What’s wrong with this picture?

Even though this image of a namaqua chameleon I photographed in Namibia shows a natural background indicative of this reptile’s environment, there are three things about this image I don’t like. First, the background is, indeed, very busy. It competes for attention with the subject, and that’s not how a successful image is supposed to work.

Second, the downward angle of the camera isn’t ideal, especially for small animals. Sometimes there’s no choice, but I still don’t like it. Much better in my opinion, would have been an eye-level perspetive.

And third, the vegetation in the lower right corner is out of focus, and I find that to be visually annoying. Blurred foregrounds are usually distracting. At times there is simply no way of avoiding them, but being aware of this issue is the first step in avoiding them by changing the shooting position, using a smaller lens aperture, moving back from the subject, or using a wider angle lens.

This is the same species, although it’s a different individual. Here you can see how effective the unobtrusive, clean background is. This is still a natural environment, but now the background is complimentary instead of distracting.

My angle of view in this shot is much lower, almost eye-to-eye, and that makes for a much more compelling, intimate portrait. I really should have gotten even lower, but still, this angle makes a more engaging image than the comparison on the previous page.

And finally, there are no elements in the immediate foreground that are out of focus except a few grains of sand in the lower left corner. That’s so minor it doesn’t bother me although, in an ideal world, I’d clone some of the sharp sand over the slightly blurred portion of the foreground.

Both images have enough depth of field so the animals are sharp from their heads to the rear portions of their bodies. That was important. §