Muskrat Reflections

Hi Ashleigh

Very cool - I've only been able to get muskrats in the summer and never had their whole body + 4 feet + tail + reflection!

It's also great that you ask specific questions - I think the sharpness is fine (you've maybe hit a little in front but it's OK). You might try to crop a bit off the top, to play off the symmetry with the reflection (crop it down to the point where there's equal space above the 'rat and below the reflection). At the same time, if you're into this - the crop will leave a small triangle of bright in the top left, and you could clone or content-aware fill it to the darker tone by his it's back. (BTW - I think the piece of ice you removed from his face is still there in the reflection - but that's simple to fix).

As for 'flat' - it's a winter day and leaving it as-is conveys that well. You could always try playing with the contrast slider, or even the darks and brights individually and see if you like what they do.

Awesome job Ashleigh!

Hi Ashleigh. I'll give you my opinion regarding your three questions; Excellent sharpness, pleasing even lighting and that crop looks great. I might nit pick the fact that those dried grasses he's working on exit the frame on the side and perhaps a more centred composition might be able to "contain" them. Really though, I love the photo, very artistic and technically well done.

Often we talk about getting as low as possible to render our wildlife subjects at eye level and to enhance that intimate connection with the subject. I think that this photo does demonstrate that a slightly higher pov can work nicely as well when everything else is managed well.

Very engaging photo of a very cute little fellow. I'll add to the other comments that, judging from the axis through the subject and reflection, the photo looks to be rotated a bit CCW.

I like this a lot, Ashleigh. It seems to have it's feet in 2 arenas. While partly a documentary photo, there is lots of it that says creative. There is a nice softness to it and a small but nice and complementary color palette. Looks like it's overcast and that led to the soft lighting. Well composed and executed. My only nit is, as mentioned, the tan veg extending out of the left side. But that's minor. Nicely done.

Ashleigh,
You asked three questions and for me the answers are
1) Yes
2) No
3) OK
I love the feel of this

Hi Ashleigh,

Very nice - love how the round shape of the muskrat naturally complements the strong repeating diagonal lines formed by the snow, ice, wet ice, and then water. My answers to your questions:

1. Sharp enough? At this size - yes. Hopefully the full-res version is equally as sharp (resolution reduction to 720 or 1200 pixels can make almost anything look sharp) as then you will have more options in terms of what you can do with the image (how large it can be printed, etc.).

2. Light too flat? A bit - I think the image lacks a bit of contrast. If this were mine I would experiment with two very minor tweaks - brightening the snow and darkening the water - both by just a tad (one half stop or less). The snow looks just a bit too grey and water like this almost always renders a bit too bright (unless one shoots with a circular polarizer) and almost never a bad idea to darken it.

3. Crop? Good, but I think it could be even better. Not sure how much of a crop this is already, but if mine, I'd probably experiment with shaving about a third of the snow off the top and returned the image to closer to a 3:2 aspect ratio. This would also get the subject a little higher in the frame - right now it feels a bit too low to me, especially given the position of the head and where the apparent line of sight of the muskrat is looking.

Another thing I like about this image is how the bulk of the surroundings are a natural monochrome - and that the subject (and the part of the environment the subject is interacting with) are the only things with much colour to them. It might be worth trying to selectively bump the saturation of the muskrat and grasses (leaving all other parts of the image as they are). But be real careful about not overdoing this...easy to look "fake" with such adjustments.

Real, real nice Ashleigh - you posted a great selection of images this week - very well done!

Cheers...

Brad

Hi,

Sharpness is good, light is perfect, you could tighten up the crop by removing some from the top and a little from the right. I like this image. ............................Jim

Ashleigh, I think the light and sharpness are fine. Two things I would consider if it were mine: one is there is a bit of space up top and to the right that could be cropped: and possibly use a bit of CCW rotation (check the reflection of the muskrat).

The texture of the water, small area of vegetation, the reflection and nice pose make this work for me. I think the amount of white in the upper left is a little unbalancing of the composition, so I would consider a bit more crop to reduce it.

Hi - Here is my repost.

I cropped more off and fixed a little ice spot on the muskrat's face. Then I did a small Saturation layer and upped the greens and browns a little. I then sharpened the muskrat. Oh and I also rotated it so it should be straight now. Thanks everyone for your feedback.

I think I prefer the original Ashleigh. :big grin: (After all that he says!) I prefer seeing the muskrat smaller in the frame for scale in this photographic situation. The bits left out in the repost deminish the over all feel "for me" from an artistic perspective. But I always liked the volume of snow in the upper left corner and light play off the water in the lower right. Both versions are good though and the fix on the ice spot in the reflection and redo on the levelling are positive enhancements I admit.

This is a wonderful winter portrait of this little fellow Ashleigh I like how the different shades of water, ice and snow run through the frame. Your original is my favorite also.

A Beauty!

Ashleigh,
The crop on the re-post for me takes away the more natural feel.