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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 105: High Contrast (Hosted by Melbob) >> Challenge 105: Eligible > Anole
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22-OCT-2007 Victor Engel

Anole

My goal with this subject was to use high contrast in lighting, composition, and post processing to enhance a normally very low contrast subject. The anole stands on the underside of a leaf, which is lighter than the top sides visible elsewhere on the image. I also used some color from the anole's "eye shadow" as the border color, to further draw attention to the anole using color contrast.

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM
1/125s f/8.0 at 135.0mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time22-Oct-2007 02:11:00
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 5D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length135 mm
Exposure Time1/125 sec
Aperturef/8
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (1)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Canon DSLR Challenge30-Oct-2007 14:27
Victor, I can barely keep the little lizards visible long enough to show my kids, much less get a quality shot such as this. Well done sir. Jim H2
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2007 22:14
But he looked so comfortable there all sound asleep! BTW, how do you know it's a he? I don't know how to sex them just by the head. Actually, I know the skull structure is different (males have longer, narrower snouts). My other picture shows a female. You can tell by the white stripe down her back. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2007 21:42
Technically, your main lines (the leaf on his head, and under the one under his hand), lead right past him and point to about the right line of thirds. His face is sitting on the left line of thirds. By rules of composition, I was referring more to the location of the elements within the page. The other items you mention I consider to be more the rules of photography, rather than, more specifically, the rules of composition. You were correct about them as well, thoroughly explaining why it's such a good image. :) As for the eyes being open, to me that is the far more desirable image. I'm glad you woke him. I hope you at least gave him a print for his family! :) ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2007 05:31
Here's the image I referred to. Not very good. However, the anole had just nabbed a bug (you can't tell).



-- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2007 05:28
Melbob, I just missed such a shot today. However, this is an anole, not a chameleon with an incredibly long tong. You might be disappointed. Had I been successful, the picture still would not have been that great, unfortunately. By the way, regarding color, one of my steps was to change mode to Lab and stretch both the a and b channels. I find this is frequently a superior method to enhance colors of interest. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2007 05:14
Oh? Which compositional rules did I break? I was very cognizant of composition in this case, although I must admit that I didn't have specific rules in mind. The "rules" that I had in mind included:

* Lines in the image should lead the eye to the item of interest.
* Depth of field should highlight the item of interest.
* Corollary (sort of): the eye should be in focus
* Rule of thirds -- well, I don't really use a rule of thirds. I use a rule for which it is an example, though, I think: items of primary focus should not be at obvious locations like the center of the image. They should, instead, be in locations that result in an aesthetic balance. I see a violation of this rule in the boundary between bright and dark right down the center to the right of the lizard. I didn't even notice this until writing this reply. That placement was an accident. I don't think it distracts, though.
* There should be more open space in front of the subject than behind. In this case, below also qualifies in my mind, for some reason.
* In this case, the lizard being between two leaves implies a third dimension to the scene that otherwise wouldn't be so obvious. Some of the "rules" of composition thus apply to the three dimensional space the viewer imagines, rather than simply the 2-dimensional space of the picture. I think this may be why the space below the lizard works. It's balanced by space on further way from the camera than the lizard.

If there were anything I would change about the picture, it would be the catch light. Illumination is by flash covered by a sheet of paper. The illumination is nice, but there's something I don't like about the catch light. I can't quite place it.

This lizard, by the way, was sleeping when I first saw it. I woke it up by opening the sliding door so I wouldn't have to shoot through the glass. My original intent was to get a picture of it with eyes closed.

-- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2007 05:14
Beautiful capture Victor, what an incredible creature. Great colour contrast , I particularly like the bright light greens vs the deep dark background.

I often wished to set the camera on high speed and try and capture the moment an insect strolled in range ... and that tongue did its job. That would be a priceless capture?

Maybe that should be your handicap Victor... " don't post until you capture an action shot of one of these... ;-)

Anyway, struggling back, this is great. ~ Regards Melbob
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2007 04:53
Adorable! Excellent breakage of composition rules here too! ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge28-Oct-2007 23:42
wonderful picture.
theFly
Canon DSLR Challenge28-Oct-2007 22:54
Very sneakily, heheh. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge28-Oct-2007 22:22
Beautifully done. I particularly like the border matching matching the "eye shadow" (how did you get it to keep still while you applied the makeup? :))
Alastair