Cocoa this Evening

Been out with my new lense, its fantastic finally I can get pics of Cocoa that aren't totally blown out.

Congrats on the new lens

Now, down to business...

Personally I think the photo would have benefitted from taking the shot lower, and perhaps with more even light - not sure if it is my monitor (as it's new) but the back seems better lit than the head? (prob cos the bushes are blocking the light?)

I would have also tried going a little wider on the lens to give it more of an airy feel.

Hope that helps!

Hey thats great thanks Azz. I'll take another similar shot tomorrow and try and put your tips to use. Oh , except Cocoa's back is lighter than his head due to his 'rust' coloured coat or whateveritis (his head is pure black). Try and overcome that too tho'.
Ooh I like this new C+C request thingy. In fact I love the whole new look. Well done.

Argh i just typed up a critique and its vanished!!

Ok start again! LOL

Azz is right in saying that the shot needs to be lower. Small animals benefit from photographs being taken at their level and also a little wider with the framing. This allows the viewer to see the bunny in relation to his surroundings and gives a better feeling of perspective.

Also be aware of what is surrounding your subject. Your focal point on living things is almoast always the face - more particually, the eyes. You have composed your shot in such a way, your focal point is Cocoas body and his face is covered by the grass. Shift your angle slightly so his face is more towards the camera - A good tip for this is to see one whole eye, one partical eye.

Your shot is underexposed by a couple of stops. Your DoF is quite large, narrow it down by adjusting your F-Stops (the lower the number the more background blur you will get) and this will allow you to isolate Cocoa more and also get some more light onto your sensor. If your feeling adventurous, change your metering mode to "spot" and increase your exposure compensation to allow for te fact your subject is darker than the background.

HTH

Cocoa is gorgeous if that had been me, I'd have cropped it a bit differently, maybe with a bit more in front of his nose, so it looks as if he's looking at something, and maybe a bit more above him as well, not much, just a bit, hope that makes sense

Thanks both of you. I'll take that all on board and maybe report back with another image? Oh, thanks for the explanations as well

Look forward to seeing round two! And KK said what I wanted to just much better

This isn't my proper reply, I just couldn't resist having a go at what you guys suggested. I just spent about 15 mins taking more photos of Cocoa, but he was making those grunty noises and I remembered about him being quite nocturnal (explains why he was looking to escape ) arr rambled a bit there sorry! Anyway here's the new and hopefully improved pic.

Is it better?

Yeah! you got it girl! Much better!

Yeah much better! Go a little lower and a little wider next time