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Flabellina spec.

I love nudibranchs. Nice capture. I like the portrait orientation a lot, not very many folks use it well.

Cheers

BVA

Hi Bill

 

Yes i like the head on pictures also. They are always a good catch i think. Thx for the critique

 

Grtz. Richard

 

Richard -

 

Interesting capture; nice angle with the nudibrach crawling down into the frame. A couple of things would improve the pic: first of all, go into Photoshop and remove the four brown specs in the upper left hand and left side areas of the photo; they are dirt on your CCD. I have had loads of problems with this on my camera (a D100), but the manager at the Ritz camera where I bought my D100 did quick clean ups for me (she was a Nikon expert). At one time I had over 17 of these spots, some very faint, some really ugly, and I was far from shore! I actually had theirs positions on the images mostly memorized! When you get tired of the increasingly extensive post-shot clean-up, have your CCD cleaned. I've had a maintenance contract for 5 years and my camera has gone back usually twice a year for cleaning - you can imagine the environment it's enjoyed aboard a sailboat and underwater in a housing. I did finally get brave enough to set a time exposure and use a bulb to blow some dirt out myself while the shutter was open... with partial success.

 

Another option that would remove the left-most specs , and IMHO, improve the shot, would be to crop the left side of the photo just to the right of the big dirt spot in the upper left corner. I would also crop the bottom of the photo at about the base of the white coral on the right. All of the "stuff" in those areas is colored blur that adds nothing to y our composition. Cropping would really highlight your nudibrach.

 

The other thing I would do would be to play a little in curves and color saturation to bring out the colors. Your flash was a little hot (too close or angled a little too much toward the subject) or your aperture was too open for the macro shot. As a result the color and pattern detail has been lost at the base of the fringe-like cerata along the sides. The good news is that the color and detail that is there can be brought; the bad news is that's what's missing cannot be recreated, so bracket your exposures. It's better to shoot a little under-exposed than over-exposed. If you underexpose, detail will be there. And remember, things look 30% larger and closer UW than they really are, and that affects how you angle your strobe. (Notice how the upper right is perfectly exposed).

Hello Sandra

 

Thx for the advice. Have been looking at PS again. Have a look on the attachment

Regards Richard

Very nice nudi, very difidcult to capture well. He/She moves a lot with a litle current. You shot has a very good sharpness. Weel done Richard. Best regards from Galicia (Spain)

Richard-

 

Nicely done - I like the revised copy much better than the original - no surprise there since the suggestions were mine; I better like it. : ) I personally find the photo much improved; now the nudibrach completely dominates, as it should, and the detail is clearer. I am not a fan of doing a lot of cropping, but there are times when it really makes the difference between a good photo and a superior one.