Ken Ang  


Dressed for Halloween by Ken Ang

March 2023 - Dressed for Halloween

About the Image(s)

Backstory: Continuing my series shot in an aquarium, captured these two spooky-looking manta rays apparently greeting each other. Your comments and suggestions are very much appreciated.

Equipment: Sony A7RV & Sigma 24 mm Art Lens. Rubber hood was used on lens to minimise reflection off aquarium glass.

Settings : 24mm f1.4. 1/250 ISO 2000

Post-processing: Minimal colour grading on Lightroom


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




Dean Ginther   Dean Ginther
Ken,
Definitely a perspective that is not usually seen. I don't think that all the water under the ray adds much and having the fish to the left truncated is a bit distracting to me. So I would crop in, per attached.   Posted: 03/07/2023 22:14:03
Comment Image



Mervyn Hurwitz   Mervyn Hurwitz
Ken, the colors are great in this aquarium picture. Dean's crop helps to get rid of distractions and focuses our attention on your main subject. The diagonal line of the 2 subjects is really pleasing.   Posted: 03/10/2023 14:41:13



Pierre Williot   Pierre Williot
Another nice aquarium image.
The colors are pleasing and the 2 main rays are sharp.
The 2 main rays are in focus + have different postures + are not overlapping on each other. I completely agree with Dean's crop, but, unfortunately, the tail of the top ray is clipped. This image would have had a much higher impact without this clipping.
  Posted: 03/14/2023 19:42:19



Ken Ang   Ken Ang
Thanks very much @Dean, @Mervyn & @Pierre for the excellent advice and tips. I have lots to learn as Nature is my weakest division, receiving very few awards and acceptances in the international circuits so far. Thanks again guys.   Posted: 03/14/2023 23:25:07



Jacob Wat   Jacob Wat
This is a nice photo but I feel that a tighter crop is needed. The hard part here is that as it's in an aquarium it really blues everything and mutes some of the colors. That's not a problem if your animals don't have a lot of color but it makes it a bit less interesting. I think messing around with the coloring might make the image more engaging. Overall I think it's a nice photo.   Posted: 03/17/2023 10:18:47
Ken Ang   Ken Ang
Thanks very much Jacob for advice. I tried to use negative space to draw attention to the passing rays as well as suggest that they were ghostly apparitions floating in mid air (hence the caption: Dressed for Halloween)

Obviously, this negative space technique doesn't quite work. Will go with the tighter crop as proposed by everyone here. Thanks!   Posted: 03/17/2023 11:14:46



Christine Smith   Christine Smith
The colors are beautiful and I love the perspective. I too think a tighter crop would be more impactful. Very nice!   Posted: 03/17/2023 11:40:46
Ken Ang   Ken Ang
Thanks @Christine for your kind words and reaffirmation. Have a great week ahead.   Posted: 03/22/2023 17:43:36