I Only Have Eyes (4 of them) For You.

[FocalFrenzy]

This little guy was hard to get in focus. For about 5mm in diameter, he could really move. This was the only shot, out of 10 taken, that was decently in focus. My question is more concerned with the exposure level, than the focus. Is it too bright? He was sitting in the shade between 2 deck boards, so I had to use the flash. I reduced the EV to -7/10, and used a diffuser. Even with these adjustments made, it still looks blown out in the bottom left section. Can I fix this in post? (I use GIMP) I would also like to hear any comments about composition. I like the diagonal lines, but this perspective may not appeal to everyone. Any tips or pointers will be appreciated.


Camera: Sony DSC-H1
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 62.4 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Exposure Bias: -7/10 EV
Flash: Flash fired
Orientation: Horizontal (normal)
Date and Time: 2008:07:04 11:54:54
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Date and Time (Original): 2008:06:29 14:29:59

[windrider86]

there is just too much space around spidy. it overwhelms the lil guy

[FocalFrenzy]

Windrider, is this crop better? I thought that since he was so small in the original, that if I cropped it too much, it would be pixelated. I guess I was wrong (again, some more, and often). LOL

[nutmeg]

I will say that I DO like the diagonal lines as well. And i do like the cropped in second picture better.
You are correct in that it is a little over exposed. I would start cutting out the major elements onto seperate layers. Exspecially the bottom peice of wood. Then you can start messing with the brightness/contrast/levels (sorry i only kinow the photoshop terms hehe) and exposures of each area to get a balance that you like.

Otherwise if you bring down the exposure on the whole image you will darken the little spider too much and lose him in the shot.

Its a GREAT shot by the way. He has such a big head

[amarques]

The second crop is much better and, as mentioned, the bottom is way over exposed.
I haven't tried GIMP (although I've heard it's a nice piece of software). In PhotoShop (or in the new Lightroom) I'd just use masks to selectively control the exposure. I'm assuming you can do the same in GIMP, but not sure.
The diagonal lines are, for me, one of the best things in this photo.