New Joiners - Animals #501

Personally, I'm not a fan of shooting captive or dead insects - the only way to achieve high magnification, stacked images like this. However, this is an amazing photo - incredible detail, colour and sharpness, which highlights the beetle's beauty and design. A challenging image to achieve from a technical perspective, and a very eye-catching shot.

Capturing an element of bird behaviour is rarely easy - opportunities are often fleeting and good anticipation and reactions are required. The photographer has done well to capture these birds mating. Shots like this often grab the viewer's attention more than a standard portrait is able to do. Well done.

I do like the simplicity of silhouettes. The chimney and aerial provide context and tell a story of nature adapting to urban living. The pastel sky provides colour impact and overall I think this is a well captured and different nature shot.

It is often challenging shooting toward the light, but results can be interesting and dramatic. I love the water glistening behind these three pelicans. This is a good image, but could have been improved by the photographer taking a small step to their right in order to exclude the distracting trees and land in the top right. The slight change of shooting position would have also created separation between the middle bird and the one on the right.

The light will make or break your wildlife images. In this instance, the harsh, mid day light is ugly and too contrasty. Ideally, only shoot when the sun is lower in the sky and the light is soft and warm. Or wait for cloud to diffuse the sun and reduce contrast and ugly shadows.

I'm assuming this is a captive subject, but - even if it is - it is still well captured. The eye is bitingly sharp and then, thanks to the shallow depth of field, the reptile and its background drifts attractively out of focus. A well captured and nicely framed shot of a challenging subject.

The golden reflections and ripples provide a great backdrop to these young ducks. Unfortunately, the image is just not sharp enough to make my Top Ten. The focus is on the nearest duck, but at no point is the subject bitingly sharp. Therefore, the lack of critical sharpness is not a focusing issue, but the result of subject/camera motion. The shutter speed used (1/50sec) is not fast enough - a higher ISO or larger aperture was required to generate a usable shutter.

Flight shots are rarely easy - you have to track the subject's movement, focus precisely, work quickly and employ a fast shutter. Be prepared to take a big sequence of shots to get just the result you wanted. This a great effort - with the light highlighting the egret's wings.

This is so nearly a top shot. Unfortunately, the bees head and eyes and less sharp than its body and tail. And the shutter speed still isn't quite fast enough to record enough definition in the wings - they are so blurred, they almost vanish into the background. This is an exceptionally difficult subject, though, so this remains a very good attempt. The light, background and framing are good. Do try again...

Thee is lovely eye contact with this shot, and the slight tilt of the head makes the fox look inquisitive. A slightly lower viewpoint might have created a more intimate and natural result, but this remains a very sweet fox portrait.

This is a very sweet and natural looking image. Voles are small, secretive and challenging subjects, so credit to the photographer for capturing this shot. Compositionally, I would prefer the subject to be less central - maybe a slightly tighter crop, losing a little from the left and top, would create a stronger frame.

Sometimes a photo doesn't need to be 'technically' perfect to succeed. Animal photographer need to be able to convey their subject's character - and this shot does exactly this. This is such a heartwarming image - you can see the happiness and love in this dog's eyes. Any dog lover will like this shot...

This is a really nicely captured image. The combination of low shooting angle, telephoto lens and large aperture has allowed the photographer to blur the falcon's surroundings and direct the viewer's eye effectively to the subject. A simple, but striking portrait - well done.

I really like the tones in this shot - very subdued and desaturated. Simplicity often works best and this is a simple shot, with the eye-level viewpoint and shallow depth of field focusing attention onto the animal. The pose, composition and processing all combine well to create a very good image of an easily overlooked subject. Well done.

This is a decent shot, but sadly the distracting branch cutting across the frame in-front of the hawk's body and beak effectively spoils the image. Sometimes it is possible to find a different, clearer shooting angle - or the subject might adjust its position. If not, it is a matter of waiting for a different opportunity to achieve a clean shot.