Ssssnake

Winona · Apr 19, 2019

I did not post-process this, just happy I know how to share photos. Where is the “proper” place to put these for critique? This was f8. ISO 800. 400mm. 1/1250. Manual.
I was about to throw in the towel, but following Trevor’s past post of using spot centered focusing and manual helped. I know it’s not a bird lol, but still helpful. My birds came out a lot better as well. I had the camera set for a larger focus area and AI Servo and things were blurry. Should I have had higher f stop for larger focus area? The leaf in the left lower corner is distracting, but I haven’t cropped. Suggestions please.

K9Kirk · Apr 19, 2019

I like it well enough, the tongue is a plus along with the eyes so the pluses outweigh the negatives.

bulldurham · Apr 20, 2019

tighter crop will emphasize what K9Kirk said...

smoke665 · Apr 20, 2019

I was thinking similar thoughts to Bulldurham, except I believe having more of the environment aids in the composition. Try a 16x9 crop, lower your exposure about 1/4 stop and add some contrast.

LRLala · Apr 20, 2019

I like it both ways, and yes, the eye and tongue definitely make the picture!

limr · Apr 20, 2019

Winona said:
I did not post-process this, just happy I know how to share photos. Where is the “proper” place to put these for critique?

This was the proper place to post photos for critique. All of the Photo Gallery forums are critique forums (with the exception of 'Just For Fun'). Just match the photo to the appropriate subject matter. If you're not sure which Gallery to post in, just throw it in General Gallery.

As for your question about the f-stop: it depends. Yes, using a smaller aperture (higher number f-stop) will result in more of the picture being in focus, but you don't always want that. In this case, the background is kind of cluttered, so having less in focus means that the snake is more isolated against all the detail in the background, and so is less likely to get lost amongst the clutter.