St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Audie Thornburg has volunteered their WPC 1411 - Green entry to the Photo Critique & Analysis Forum* to find out what they could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you Audie Thornburg and thank you everyone!

From WPC 1411 - Green RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=108

* If you are new to the Photo Critique & Analysis Forum please read the Section Rules http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-159520-1.html

Frog Eye

(Download)

jonsommer Loc: Usually, somewhere on the U.S. west coast.

Welcome to the critique and analysis forum, where, generally the group that hangs out here, from still wet novices to leather skinned professionals, we actually look at a fotograph and attempt to make useful critical comments. Sometimes we manage that, despite ourselves.

So, your photo caught my eye, instead of the usual frog picture, you did just the opposite, you caught the humor in being a frog. Instead of green and slimey, you captured green and unslimey, the frog seems to be acknowledging your presence AND he seems to be sizing you up, and he's still not sure because, well, after all, he is a frog, and you're a lot bigger than he is. He's also quite the admirer of John Wayne, as well as a few other celebrated 'tough guys' who are always chewing on the one toothpick hanging from the corner of the mouth, and your subject is the perfect copier of the movis stars practiced poses, so he's obviously a sophisticated and talented frog.

His skin is a little rough, and he has a few bettle scars left over from the days of his tad-pole youth, however, none of that says a word about those fantastic frog eyes that sem to either want to share their thoughts on the Russian invasion of Crimea, of decide if he would rather have you for dinner.

I like frogs, and I especially like the face and the non-verbal communication comming from it. Technically, and compositionally, everything seems to be in good order here, about the only possible suggestion for improvement that I could make is to loosen the crop just a little to give the viewer a little more breathing room. Nice work!

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Since I know squat(?) about frogs, I will only comment on the photo.

The cropping is a bit tight - the tip of the nose is cut off on the left. If the original does not cut it off you can fix this.

The depth of field (DOF) should be greater since only a narrow range is sharp. You could probably get away with f/11 by bumping the ISO to about 400. The background is far enough away that it will still be out of focus. You might even get away with 1/250 sec. These things you cannot fix with post-processing, you need to re-shoot, if you can find another frog.

The debris is distracting but does not ruin the shot other than highlighting the DOF problem.

Audie Thornburg Loc: Eureka, Kansas

Thank You jonsommer,for the critique. You have a great eye for detail. I never noticed the toothpick before. He was a very cooperative subject as he waited for me to run to the house to get my camera and come back. I was mowing around the pond with a brush-hog and almost took more of him than his photo. He truly IS a Tough Guy!

Audie Thornburg Loc: Eureka, Kansas

Thank You selmslie for your critique. I agree, the cropping is a bit tight, and the focal point needs to broadened as well. I was in a hurry, before he jumped back into the pond. (Which he did). I will find the original and fix what I can and perhaps repost.

Clyde141

Since the contest theme was “Green,” showing green was the purpose of the photo and it does that very well. The close-up adds to that showing of the green. A photo of the whole frog would show the green, but not emphasize it as your photo does. Focus is sharp where it counts. I’d prefer not to have the piece of grass or whatever on the right side but how do you get a frog to pose in the right place? Don’t know if you have Photoshop, but removing that one blade of grass would not be too difficult. This in my opinion of course and some may think that with a frog in a frog environment the grass blade should be there. I agree with others about the crop being a little too tight. At least back it off to include the tip of the nose. I think the photo portrays very well what you were trying to show.

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

I like the photograph and interesting subject but agree that the crop is a bit tight (unless you go closer and make just the eye the point of interest) and the light diagonal material in the foreground is a distraction.

As to sharpness, usually if the eye or eyes of a living creature are in focus the extent of depth of field is a matter of taste and dependent on what the photographer wishes to highlight in the image. If you wished additional depth of field you could have used a smaller aperture than the f/5.6 you did use.

One additional comment is that when looking at your EXIF information I noticed that you have the sharpness in your camera set to "soft." You may wish to change this when shooting subjects you wish in sharp focus. 8-)