Red Panda - for criticism

[ananda]

This is shot at a nature preserve park in the town of Gangtok, state of Sikkim in India. The red panda is the state animal of Sikkim. Found in the forests in the slopes of the Himalayas, they are extremely elusive in the wild. Unfortunately this gorgeous species has become vulnerable to extinction due to poaching and habitat loss due to deforestation and human encroachment.

This was one of my first attempts at capturing an animal. Let me know your thoughts, and criticisms :)

[Mad Aussie]

This is a lovely shot. What a wonderful habitat the panda has to live in considering he is a captive.

I got some nice shots of Red Panda's at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo recently but I must say this panda of yours has a nicer looking place to live.

Critique wise ... well it appears the panda could be a bit sharper. He looks a little soft around his face.

The flowers in the foreground appear to be slightlky over-exposed also, perhaps a burn could help there.

I really, REALLY like the composition in this photo though! By placing the panda where you have we can browse in from of him to see his surroundings.

[Marko]

Totally agree with MA.
Lovely comp here but you missed the focus so the panda is soft and some of the foreground shrubbery is sharp. As a general rule, Always try hard to focus on the eye closest to the camera. In addition the colours here seem a bit too saturated overall to my eye with possibly a bluish cast. Still all that said - this is a very cute shot. Hope that helps - Marko

[Bambi]

I really like this picture. the composition is wonderful and I love the pop of the red panda in the green. I agree with the sharpness comments and the over saturation.

good work!

[Mad Aussie]

I'm not certain there is much colour saturation ... those panda's really are that colour! You see that by my shots of a red panda here ... http://www.photography.ca/Forums/f20/what-am-i-3383.html

The greens are bright though ... possibly due to a damp, overcast day?? And I do see a blue cast in the greens and on the panda's black areas so a little toning down of the blues might help somewhat.

[Jason]

I wonder how cropping out a portion of the right side of the frame would look? Maybe turn it into more of a vertical shot. There's a lot of empty space in the right hand corner, it doesn't necessarily look bad, but it might be a tighter shot cropped. Very cute little guy!

[ananda]

thanks everyone for the feedback!

MA, Marko - thanks for pointing out the focus issue. Indeed that seems to be the problem.

I did bump up the saturation a bit, but not that much. The foliage was indeed lush green after a spell of rain. I deliberately kept some space on the right to keep a little of 'air' in the shot, and not make it tight - it seems there are opinions both for and against that. Good to hear :)

[jlabel]

Lovely picture I liked it great contrast