Central Bearded Dragons - C&C welcome

[Judobreaker]

My new home animals. ^^

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3 and 4 might have been better off with their noses sharp but I really like the background there.
Couldn't quite get that with a higher aperture.

 

[Tony S]

I would really like to see a bit more of the dragons head/face in focus. The blur that's there just outside the sharpness is really messing with my eyes. You should be able to still keep the background out of focus as your aperture does not need to be opened up enough that would affect it, you are only looking for another inch or so to the area in focus.

 

[greybeard]

The focus in 3-4-5 just sort of teases me. I just want a little more in focus. Did you use your 105 macro? What f/stops did you use?

 

[baato]

Considering that shots like these aren't usually easy to take, I think they worked out pretty well.

I mean, it's not like the lizards are gonna respond to requests to sit still, eh ?

 

[cgipson1]

Personally I wouldn't have used anything under F8.. not 3.2 - 4.5 like you used..... the blur on the faces is a major distraction! I much prefer a sharp subject, even if the background is not quite as pretty! I am not really looking at the background, right?

They also appear a bit yellow.. probably have them lit incandescently, right? WB!

And since lizards like these are sometimes very static... you could have probably even used a tripod if need be. I would seriously consider a very diffused flash not too close to them... you could lower your ISO that way!

 

[Judobreaker]

Considering that shots like these aren't usually easy to take, I think they worked out pretty well.

I mean, it's not like the lizards are gonna respond to requests to sit still, eh ?

No they're not the best of listeners. They do sit still to warm up every now and again though.

Personally I wouldn't have used anything under F8.. not 3.2 - 4.5 like you used..... the blur on the faces is a major distraction! I much prefer a sharp subject, even if the background is not quite as pretty! I am not really looking at the background, right?

They also appear a bit yellow.. probably have them lit incandescently, right? WB!

And since lizards like these are sometimes very static... you could have probably even used a tripod if need be. I would seriously consider a very diffused flash not too close to them... you could lower your ISO that way!

I know, I'm still a little trying with that background thing.
I have a few more ideas I'want to try, might help.

The white balance is probably slightly off but I really like the colors. I'll ask my family for some advice though as I'm colorblind so I might just be way more off than I think. xD

The ISO simply was one of the most newbish mistakes one could make...
I forgot to check my ISO beforehand. Usually I set it back to 100 after a shoot but I forgot last time I used my camera. That last time just happened to be some quick photos, nothing important, so my ISO was still at 2400!
It did explain why I was struggling with the lighting. Too bad no bells started ringing... Oh well, I used to make this mistake a lot more.