Animals - Joao Rechena
I’m coming out
A different turtle, since the shell is pointy. It’s hard to get them to show their full body but after we took this shot she started to “run” away from us :). Used a flash in front of her bouncing to a white piece of paper. Used PS only for the frame. The scientific name is Heosemys spinosa.
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Is it safe ?
Took almost half an hour to get this one, because the little one was frightened by the noise, the smells, and Diogo running through the shop, finally when he put his little nose out, I got it. Then we took several of them, showing the full body, but this one is the “is it safe out there?” one. I had a flash placed in front of him bouncing to a white piece of paper. Used PS to do some sharpening and the frame. The scientific name is Atelerix albiventri.
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Sssssss…
I took this one “fighting with fire” since it is poisonous, it was inside her cage, and I had the window open, and was at 10 to 15 cm from her. Used PS to enhance the snake in the gravel. Some sharpening.
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Can you see me ?
This one was curious to take, since it is the only one I took with a different camera than my 400D, it was taken with my uncle’s Sony Cybershot, I believe it is a DSC-F707. There are no filters, just my two fingers in the front of the flash, it came out with this nice effect. Used PS only for the frame and some sharpening. I had to use the Sony because this chameleon is 3 or 4 cm’s max, it’s from a different species from the ones we usually see. The scientific name is Rhampholeon brevicaudatus.
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Small Clown
This was taken in my home fish thank, it’s a Botia Macarantha. It was taken using Pedro’s 18-200 Tamron at 1 meter from the fish thank using the built in flash. Post processed her with PS, removed some particles from the water, or the glass, and some sharpening, also retouched the colors with the curves tool.
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Diogo’s Favorite
Since every one has posted five photos this week, I had to put six, since this one doesn’t actually count. Diogo was playing with him around the house, when I suddenly remembered, that it is also a animal, there were no rules that said it had to be real ones ;)… Just a joke.
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This assignment was the one that I had more photos to choose. It was a hard task to post those ones.
I have to thank Katy for the patience of helping me with this assignment. Also a very special thanks to my Uncle’s Shop - ArcaZOO - visit their website or the real shop. Most animals posted in my assignment where shot in his shop, which by the way I then noticed the “NO PHOTOS” sign when we where leaving :P.
Nice shots… and not just your’s, since everybody got real pics from natural art and mother nature. I like that…
By the way, my favorite is the Hedgehog and my Sony is quite a 707, it’s a 717. Keep up the good job!
Paulo Monteiro said this on June 18th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
I really liked your photos from this week’s assignment. The only two photos I think could be improved are the one with the snake, and the one with the lizard.
They both suffer a bit from the same problem - because the color of the subject and the background ended up being the same, they look “flat”. And the one with the lizard has a lot of noise (typical of Sony sensors) which also removes even more detail. I’m not saying that these characteristics can’t be used to artistic advantage, because they can, but in the photos in question I don’t think they add any value.
ppinheiro said this on June 18th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
My favorite is the hedgehog photo. Just love the detail and light. The snake and the chameleon photos have the problem Pedro mentioned, but camouflage work that way. In the turtle i didn’t like the power of the flash, too harsh for me, but on the other hand it it may loose some sharpness. The fish… i’me sick of fishes after this assignment! Keep up the good work!
ncorreia said this on June 18th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Good job on another assignment completed!
My comments:
1. Excellent shot! Love the lighting and the colors. Great job!
2. Another excellent shot! You went to an animals shop to take pictures? Oh my… I love the view from the side and the excellent use of a shallow depth of field. What lens, aperture and iso speed did you use?
3. I like the picture but the subject kind of blends in with the background, too much of the same colors; I understand the lighting conditions were harsh but maybe playing with whitebalance could have given a better result?
4. I like the mood created by the reddish tone; I understand in this case the subject is supposed to blend in with the background so there is no margin to improve; only thig is the excessive noise but hey, you said it was a Sony right?
5. A little bit on the soft side but good use of PS to compensate; nice color range.
6. Nice lighting effect and innovative idea for the theme!
MCA said this on June 19th, 2007 at 12:54 am
When you say you used a flash in front bouncing on a sheet of paper, you mean a flash pointing up at the ceiling with a paper on the back of the head to spread the light all over? or you mean a flash pointing directly at the subject with a sheet of paper in front used as a diffuser?
MCA said this on June 19th, 2007 at 12:57 am
Mca, once again, thank you for all your comments. The input is very important for the evolution.
Ok, first about the flash on the second one, I mean that the flash was placed in front of the subject pointing to a blank sheet of paper. You can see an example where http://photoassignment.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/making_off_2.jpg
Imagine the rubber as being the flash facing the white paper and the “brain” the subject, so the flash light bounces back to give that effect.This example photo was taken using my Nokia 6234 so the image is bad.
Continuing to answer to the questions about the second one, Yes, I went to my Uncle’s animal shop to shoot animals
what better place. If you would like to visit, take a look at http://www.arcazoo.com.
The Lens was Pedro’s Tamron AF 18-200mm 3.5-6.3 MACRO Lens. At 1/200 with a aperture of f/6.3, for the flash I’ve used once again my 20€ remote flash triggers.
The others ones, thank you for the comments, I will keep that in mind for the next assignments.
jrechena said this on June 19th, 2007 at 7:27 am