Wikipedia:Picture peer review/Chinese box turtle

Chinese box turtle[edit]

The Chinese box turtle has a highly domed dark brown shell with a yellow stripe on the vertebral keel.

This picture was a bit of a point and shoot; I was writing the article yesterday and wanted a picture to go along. It's been raining like crazy, so the lighting (from a window) was white-ish along with the yellow of indoor lighting... Also, the camera is less than ideal, I do have others, but I'd like suggestions on how to make the image better. Right now it illustrates the article wonderfully (being the only image), but I want an image that is more wonderful. Is the bark good enough, or is grass/dirt better? Is the lighting poor/how can I improve it? My turtle also unfortunately has some scabbing around her face, hiding the striking colors; should I wait a few months until that clears up and then give it another go? (That's also why I tried to make the shell more prominent, with the head out of focus.) I've got two digital cameras, both of less than decent quality, and an SLR (Canon AE-1 program), but no macro lens.

Nominate and comments please. - Keitei (talk) 18:08, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Comments:

Comment it's slightly cropped at the back (not much, I know). Also I find the head difficult to distinguish from the background, so maybe something other than bark would be better, grass sounds good. I think a view from more towards to the front might be better, giving more of a view of the head, while still showing as much as possible of the stripe at the top. Regards, MartinRe 18:24, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Suggestion Use grass, or whatever is most natural for the animal (and hopefully contrasts with its body). Get the camera really low, eye level would be great. Aim for the head, to give it real character. Make sure nothing is chopped out. Make sure you don't get any sky in the background as it will be washed out. Make sure the eye is in sharp focus. Don't use flash unless absolutely necessary, and if you have to, stay well back to avoid too much reflection - consider setting up lights instead. With such a low camera angle, consider the background you'll place behind it - make it natural for the animal. You almost certainly don't need a macro lens to get a decent shot - it's not an insect after all :) Stevage 21:48, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

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