Reef Bass
colors and textures
He can climb sheer rock walls with the greatest of ease!
Check out the mottling on his body when he reaches out of his shell. I find it interesting that its body would be so brightly colored when it's designed to be tucked into a shell except when swapping homes. Perhaps it's faking a toxic warning to discourage predators from dining on its soft parts while between domiciles?
At the time I took this I had set out to do some lower ISO coral pics. The hermit crawled up to the front asking to have his picture taken and in my haste to reposition the tripod and camera before he moved away, I didn't readjust my settings to accomodate a more active subject, which is why the claws and red and white mouth parts are blurred (shot 1).
Eventually I will remember to check and think about ALL parameters BEFORE clicking the shutter release.
Both shots have some blown areas (over exposed) on the shell.
Focal technique question - Is it ever worthwhile to not focus on eyes when shooting a subject with eyes? There is something very powerful about sharp focus on eyes for human visual perception.
Photo 2 shows the anatomical feature I was describing (mottled body) with greater clarity, but the shot feels less impactful / "good" with the eyes being out of focus.
Perhaps the best thing to do is stop down as much as possible for the greatest depth of field and try to get both the eyes and any other relevant / important features in focus as well? Maybe set the focal plane half way between the eyes and other features and DOF preview to see if both are sharp?
Thanks for your input.
Check out the mottling on his body when he reaches out of his shell. I find it interesting that its body would be so brightly colored when it's designed to be tucked into a shell except when swapping homes. Perhaps it's faking a toxic warning to discourage predators from dining on its soft parts while between domiciles?
At the time I took this I had set out to do some lower ISO coral pics. The hermit crawled up to the front asking to have his picture taken and in my haste to reposition the tripod and camera before he moved away, I didn't readjust my settings to accomodate a more active subject, which is why the claws and red and white mouth parts are blurred (shot 1).
Eventually I will remember to check and think about ALL parameters BEFORE clicking the shutter release.
Both shots have some blown areas (over exposed) on the shell.
Focal technique question - Is it ever worthwhile to not focus on eyes when shooting a subject with eyes? There is something very powerful about sharp focus on eyes for human visual perception.
Photo 2 shows the anatomical feature I was describing (mottled body) with greater clarity, but the shot feels less impactful / "good" with the eyes being out of focus.
Perhaps the best thing to do is stop down as much as possible for the greatest depth of field and try to get both the eyes and any other relevant / important features in focus as well? Maybe set the focal plane half way between the eyes and other features and DOF preview to see if both are sharp?
Thanks for your input.
