I took this image two years ago, of young turtles sunning on a log, I did not notice the dragon fly on the nose of one turtle until I cropped the image, in the original it looked a little fuzzy, and there was a good reason why. Image was taken using a Canon 7D with a 300 mm zoom lens.
Specific Feedback Requested
The image is heavily cropped, comments on composition and anything else would be greatly appreciated
Technical Details
Canon 7D, 70-300 mm IS Canon lens, 1/320 sec, f10, AWB.
Ian, I wonder if the dragonfly was getting some insects off of the turtle. I think butterflies get salt from the eyes of turtles while they sun themselves. I guess because the dragonfly is in the image it seemed to fit into the Macro Category, but I’m wondering if maybe it would better fit in the Wildlife because the turtle seems to be the main subject of the image. Just a thought. As for the composition, if it were mine I think I would prefer a bit more room at the top and maybe less at the bottom. You said it was a heavily cropped image, which might be the cause of some noise being introduced, Still a fun shot. It makes me wonder if the turtle truly is annoyed with the dragonfly or not. In a documentary I watched recently the turtles didn’t seem to mind the butterflies on them all that much, so maybe not.
@ian2 - A fun shot to be sure. Interesting combination of the dragonfly and the turtle.
I think the image is too tight in the frame and has suffered as a result of the large crop. The amount of noise is very high and the shadows are very dark and it isn’t as sharp as one would expect. I did a quick adjustment on the shadows and dealt with the noise in the water. You could do better with the raw file than I could do with the jpeg.
Yes, I would be interested in seeing your redo if you post one. Being a film photographer too, I’m not as sensitive to what I would call grain but I see the point about the heavy crop introducing the noise if you don’t want it. I believe that your red-earred slider here has an American ruby spot damselfly on its nose. Hard to be sure, but it’s possible. The reflection is great! Very nice find and good reaction to get the shot before the opportunity closed on you.
Finally found the original raw file and did a little less cropping on the image, I originally intended to posts this in the weekly challenge, not sure where it finally ended up.
