Posted by John Varley on December 11, 2007 at 3:13 PM
Common Lizard, Bingley Moor, West Yorkshire. Early September 07
This was taken later the same morning as the grouse shot I recently posted. It was a wonderful day
Lizards are quite a new subject for me, I found a spot where there are a few of them, but they never seem to bask for more than 3-4 minutes at a time. Its amazing how fast they can move - they can disappear literally in the blink of an eye. But they do seem to get used to shutter clicks (not machine gunning)
Techs 1d2n Sigma 300mm 2.8 and a load of extension tubes and a monopod. 1/640th @ F8.0, ISO 800. Cloned out a grass blade on the right. I don't mind the remaining bit of dead stem, do you find it distracting? I seem to becoming increasingly reluctant to clone bits out (should learn to get it right in the first place). Processed in LR and CS3 for clone, final sharpen and resize.
Nice one John, it doesn't take them long to warm up on a good day, as a rule they will return to the same spot several times so if you are patient....
The remaining stem isn't a big problem, it may have been possible to remove it whilst the lizard was away hunting but don't know how long you had etc..
Only minor nit is that I would prefer more space below and less above, but knowing these creatures well I have no idea if that would have been possible...
Really like the pose here
Posted by eric weight on December 11, 2007 at 4:01 PM
Lovely shot, I don't mind the debris at all. I hadn't realise that they flatten and spread their bodies like that; I presume it is to present a larger surface area to the sun? This would be a valuable shot to me if only to show that behaviour.
Posted by Andy Astbury on December 12, 2007 at 7:22 AM
Missed this one John - nice image
Agree with Phils suggestion re the crop, but it's a cracking image
Eric - the rock may well be warm, so he flattens himself to it to get maximum heat transfer from it too
Posted by Paula Graham on December 13, 2007 at 6:43 AM
Hi John, I love lizards, newts, toads, frogs etc and it is nice to see a shot of one of these creatures.
I agree with the crop suggestion and yes, to me, the debris would be better cloned out but that is just a personal thing.
I like the shot a lot though.
Discussion
4 repliesThis was taken later the same morning as the grouse shot I recently posted. It was a wonderful day
Lizards are quite a new subject for me, I found a spot where there are a few of them, but they never seem to bask for more than 3-4 minutes at a time. Its amazing how fast they can move - they can disappear literally in the blink of an eye. But they do seem to get used to shutter clicks (not machine gunning)
Techs 1d2n Sigma 300mm 2.8 and a load of extension tubes and a monopod. 1/640th @ F8.0, ISO 800. Cloned out a grass blade on the right. I don't mind the remaining bit of dead stem, do you find it distracting? I seem to becoming increasingly reluctant to clone bits out (should learn to get it right in the first place). Processed in LR and CS3 for clone, final sharpen and resize.
Anyway thoughts on the dead stem please?
The remaining stem isn't a big problem, it may have been possible to remove it whilst the lizard was away hunting but don't know how long you had etc..
Only minor nit is that I would prefer more space below and less above, but knowing these creatures well I have no idea if that would have been possible...
Really like the pose here
Agree with Phils suggestion re the crop, but it's a cracking image
Eric - the rock may well be warm, so he flattens himself to it to get maximum heat transfer from it too
I agree with the crop suggestion and yes, to me, the debris would be better cloned out but that is just a personal thing.
I like the shot a lot though.