Canon ElanIIe 75-300 RG200 Scanned from negative....

-- Amy Boone (boone@chem.ufl.edu), May 10, 1999

Answers

This image would be better if taken with a 28mm lens ... Ha, just kidding! Seriously, the foreground and background being so out of focus I find distracting. The focus looks good on the gator himself. Just looks like more depth of field or cropping would help.

-- George Bell (gibell@geocities.com), May 10, 1999.

I don't mind the depth of field--it isolates the 'gator. Exposure is good, too.

However, I think the picture would be better if the horizon was horizontal. I think I'm getting a crick in my neck...

Also, maybe a slightly higher perspective would be better--the 'gator tends to blend in with the water in the background near it's head. Where the highlights are it isn't too bad, but I think a little bit of grass between the head and the water would be good.

Good job.

-- Jeremy Kindy (kindjd01@wfu.edu), May 11, 1999.

Yes, I agree the short deep of fild distract too much from the subject of the photo, the foreground distract much much more ... by the way I would shot the pet in an angle direct between its eyes. The light and exposition is very good.

-- Charles Dias (deepblue97a@hotmail.com), May 11, 1999.

I don't agree that the slanting composition gives one a cricked neck. The slant gives the aligator a sense of dynamism; he looks as if he will slide into the water at any moment. I do agree a bit about the very near foreground being slightly distracting. Ideally perhaps the framing could have been moved up a little when the photo was taken, but as it is, it's a small critism and nothing that a small cropping wouldn't fix. Great photo. David

-- David Bertioli (david@cenargen.embrapa.br), May 14, 1999.

In Nature photography, esp. animals/birds, the subject is more important. The key feature of a reptile is the mouth area, eye area and the shape of the scales. The picture clearly shows the shape of the jaw, you can see two teeth peeping out, the bump at the tip of the jaw and a black spot on it ( not sure if its nostril ). Eye area is not clear. You could have approached a bit closer or used a flash. These reptiles are resilient to built-in flashes. Half-stop over-exposure might have helped. Great job! Take a series of pictures and you will get the right composition. Where was this taken ?

-- Rajesh Mohan (rmohan26@hotmail.com), May 14, 1999.