The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
From a bit farther away I saw this brave little turtle high atop an old tree in a backwater of the Somo river and thought it was a funny situation. Slowly I paddled closer, holding my breath that it wouldn’t do a half-gainer too soon. It’s a farily little one, about 6 inches long or so. Pretty high up for a turtle.
Eventually it plopped back down into the water and then I found a juvenile Great blue heron behind it and settled in for some filming. I really love this river.
Specific Feedback
It is a bit of a crop, but not a big one, mostly had to straighten the horizon. Open to ideas for improvement. I think I have varying compositions.
Technical Details
Handheld in the kayak as usual
Probably a CPL
Lr to adjust wb, increase contrast w/s-curve, added texture after denoise AI, then a little sharpening & a very slight vignette.
How cool is this one, Kris. Looks like an Olympic high diver set for launch here…
Only thought for change might be to bring down the lower back / middle ground overall highlights…
Thanks @Paul_Breitkreuz, @Mark_Seaver & @Diane_Miller - turtles do the funniest things sometimes and get into odd places you wouldn’t think possible. Visions of Yertle indeed. I wish I had video of the high dive, but I didn’t see it and, I wasn’t set up for it yet - on a bright day like that I need a VND at least and a lot of the time I use a CPL, too. Just too much light for proper video exposure.
Heron video will be up at some point. I haven’t even started editing it yet. Mostly it was preening and then a stealthy stalk and stab. I think it got a fish. A juvenile fledged this year judging by the plumage. I’ve found youngsters to be a lot more calm in the face of a kayak than the adults which I basically chase all over from spot to spot.
Very cool! Fun capture too as this tells a great story - and provokes questions by the viewer… how did the little guy get there (more than the obvious crawl up the log?) How long has it been there? Did it dive or fall in? Inquiring minds want to know! (ok, you told us, but we can imagine…)
