Hello from the Critique Club!
I'm just starting out, so bear with me :)
Initial Thoughts
A nice, different shot of a monkey. Generally you see them just sitting around, so I liked that this one was in action. That she's carrying her baby is a nice touch as well. At the same time, I wasn't really drawn into the photograph all that strongly either, on first view.
Compostion / Content
Nothing really wrong with the composition here, although I wonder if a centering would have been stronger. (Sometimes it can work), or perhaps more of a view of where she's going along the rope. The content is also good. You've got a nice shot of an animal in motion, concentrating on getting there. A refreshing change from many animal shots where they are just sitting around.
Background
The background is really good. Nicely OOF, and complements the subject well, as it gives you a feeling of "Naturalness" and helps off-set the rope. One can imagine that the rope is actually from a rope bridge somewhere in the jungle.
Camera Work - Technical
Good focus, great DOF. Your exposure seems to be a little dark, and could have benefitted from maybe even one stop down to an f4, or perhaps even a slightly slower shutter speed. (You can probably drop to 250 or so without losing much stop motion). Experimentation, of course, is the key. A better exposure would have helped the monkey stand out a lot better against the background.
Digital Processing
You didn't leave any comments to what kind of processing you did, so I can only really guess. This shot doesn't look like there was a heck of a lot done to it. My suggestions would have been to have increased the contrast/brightness a bit in order to help the exposure problems I mentioned, along with working on curves, and/or levels.
Fits the Challenge
In a Free Study, everything fits the challenge.
My Opinion on the Photo
I liked this photo, but as I said, the exposure left it a little hard to see, with a little too much blend into the background. I loved the change of pace on the animal in motion. There's probably just not enough in this photograph, however, to set it *really* apart from a strong field like one sees in a Free Study. It's still a wonderful entry, and good luck in the future.
Good capture, good detail, effective compositionally. I like the posed feeling here (obviously it isn't actually posed, but it has that feeling). You could absolutely sell this to whatever zoo you took it in, I would think. Not sure why I don't rate it as a top shot - it's obviously done with great care, patience, expertise, and the rest - I guess I'll just have to say I don't like it much, despite appreciating all that ... sorry. 6
I love the depth of field... the sharpness of the monkey against a beautifully blurred background. The exposure and colors are superb. The one recommendation I would make (and this might not have been possible) is that animals, like people, are more interesting when you can see their faces. You've got a profile here and that's great... had she turned just a little more towards the camera, enough to really see the eyes, I think it would have been perfect. Great job! I hope you do well in the challenge!
Good lighting, sharpness, depth of field, and composition. The details in the fur and hands are great and I love the baby tail curled around the adult's tail. The only thing I can see to improve the shot is to be able to see more of the baby's head.
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