New Joiners - Animals #517

At first glance, this is a lovely shot - well composed and nicely timed, with water running off the juvenile swan's beak. But on closer inspection, it just isn't sharp enough sadly, and some of the highlight detail is lost due to overexposure. A higher ISO to generate a faster shutter speed would have helped I suspect, plus a little negative exposure compensation.

Bees are such tricky insects to shoot - fast and unpredictable. Unfortunately, the timing isn't quite right in this instance with the bee partially out of frame. The subject is not sharp enough either. Next time, select your camera's continuous burst mode and shoot a sequence of shots. Doing so will increase the probability of capturing a sharp shot of the bee in flight whilst also capturing it in good position within the frame.

Still reflective water helps produce nature images with lovely symmetry. I think this is a very lovely shot - simple, but striking. The bird's white plumage looks a little bright in my opinion, though. If the highlights aren't actually clipped, I would look to reduce their brightness in processing.

Jumping spiders have such impressive eyes. Therefore, this head-on viewpoint really suits the subject and generates impact. In my view, the image is a little on the dark side, though - I would lift exposure ever so slightly. I would also crop the image in order to exclude the vegetation creeping into shot toward the bottom left corner of the frame.

Hedgehogs are such photogenic animals and this is a really nice frame-filling portrait. The low, eye-level viewpoint creates a natural and appealing perspective. Focus is sharply on the nearest eye and the photographer has captured lovely detail in the hair and spines on its face.

The photographer has done really well here to capture a chamois cleanly framed by trees and vegetation. This is a really natural, organic looking shot and, with the animal looking directly into the camera, the photo really grabs attention. A well captured shot in a challenging environment. Well done.

This is a very striking lion portrait, superbly captured in clearly challenging light. Shooting nature in low-light is often only possible by selecting a large aperture and high ISO. The photographer has set-up their camera correctly and produced an image with lovely mood. The dark, inky backdrop helps highlight the animal's outline and the detail in its mane and fur.

The black and white treatment really suits this shot, simplifying the image and neatly placing emphasis on the lemur's profile and fur. The high contrast processing works well in my view and, although the file is a little noisy, the photo is impactful and successful.

Lots to like about this butterfly close-up. That lovely diffused background, generated by using a large aperture, really helps the subject 'pop' from its surroundings. Focusing is good, with the majority of the insect in sharp focus. I would be tempted to tighten the composition slightly to exclude the slightly distracting out of focus stem from the bottom right corner.

This is a well-captured shot of a very tiny and fast moving subject. However, the image quality looks quite poor. I would guess the original photo has been cropped quite substantially, and discarding too many pixels degrades file quality. Avoid cropping photos too aggressively - try to get things right in-camera as far as possible.

This is a very nicely captured dog portrait. The shallow depth of field helps the animal 'pop' from its background and the out of focus vegetation provides an effective frame for the subject. The image boasts strong eye contact and depth. Nicely done!

It is always good to see photographers being creative with perspective and experimenting with different shooting angles. This is a fun shot, with the low, unconventional viewpoint producing a quirky, eye-catching result. The sky creates a colourful backdrop. Unfortunately, the photo lacks critical sharpness.

This is a really fun shot! The kangaroo looks genuinely coy and guilty, and its upright pose and expression can't help but make you smile. The vertical composition works well, as does placing the subject left of centre looking into the negative space. A humorous photo...

This is a lovely subject and almost a very good close-up, but unfortunately the butterfly isn't quite sharp enough - with both its head and wings drifting out of focus. Depth of field is very shallow at this level of magnification, so it is important to keep the camera perfectly parallel to the subject to place as much of it as possible within the plane of focus.

I like nature images where the photographer has used out of focus vegetation to 'frame' their subject. Doing so can help create an enhanced sense of depth and interest. In this instance, the vines create an effective window. A slightly tighter crop would remove some of the distractions at the top of the frame.