Red Squirrel with black tail, descending vertically

Sam, I think your idea for this image may have been a good one.  But it misses the mark, in my opinion.  First, the image as a whole seems out of focus and blurry.  Secondly, there is what I take to be a small branch that is a major distraction, since it covers parts of the tree as well as the squirrel.  

I hope you take my comments to be constructive.  Since I have seen other images of yours, this one is not representative of your body of work.

Michael,

I very much appreciate your critique & totally agree with all the points you mention.

This kind of shot was for me an experiment to see what the influence is of branches in front of the subject, the squirrel, when I try to shoot it with a telelens through the tangled lower, thin branches of a tree.

Well, these thin branches cause the blurriness you rightly deplore. They are not in focus but there as a blur.

Sometimes I put also (very) bad photos on show, for various reasons.

I'm always amazed how very few serious critiques are delivered on such shots.

Anyway, you're one of the members telling me: This is no good! Now you know why I did it ;-

Thanks very much again!

cheers

Sam

Michael,

another reason 'why I did it' is that I always prefer to show/shoot animals in their natural habitat & not isolated as in a zoo or studio shot.

it always takes a bit of experimenting to get the feel of what is feasible & what not.

nature usually is a messy environment & not an idealised photographer's paradise ;-)

cheers

Sam