Spider Web and Chipmunk

I like the diagonal perch & colorful BG, great details Bill.
The OOF spiders web? adds interest for me, though some may not agree..
My only suggestion would be to bring down the saturation, just a tad.
Well done!

Bill, I really like the pose you have captured of this cute critter. I also like the spider's web in the composition, although I would prefer a more vertical format had it not been for that web...a bit of a trade off in my opinion. Might be worth looking at a looser composition to achieve that vertical and include the web. I agree with Howard regarding the saturation level.

Hey Bill,

This little fella gave you a near perfect pose! Compositionally there's lots to like here - including the positioning of the chipmunk and the nice strong diagonal formed by the branch. And, you've nicely separated the subject from background. For me the spider web adds little to the shot and distracts my attention. I think this is for two reasons - it's somewhat out of focus, discontinuous and bright enough to stand out, and the rest of the background is very out of focus (so it stands out quite strongly, but isn't clear). I'm guessing it drove your cropping/framing of the shot somewhat as well...and thinking this one would be stronger in a 3:2 aspect ratio with cropping off the right side (if the web wasn't there).

On the technical side - agree with previous comments - seems a bit punchy in both saturation and contrast.

Cheers...

Brad

Hello Howard... thanks,...
Gary...was taken awhile ago and will look into the original if I can find it.

Brad. was an early morning capture at my pond ( in the back forty ) where the spiders are very busy at this time of year and being there before any appreciable wind/air movement the web was still quite filled with wet dew,. the sun had just popped up from behind the trees and colours were very saturated with that beautiful morning glow .

thanks

Bill .

Just to pick up on something Brad said; my suggestion was to loosen the composition to achieve a more vertical presentation that matches the chipmunks body and that vertically diagonal perch. Reading Brad's review I found myself agreeing that the spider's web is in fact somewhat of a weak element, perhaps even a distraction. When I was pondering my critique I was wondering how to eliminate the spider web from the frame but found no way of doing this (other than cloning), hence the suggestion I gave. Had the spider web not been there....no question, tighter vertical. (Bottom line, guess I really didn't like the spider's web.. )

Hello Gary

I will really try to dig out that original now.
I remember the time very well .............I REALLY Enjoy early, quiet mornings with low air movement which allowed the web to still hang freely and this guy appeared so quickly into my view. I had a large pond dug out many years ago to be a Vernal pond and it has a small island in the centre where I left some Vertical dead trees and a few live ones too. I was there ( in my cammo gear) to capture the Kingfishers images and this is when this little guy appeared. Always a treat to get surprised with an unexpected visitor.

Really appreciate the feedback.. :)

Bill

Here is Repost reduced saturation and contrast ....

does it work better ?

Thanks

Bill

Hey Bill,

The difference is subtle, but I like the re-post a little better. I realize this was a JPEG capture so I can appreciate that you can't push the pixels around too much at this stage of the game...

Cheers...

Brad

This is lovely, Bill. Great colours, composition and story.
I would reduce the blue/cyan coming through in the branch and the whites of the chipmunk, and perhaps back off on deep contrast just a tad?