Hide and Seek +repost

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
1

Hide and Seek denoise
Hide and Seek denoise2514×3771 1.21 MB

@Chris_Baird , Thank you for the review and comments. You are right there was a lot of noise. I haven’t developed a consistent workflow for dealing with noise, but here is a re-work. I also added some bark to the LLC and I do think it helps.

This species of snake has a red, coppery body that is not camouflaged at all, except that at the head, which is all you see here, it becomes mottled and darker, which does allow it to hide better when peaking around corners.

Thanks for the input, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Hide and Seek.jpg
Hide and Seek.jpg2514×3771 2.81 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

While walking through a nearby mesquite forest, with a friend, we were startled by a roadrunner jumping off the trunk of this tree. We watched the roadrunner, which quickly disappeared, but then looking back up at the tree, we saw the the red racer (coachwhip) moving along the limbs and around the trunk of the tree . We got several shots of the snake as it moved through the tree and assumed the roadrunner was trying to get to this snake, although it was about 5 to 6 feet long.

Focused on the snake in the field, it wasn’t until I was looking at the image for processing that I saw the tree lizard hiding on the trunk. Looks like the lizard is trying to decide to hide or run for it.

Specific Feedback

Choice to crop?
Anything regarding processing choices, exposure, sharpening…

Sorry, this second photo is the one I intended to post. The first one has a mask to highlight the lizard, The second one is without the mask, since this is a camouflage challenge:) I am of

Hide and Seek without mask
Hide and Seek without mask2514×3771 2.38 MB

sure how to delete the first one?

Technical Details

image
Processing in LR for exposure, color and sharpness.
Image is cropped to bring out the lizard as the co-subject. In the uncropped image, the snake stretches out on a limb for several feet to the left of the tree trunk

2

Very camouflaged, indeed. I really had to look to see exactly what it was that was hiding. I saw the lizard, but didn’t see the snake until I enlarged the image. It seems to be somewhat noisy when enlarged. I find the patch of green in the LL corner distracting. Maybe it could be filled with some of the bark texture.

3

Marlin: Having only one of these critters blending into the tree would be great but to have two is really terrific. Nice find and a fine capture. >=))>

4

Thanks, @Bill_Fach . More good fortune than good planning. And all because we startled that roadrunner. But like many good images, slow down and look around. You never know what you might find!

5

Getting two different critters well camouflaged in a single shot is quite special, Marlin. Both the lizard and the snake are very well disguised. To delete an image, hit the edit icon, then find the text that indicates the specific photo and delete all of that text. That text starts with an exclamation mark (!) and ends with (…jpeg). There will be several lines of empty space both before and after the photo text.

6

Thanks @Mark_Seaver . One just hopes they are ready when opportunities like this come up. And if not ready, at least lucky.

Thanks for the editing info. My goal is to contribute more this next year, so I stay more familiar with the processes.