What’s wrong with this picture?
T
his is really not a bad picture at all. It’s the tail of a chameleon, and the spiral graphic design is pleasing. The dark background seen in the upper and lower left corners means there is nothing in the background that’s distracting. The one thing that bothers me about this picture, however, is very flat lighting. I used a ring flash which is my ideal type of light source for many small amphibians, reptiles, insects, and even flowers. The curled tail is essentially a single plane. The rich texture can be underscored by sidelighting the tail from any angle. The comparison picture on the next page was also done with a ring flash, but in this case I removed the flash from the 50mm macro lens and held it to the side. The power pack of the ring flash was still sitting in the hotshoe. The accordion style cable that connects the flash and the power unit is short, but it’s long 23
