Imprisoned

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 29, 2010135 views4 comments

Small crab about to be devoured by a Sea Anemone. Moving subjects, low light, murky water, and slippery rocks all made this a bit difficult to compose and expose. I used a bit of flash to speed up the shutter speed (movement was an issue) as well as add some shadowing effects.
Your thoughts and critiques are much appreciated.
Canon 40D, 50mm with kenko extension tubes, iso400, f13, 1/160, flash.

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on March 30, 2010 at 9:09 AM

Hi Greg,

Very nice detail here and compositionally very interesting with those tentacles framing the image quite nicely. And the exposure looks absolutely spot-on to me.

Something about the image confuses me a little (perhaps it's the lighting) - to my eye the original as posted almost has an "upside-down" feel to it and when I flip my monitor over (good thing I'm using a laptop, eh?) the image appears more natural to me. It will be interesting to see if others have the same perception.

Cheers...and thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on March 30, 2010 at 3:25 PM

Interesting photo, but I have difficulty telling what it is in the anemone. Maybe it is upside down. Well exposed with good detail.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on March 31, 2010 at 9:52 PM

I am sure there is not upside down or right side up to this image, but I agree with Brad that is somehow presents better when inverted. I think is is merely the illusion created by the many drooping arms of the anemone on the bottom of the frame. I like the color satureation and find this is a capture that pulls one into the scene.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Greg Cope on March 31, 2010 at 11:53 PM

Appreciate the feedback on this one. Its been one I've been a bit undecided on, and I never even though about inverting it.
John, you mention the difficulty in "telling what it is in the anemone", and that was the major point of this image. It may not be everyone's cup of tea (and I'm not even sure its mine), but I was hoping to present a more abstract angle that says something more than just 'anemone'. Given the comments I've received here and elsewhere it seems as though I'm far from that goal, but it gives me that much more desire to head back and try again.

Registered on January 22, 2007, 212 Posts, 2737 Comments