Male Sally Lightfoot

I love the contrast between the crab and the rock. Excellent photo. I'm headed to the Galapagos next May. Hope I can bring home a shot this nice.

What an amazing crab Cam. As in your previous post the plain rock color sets this colorful fellow off very nicely. The exposure is spot on and the composition works. How much cloning did you do here, did you clone out the female or just a few small distractions on the rock? Whatever you did, it was well done I cannot see any cloning artifacts.

Love the colors (especially the purple eyes) and the way the crab stands out against the background. I think the drab background actually helps make the colors of the crab pop. The rock also has a lot of subtle texture to it without being distracting.

I realize this might have been very difficult given the location and the skittish nature of the crabs but I'd really like to see a lower angle (closer to your previous shot but tighter to get more crab and less background). In this image the shell of the crab is very pretty but looking down on its head kind of gives me vertigo. Something more face-on, especially if it allowed for some eye contact would help. That way the viewer will feel like a peer of the crab rather than a seagull hovering over it.

Again, I realize that probably wasn't easy or even possible but something to consider trying if you get a similar opportunity.

I'll take a slightly contrarian view here and say I'm not too upset by cloning unless it's really egregious. Sometimes the story is that nature isn't perfect. Sometimes the story is that crabs are really pretty. If there was something distracting from the beauty of the crab maybe it needed to be "disappeared". It's your image after all. As long as you're not pretending it's something it's not I'm fine with it. In any case I don't see anything here that looks unnatural or that misrepresents the animal or its environment. YMMV of course.

Thanks Guys!
Vincent- I just cloned out some distractions on the rock, like I said, nothing major.
Angela- Have Fun! The galapagos is the most amazing place to photograph!!!!!!
Clinton- I too wish I had gotten a lower angle. Maybe next time!
-Cam

Although a lower perspective would have been incredible I like the view this angle gives of the colorful shell. I like how you have framed him diagonally across the image. I really like it.

Hi Cam,
While I agree that a lower angle would have been cool.....I think this one really showcases all the great colors of the crab very nicely!

The colors are grabbing and it is good to see it closer up. I agree that a more eye level point of view would have made a more powerful impact.

Amazing portrait with excellent colors :)

HI Cam,

Wow, that brightly coloured crab just pops on that neutrally coloured rock! I agree with the idea of that shooting this from a lower angle might have worked well, but often logistics of the shooting situation don't permit capturing shots from all possible angles. I like the positioning of the crab within the frame and the depth of field looks close to optimal.

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad