Red-Bellied Black Snake Pops in to Say Helloby
lccm_82Comment by ericwoo: Hey there from the Critique Club
My thoughts on the image: My eye immediately notices the relatively bright exposure of the overall image. While I do think that you meet the challenge, I think the there were some technical aspects of the image that could have surely been executed better.
My ideas for improvement: I am guessing that you are running that camera on full-auto mode. Am I wrong? My first suggestion for improvement would be to switch to manual and play with those controls. Looking through your first few entries, they all seem to have very similar mistakes. First and foremost, pay attention to your primary focal plane. With an image such as this, I'd like to see the primary point of focus directly on the eyes of the snake. Here, your focus seems to be on the ground be low the reptile. Practice with toning that flash down. Here, you relied solely on the flash itself to light the entire image. Open up that aperture, slow the shutter, up the ISO and let the flash provide a soft, gentle fill rather than such a harsh blast. I'd much rather see some warm tones of the surrounding, natural light rather than the flat, white light you produced.
On a different note, also take time to let the voters that have taken the time to comment on the image that their comments were helpful. We really like to have our little boxes checked.
Where I would have/did score this entry: I did vote and a gave it a 4. There are many areas for improvement from a technical standpoint that would help this vote grow considerably. Keep shooting and keep posting.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a critique on your entry,
Eric
Photographer found comment helpful.