Sunbathing turtle

Image Critiques Wildlife Critiques
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I caught this shot while drifting in my Kayak. I normally shoot landscapes but I wanted some feedback from the wildlife group for this first post.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Any would appreciated

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any

Any pertinent technical details:

280mm, F5.6, 1/1000s, ISO 800

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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Vibrant water color, nice light, and an excellent reflection. An alternative composition might be to decenter the subject by moving the turtle to the right?

3

Thanks for your comments David. I can shift the to the right and the log is also more interesting on the left side of the image. Very good suggestion!

4

Poor typing on my part. I can shift the “subject” to the right.

5

Hi Alan!
This is quite impressive as a first post for wildlife, you should shoot wildlife more often.:+1:
You already have a good suggestion from David.
It’s a great looking subject against a beautiful BG, along with the reflection. I like how the underneath side of turtle, which is yellow, is reflecting light on the log.
You may burn top side of the turtle ( in reflection too) to get some more detail and the color.

Jagdeep Rajput

6

The glowing colors are great, Alan. Catching these turtles sunbathing is a challenge so it’s neat that you could drift past. I agree with moving the subject to the right a bit. I also agree that the reflected glow on the log is a neat addition.

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A sweet reflection image of this turtle, Alan. I agree with the others about moving the subject to the right. That will also minimize the bright end of the log, which is a bit overpowering to me. I like Jagdeep’s suggestion of doing something about the top of the shell and it’s reflection to bring out the colors and texture. However, rather than burn them, I would be inclined to put both on a single separate layer and and use a levels adjustment layer on them. If you pull in both ends, it acts like a dehazing tool and by fiddling a bit with all three sliders you can get some amazingly good results.

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Jagdeep, Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions. I have made the suggested changes and they did help.

1 Like
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Thanks Mark, normally these guys jump in pretty quickly. This one I caught sleeping and his legs popped out and jumped in. I caught him with only two legs out before he dove in, really fortunate. Thanks for the help.

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Dennis, I will give it a try. I am still new to layers but am working on it. Thanks for your help.