n wonderful details in blacks and whites as well.
I’m keen to know if you happened to take any verticals?

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Hi Charles,

Wonderful shot – I get an immediate dose of dopamine and a huge smile on my face just from looking at this little guy (guy-ette?)! Here’s what I like technically: good focus on the eyes; fine detail in the fur; sweet bokeh, definitely like the grass stalks and seed heads, and absolutely LOVE that you were able to get below his eyes, shooting just a bit upward at him.
I wanna pick this guy up for a cuddle! (Yes, I know how that would work out.) I wonder, have you thought about maybe a portrait crop, removing most of his body behind his right shoulder (ie, left side of the image)? Oh yeah, I also really like that the shadow under his chin is opened up so that we can see his skin and his fur on his chest. Really fun image, thank you for sharing this with us! – Michael

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I did not shoot any verticals, but a vertical crop might be worth trying.

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This “Cute Critter” looks friendly and almost cuddly… Until it shows those teeth and those claws, then it becomes a “Bad A** Beast” :smiley:

Wonderful image with the face to face pose!

Love it! :slight_smile:

2 Likes