Black Squirrel

Great pov and fine conversion. I'm wondering what it's thinking as it stares into your lens... 

"Strange looking creature.  Only has  fur on it's head." "Does it have any food for me?"  "I wonder what kind of camera that is?"  "Is he using a zoom lens?"  "I wonder what shutter speed, ISO, & f stop he's using."  "Will my picture be on Facebook now?"  Just speculating Rajat. :-)  Thanks for your most welcome visit.  Best, Len.

Excellent close up Len. I like his little mohawk on top. Good detail and tones.

BR,  Holger

Yes, his haircut & overall bushiness speak to having survived a brutally cold winter well.  Don't know how bad things have to get for these little tree rats to have their numbers reduced significantly.  Tough characters! I felt that this one presented best in B&W.  Best, Len.

Hi Len,

  Wonderful close-up with amazing details.  Take care, Patsy

Things that we can all find on a casual morning\afternoon walk. Distance was about 20 feet.  Close to 100% crop.   Thanks for your always welcome visits. Best, Len.

Lovely composition. Sometimes I find myself in a situation where it is better to fire off a couple of shots quickly and not be fiddling with camera controls so that the moment can be seized. I looked at the EXIF data iso 560 1/500s f11. If you had the time and considering the sunny conditions , I might have lowered the ISO to the camera's 'ideal - 200?' and opened the aperture much wider.  Just one opinion. 

All the very best,

Good suggestions.  I agree that lowering the ISO would likely increase the image quality a tad.  I say a 'tad' because, for my eyes, the image quality of the D5100 is quite acceptable even to ISO 800 and even beyond sometimes.  (I rarely, if ever, print to beyond 12"x18)  I was out for a casual walk with the 55-200 kit lens mounted & tried to configure the camera so I could use it almost like a P&S, taking advantage of any scene which happened to confront me even if the sun disappeared.  I wonder if I could have achieved the above DOF with the lens wide open at f5.6?  Whatever, I thank you for the tips.  Perhaps 'just one opinion' but a valued one nonetheless.  Best, Len.

Len - you are welcome.  The ears were soft  and I chalked that up to the squirrel moving its ears.  The top of its head, at least on my monitor, had that TRI-X look and that was partly the reason for suggesting a lower ISO.

Don't get me wrong, this is a fine shot that I wished I had taken.

All the very best,

I'm not sure what optical tricks are being played here.  The bark in front is sharp as is the bushy tail but I agree, the ears are a bit soft.  At 1\500 sec. I wouldn't expect an ear movement would cause unsharpness there but it is indeed soft. Whatever, it's the better of the two shots I got of him so it stays.  :-)  Thanks for the interest & follow up.  Best, Len.