Diane Perry
January 2025 - Lace Monitor
Original
About the Image(s)
This month I'm featuring a lace monitor otherwise known as a goanna. These lizards constantly raid any unguarded food supplies & scramble up trees quickly & noisily. This one had just startled me while out hiking.
Cannon 5D Mk111
24-70mm lens
70mm focal length
Shutter speed 1/500
Aperture F4
ISO 1000
12 comments posted
Diane,
The subject is clear and detailed and I like the profile view. That's looks like a pretty large lizard. Are you located in FL?
I actually prefer the original a bit more. Although the background is a bit busy in the original, it is not as bright as the edited version. Also, truncating the tail in the edited version leaves me wondering (about the tail). Posted: 01/03/2025 01:34:05
The subject is clear and detailed and I like the profile view. That's looks like a pretty large lizard. Are you located in FL?
I actually prefer the original a bit more. Although the background is a bit busy in the original, it is not as bright as the edited version. Also, truncating the tail in the edited version leaves me wondering (about the tail). Posted: 01/03/2025 01:34:05
I'm in NSW Australia but I guess this type of lizard is found in many places. Very good point about the tail which seems to feature in other comments too.
The cropping debate is also good. I enjoy seeing other people's perspectives & working of the images. Posted: 01/11/2025 01:46:00
The cropping debate is also good. I enjoy seeing other people's perspectives & working of the images. Posted: 01/11/2025 01:46:00
Hi Diane, Nice capture of this big lizard.
Although this is a very tall image, I would have preferred the tail not to be truncated. It is a difficult situation to deal with when the subject and the tree are very similar in color and the light behind the subject is so bright.
I took the liberty of working on your original image (decreasing highlights, whites, shadows, and mid-tones). Here is my result with a similar cropping:
Posted: 01/05/2025 15:58:38
Although this is a very tall image, I would have preferred the tail not to be truncated. It is a difficult situation to deal with when the subject and the tree are very similar in color and the light behind the subject is so bright.
I took the liberty of working on your original image (decreasing highlights, whites, shadows, and mid-tones). Here is my result with a similar cropping:
Posted: 01/05/2025 15:58:38
Yes I do like this. I think I may have a tendency towards brightening things so need to consider other options Posted: 01/11/2025 01:47:23
I also tried a larger cropping (a bit more conventional cropping) with this result.
On difficult subjects, such as this one, I like to make several copies of the original and try different crops. I then try to find which one I like best - not always easy. Posted: 01/05/2025 16:06:14
On difficult subjects, such as this one, I like to make several copies of the original and try different crops. I then try to find which one I like best - not always easy. Posted: 01/05/2025 16:06:14
You're giving me food for thought. Posted: 01/11/2025 01:48:08
The lizard is sharp and the profile view is the best you can get under the circumstances. These are such difficult subjects in terms of composition. Either your frame is elongated as Pierre did or you get a lot of extraneous elements in the frame. The other option would be to crop very tight on its face and upper body (longer lens or in software). Posted: 01/05/2025 17:01:54
I have just got myself a Sigma 150-600mm lens & have taken it for a couple of practice shoots. Posted: 01/11/2025 01:49:14
Animals (or birds) with long tails are always a challenge to know where to crop. Keeping the tail adds too much unwanted and uninteresting background. I think I would go with Jas's suggestion of a tighter crop maybe just below the front legs.
This adds emphasis to the face and eye which is in perfect focus. Posted: 01/08/2025 21:00:31
This adds emphasis to the face and eye which is in perfect focus. Posted: 01/08/2025 21:00:31
I will give this a go Posted: 01/11/2025 01:50:49
Yes, this is a difficult one to crop. My first impression was to look for the tail, but I see that problem. If this guy was moving quickly, you did a great job to get it in such good focus. Posted: 01/16/2025 01:15:41
I agree with everyone else that this is a difficult crop. I like the idea of cropping the face. Beyond that I think you did this very well. You greatly improved the base image. Posted: 01/16/2025 04:15:17