Cutesy ootsy widdle wed squirrel...peacefully eating sunflower seeds and such outside a wild bird rehab centre.
Inside the rehab centre, I should add, live some birds who would make this cutesy little beastie their lunch. I did get some shots of a friendly, personable immature eagle (described by a staffer as 'a puppy dog with razor blades on his feet') who may be a bald, may be a golden, we don't know yet. But sadly I got difficult-to=PS shots under fluourescent lights of him, so went with squirrel instead.
pp: curves, contrast, magic lasso, hue/sat, warming filter, exposure, crop, resize, usm, sharpen edges, save for web
Wow, I am amazed my little squirrel did so well! So proud of him. Thanks all for the great comments and the faves!
Statistics
Place: 28 out of 159 Avg (all users): 6.4951 Avg (commenters): 7.9333 Avg (participants): 6.3562 Avg (non-participants): 6.5714 Views since voting: 2345 Views during voting: 402 Votes: 206 Comments: 35 Favorites: 5 (view)
As you already know, I thoroughly enjoyed looking at this photo during voting, and was impressed by it - I am pleased it came up for me in the CC so that I can give it another in-depth view.
Firstly the subject - an excellent choice for a Wildlife challenge, giving most viewers a glimpse of an animal they are likely to see only rarely in their lives, but that has been immortalised by Beatrix Potter in the form of Squirrel Nutkin.
Composition - the log on which the squirrel sits provides a good sense of scale, reinforcing how small the red squirrel is. Initially I was unsure about the inclusion of the tree to the left, but on reflection I feel it was important, providing an anchor; the branch acts as an arrow pointing to the main subject - if I was to be very picky, I might prefer it was a bit higher in the frame but that is perhaps being a little ultra pernickity!
Depth of Field is spot on; the squirrel and tree stump stand out well from the background, with the gorgeous bokeh providing a perfect foil, whilst still retaining enough definition to provide the necessary environmental context. Colour rendition is excellent, with a super autumnal feel which suits the subject perfectly. A couple of comments have mentioned the textures, and this is something that I didn't consciously register in my first viewing - now I see how clear they are, i believe that they are completely integral to the photos success.
All in all, a photo you should be immensely proud of, and certainly one to blow up for framing!
Wow, congratulations on the PB, and what a great score? But especially what a beautiful photo. Love the colors and DOF. And I like the point of view -- the squirrel looks very small on that big stump. I think it is good that you left the surrounding environment in the shot rather than cropping down to the squirrel. Oh, I forgot to mention how much I like the focus and texture.
Huge congrats on the new Personal Best!! Love the light in this shot, and the background is lovely - really shows off your widdle wed squirrel very well!
I love red squirrel shots since there's so few of them left in Scotland, I never get to see any in the wild. This one is very cute, the focus is really clear, especially on the tail. Good composition too.
I long to see a red squirrel - here in England the red squirrel population has been decimated by a virus brought in by the alien grey squirrel. Ironically the grey squirrel, whilst a carrier, is immune to the virus allowing it to become by far and away the dominant species.
Back to the photo - this is a lovely study. Your choice of doF is spot on, isolating the squirrel whilst still showing enough of the woodland background to provide environmental context. I am really pleased you didn't crop or zoom in too close.
The colour palette on this is magnificently Autumnal, and he is given a perfect sense of scale and proportion by the tree trunk.
There is also a delightful amount of texture in this shot - from the soft fur of the squirrel, to the gnarled old wood on the tree, and the soft shapes of the woods and leaves in the background . .
(This isn't a German Squirrel by any chance is it ? )
Awww, he's cute! I love the muted colors in this one -- definitely feels like fall. Beautiful bokeh and sharpness. My only suggestion would be a tighter crop -- the stump seems more of a focal point than the squirrel does.
well I assign 10 to this photo but,but, there is a but! why you don't clone out the little distracting element on the left? the image is fantastic and the texture of trees on the background is perfect for this image.
I wish that one dark tree on the left weren't there... it messes up a really beautifully composed image. Well done... I might have cropped the tree out, though. :) The background is fabulous.
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