Monterey Shrimp

I took this image last week at Pt. Lobos but something about it bothers me. Maybe it is the color balance, or perhaps the rocks in the foreground. Anyway, I thought I would throw it out there and find out what everyone else thinks. BTW, I could use some help on the species identification.

I took this image last week at Pt. Lobos but something about it bothers me. Maybe it is the color balance, or perhaps the rocks in the foreground. Anyway, I thought I would throw it out there and find out what everyone else thinks. BTW, I could use some help on the species identification.

Here's one of my recent shots of a similar subject.

My shot looked a great deal like your shot before adjustment. I used DDP. WB set to 6000K and saturation set to 3.

For me, the real issue is the composiion, not the colours.

Your shrimp is too near the bottom of the frame, with a vast space at the top with nothing of interest. This is likely to come from your trying to fit the antennae (not sure that's the right word for it) entirely inside the frame. This is a common issue with shrimps and lobsters.

By comparison, the shrimp stands out more in Herb's shot because it occupies more space in the frame, at the expense of the antennae.

There are two species with the blue spots: Pandalus danae, and Pandalus stenolepsis. As P. stenolepsis is only found as far south as Oregon (according to G. Jensen in Pacific Coast Crabs and Shrimps), it appears that you have P. danae , drsteve. These guys are tough to photograph well, as they're usually in a hole with something in the foreground that goes soft if you get their eyes sharp.

Cheers,

Marli

For me, the real issue is the composiion, not the colours.

 

Your shrimp is too near the bottom of the frame, with a vast space at the top with nothing of interest. This is likely to come from your trying to fit the antennae (not sure that's the right word for it) entirely inside the frame. This is a common issue with shrimps and lobsters.

 

By comparison, the shrimp stands out more in Herb's shot because it occupies more space in the frame, at the expense of the antennae.

And the blobs of algae (?) behind the snout and in the foreground distract, too, IMO.

What everyone said above was right on. All those things lead to "lack of impact" If you show this picture to non divers most would say "What am I looking at?" - after you point it out they will see "Oh yeah I see it" not exactly the ideal. If possible it would have been better to get to the right side and avoid the distracting foreground, then fill up the frame more with the body. Also avoid centering, the shrimp is hardly taking up most of the frame.

Something else I noticed, after reviewing all the comments, is that the legs on one side are visible, but the ones on the other are not. I guess I have to schedule another trip up to Monterey to get it right. Fortunately, several other photos from that trip came out well. Check them out at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drsteve/