Madhusudhan Srinivasan  


Untitled by Madhusudhan Srinivasan

November 2019 - Untitled

About the Image(s)

Green Vine snake feasting on Malabar Gliding Frog. This was shot in one of the Indian rain forests in June 2018 during macro walks at 9pm. The whole process of hunting and swallowing the frog lasted for 15-20mins and we were lucky to witness and photograph.
Gears Used:
Nikon D7200, Sigma 105mm f2.8 lens, Godox TT685 on-camera flash, Handheld
Exif:
1/80SS, f10, ISO200 with Matrix metering


This round’s discussion is now closed!
16 comments posted




 
Wow, Madhusudhan!
That is a great nature story you captured. The snake and frog are very sharp and the background, while busy, is not distracting as it is part of the story.
I cropped it slightly on the left side and a little on the top to give a bit more attention to the action. Excellent capture!   Posted: 11/09/2019 18:40:11
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Thank you so much Janet   Posted: 11/09/2019 20:35:03



Stuart Ord   Stuart Ord
(Groups 64 & 95)
It took me a while to see what I was looking at. Without the description I think I'd have failed to understand.
I used to be a strong affincionado of cropping hard to make the subject stand out, but I've started to realise that it can be counter-productive. So I'd not crop this any more. Far more important is what is in the background, and the background here is a bit fussy. It's hard to choose the background of course in many situations like this, but post processing can reduce the distraction. Now of course people entering Nature comps will say that's not allowed, but personally I go for pictorial quality not an accurate nature record, so it would be OK for non-nature comps.   Posted: 11/10/2019 16:39:50



Dick States   Dick States
(Group 65)
I feel this is a great shot and makes a great shot for a text book. For me there are too many things going on making it hard to figure out. Without the description it would be hard to decipher what is going on. Usually in PSA judging it needs to have impact so to understand what your looking at in a matter of seconds. I agree with Stuart I go more for pictorial quality not an accurate nature record. I feel the background is a bit distracting.   Posted: 11/10/2019 19:42:14



 
Thank you so much Stuart and Dick for the suggestion. Here is the edited version. Please let me know if it makes sense now.   Posted: 11/10/2019 20:54:26
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Dick States   Dick States
(Group 65)
I like this much better.   Posted: 11/14/2019 12:29:04
 
I agree that the background was a bit distracting and that this is much better. But wow, what a shot! It did take me a long time to figure out what I was looking at, and I might not have figured it out without the explanation. But it is a rare moment and certainly worthy of capture.   Posted: 11/16/2019 09:56:00
 
What tools did you use to darken the background?   Posted: 11/16/2019 09:57:22
 
Thanks Sandra. I used the brush tool and reduced the exposure in those unwanted areas   Posted: 11/16/2019 12:43:45
 
Thanks!   Posted: 11/16/2019 15:28:09



 
Wow, just passing by and could not help but stop and stare. The edited image is quite impactful. I love images that force you to think about what is going on, so I loved the aha! moment when I sorted out the frog from the snake. Great capture!
  Posted: 11/13/2019 13:13:01
 
Thanks for stopping by Mark. Appreciate you feedback and liking.   Posted: 11/13/2019 21:20:18



Tom Pickering   Tom Pickering
(Groups 0 & 53)
You were definitely in the right place at the right time for this capture! Removing the busy background finished it nicely! Thanks for sharing this with us! d:¬{D   Posted: 11/21/2019 12:18:34
 
Thanks Tom   Posted: 11/22/2019 03:33:44



 
Madhu you did it again! I'm sure in that situation I couldn't see this action happening, you are a very good observer! The similarity of the greens (leaves, frog, snake) is perfect!
You captured a very important piece of time of the nature.
The work of making dissapear distractions were also very well done.
Congratulations.   Posted: 11/26/2019 02:10:39
 
Thank you so much Salvador. Well, it's a team of 5-6 of us go in search of subjects (for safety reasons) and sometimes I get lucky to spot and sometimes others :-)   Posted: 11/26/2019 02:27:56