Squirrel!!

[Stina3246]

I work at a theme park where the natural wild life often upstage the actual performers. This is Humphrey the Squirrel. He was out and had a que line of his own with people waiting to take there picture with him. I was there doing a special meet and great for a guest with Marilyn monroe and Luicille Ball who had a shorter que line then Humphrey so I decided to snap this shot. This is EXACTLY how the shot was taken. No edits or crops. Unfortunatley he wouldn't stand still and I missed his tail.
What do you think? Composition, Color, Cropping etc? I don't have all the specs. It was taken with a Nikon D50 with an 28-80 Lens completely on auto. I thing ISO was at 200. As you see, his left eye is in focus and not his right. I seem to be having a HUGE problem with this. No matter what I set the focus setting on, it invariably chooses the wrong spot. This was on "centered" I don't know what all the setting mean though.


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[Tomasmuts]

I think the first step of making a better photo, is knowing your camera. Look trough your manual and take a good look at what everything on your camera means.
Also, the background is very distracting, it would have been better if you took the shot from somewhere else where you wouldn't see that bench and the flowers.
The composition could have been better if you had captured the tail.
As you have said in your post, you work at an themepark with natural life, I think the best thing to do is try making a photograph of the squirrel again, but try to look for a background that isn't too distracting.
Goodluck!

[Stina3246]

Originally Posted by Tomasmuts

I think the first step of making a better photo, is knowing your camera. Look trough your manual and take a good look at what everything on your camera means.
Also, the background is very distracting, it would have been better if you took the shot from somewhere else where you wouldn't see that bench and the flowers.
The composition could have been better if you had captured the tail.
As you have said in your post, you work at an themepark with natural life, I think the best thing to do is try making a photograph of the squirrel again, but try to look for a background that isn't too distracting.
Goodluck!

Thanks, I'm still reading my manual but unfortunately much of it is vague. As far a shooting with a better background....that's up to him not me. He's a wild squirrel and he goes where he wants, But I'll make the suggestion to him, LOL....
I actually had the whole squirrel (including the tail) in the frame but just as i snapped the shot he jumped from the planter to the branch and I had no time to readjust.

[neoHUNTER]

Stina, try to do it again and this time put your camera to aperture priority, set to f/3.5- f/4 and it will automatically adjust your shutter speed and do some shooting on the shade, a good time is usually afternoon when the sun goes down. Goodluck.

[Stina3246]

Originally Posted by neoHUNTER

Stina, try to do it again and this time put your camera to aperture priority, set to f/3.5- f/4 and it will automatically adjust your shutter speed and do some shooting on the shade, a good time is usually afternoon when the sun goes down. Goodluck.

THANKS!!
I'm taking may camera with me all day tomorrow and I'm gonna try just that!