Yellow-Bellied Marmot, a photo from Washington, West

Photographer's Note

This is not the usual sort of image that I post but I thought I should experiment. I took this at Palouse falls where many Yellow-bellied marmots scurried around on the rocks. The leader of our Photoventures trip (photoventures.net) lent me one of his rather smart looking long lenses which I used on his tripod. Not sure which lens but this was taken at focal length 400mm. I also cropped the image a lot.

Yellow-bellied marmots weigh up to 5 kg and are found in the western USA and south-west Canada. The Palouse Falls are found in south-west Washington state and the state park protects this unique area. I will post a photo of the area soon.

snunney, tyro, cornejo, worldcitizen, janjan1897, Royaldevon, adores, siudzi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

snunney (130967) 2015-02-02 3:38

Hello Ann,
A superb close-up on this cheeky chappy. Pin sharp focus with excellent rendering of the colours and detail in the coat. Fine framing as well.

tyro (30513) 2015-02-02 4:21

Hello Ann,

You have written an interesting note which, together with this splendid photograph, simply goes to prove that, if you're a good photographer, you can pretty much turn your hand to shooting just about anything, even when using some unfamiliar equipment!

This is a lovely portrait of this little creature and you've certainly achieved good eye contact here too. The light, colours, details and sharpness are exquisite and you must have been very proud of yourself getting this shot. And the quality is even more remarkable considering that, as you say, you cropped this from a larger image. Even at its "proper" uploaded size of 1300 pixels in width it is superb!

Fabulous!

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. I wonder how this would get on in a nature competition at your club? What vexes me constantly when I hear judges commenting upon nature shots is that, particularly in the case of photographs of birds, they demand that you should be able to see the creature in its entirety - legs, feet, wings, tail - the lot. But think of the sort of photographs you might wish to take of another human being: fair enough, if you're photographing someone, say, playing football, you might want to include all of their limbs but very many of the portraits we take of people might just be of their head and shoulders and no-one complains about that.

dkmurphys (79209) 2015-02-02 5:29

Hi Ann,
Funny portrait! I like this high quality wildlife scene. Good work!

Daniel

emilbo (22616) 2015-02-02 6:24

Bonjour Ann,
Aujourd'hui c'est la journée de la marmotte chez nous. On a dit à la TV qu'elle était sortie et qu'elle avait vu son ombre, ce qui veut dire que nous aurons une semaine d'hiver de plus. Pour ma part, je n'y crois rien, ce sont des histoire de ma grand-mère. Excellent portrait et bons détails.
Amicalement,
Emilius

holmertz (103510) 2015-02-02 7:30

Hello Ann,
This is a very nice "portrait" with perfect sharpness and beautifully matching colours. The marmot's head is placed exactly one third from the side, giving the photo a fine balance.
I think all photographers should step out of their well known box now and then and try something different. Some people tend to show virtually the same photo over and over. It gets a bit boring after a while.
Kind regards,
Gert

cornejo (61504) 2015-02-02 8:47

Hi Ann, very good picture of this funny marmot, very well captured in this interesting image with good sharpness, good light, color and quality. Great job well done, congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this interesting work.

Good night and happy start to the week.
Warm greetings from southern Spain.
Angel.

jean113 (28219) 2015-02-02 9:07

Hello Ann, a beautiful close up of the inquisitive marmot; obviously looking and listening!
I love the fact that we can see the light reflected in its eyes.
Super sharp, well done.
Regards Jean.

worldcitizen (16226) 2015-02-02 9:57

Hello Ann,
This marmot is adorable. I especially like his little teeth that are peaking out from under his cute nose. :-) This is a great portrait, with excellent sharpness and framing, and a lovely neutral background.

janjan1897 (2301) 2015-02-02 10:16

Hello Ann,
I've only seen this fascinating animal once in the Alps and from a far distance. This is a superb close-up, very sharp and clear, with nice soft light and plenty of details in the fur to appreciate. The frontal POV is great and the features are well seen against the rocks in a fine composition. It is as if this marmot was posing specially for your lens. Very attractive framing and I like the blurry background that matches the overall tonalities of the picture and makes the subject nicely stand out. A great shot presented in a delightful manner.
Have a nice day.
Jean

Royaldevon (86318) 2015-02-02 10:43

Hello Ann,

I have never heard of a yellow-bellied marmot, before, but I was most interested to learn about them and to see this one, in particular!
You may have been using loaned equipment and cropped the shot, but the result is of a high quality, the facial details of the animal really sharp against the unobtrusive b/g. You have managed good catchlight in its eyes, too.

Kind regards,
Bev :-)

kasianowak (17676) 2015-02-02 10:47

Hi Ann
Very elegant portrait, well composed (or as you say, cropped) according to the rule of thirds and with a bit of the animal's environment included in the frame.
Greetings from Slovenia. :-)
Kasia

unclehotshot (4004) 2015-02-02 12:33

Hi Ann
A portrait! Top shot with sharpness and colors.
Good cropping and nice with narrow DoF.
Eye contact is alpha omega in shots like this. I believe she is wishing you'd go away, Ann. Some models don't want to cooperate.
Cheers Frank

lousat (139890) 2015-02-02 14:46

Hi Ann,great shot,perfect for treknature too..hehehe..remind me the movie talking about the marmot day in USA,typical of this month,a fantastic portrait made in a top quality of sharpness and colors despite the distance,i like it! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

jjcordier (79299) 2015-02-02 22:46

Ann
Tu as exploité au mieux ce gros téléobjectif que l'on t'a prêté pour réussir ce saisissant portrait de marmotte.
Amicalement
JJ

Cricri (176) 2015-02-03 13:46

Hi Ann
Oh merveilleuse capture, j'aime son regard comme étonnée, la netteté, les couleurs , très beau portrait
Belle soirée
cricri

adores (46979) 2015-02-03 15:07

Hi Ann!
Great portrait, he seems to be looking at you:)!So funny with the two little teeth:)! Well framed, with very good focus!

siudzi (34141) 2015-02-04 12:40

Hi Ann,
What a fantastic capture of this beautiful animal! It has been taken with a superb technique to get such a great composition with a simply perfect quality. Very well done. Like it a lot!
Best,
Gosia

CLODO (45118) 2015-02-05 0:21

Helo Ann

A cheerfull portrait of this marmot, just looking at you (and me!), wel offcentered. I like the big teeth usefull to cut the grass. The long lens added with a wide aperture blurs the backgound, forcing us to concentrate on THE subject
Cheers
CLODO

Silvio1953 (222721) 2015-02-06 12:06

Ciao Anne, great portrait of cute creature, splendid light, superb sharpness, fine details and wonderful natural colors, very well done, my friend, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

Gigidusud (21679) 2015-06-15 14:01

Hello Ann,
Splendid portrait of this beautiful marmot with great neatness and a splendid blurred BG. Incredible expression, I love!
Best regards.
Gigi