Weedy Seadragons & a Seahorse

Here are a couple of photos I took of a Weedy Seadragon in April this year. Weedys are endemic to southern Australia (and New Zealand I believe) and they and their close relative Leefy Sea Dragons belong to the same family as Sea Horses. All three photos were taken in the waters around Fremantle Western Australia.

Comments and criticisms are welcome

Karl

I like your images.

To improve them, I think you need to think more about the background. The sea dragons would look great against some water perhaps and the seahorse would benefit from a more contrasting backdrop.

I think you have the subject down ... you just need to think about the backdrop more strategically.

Hope that helps!

I agree - they are cool shots but could be improved if you changed your shooting angle so that instead of shooting downward, you shoot from straight-on or at a slightly upward angle.

Regards,

James

I don't know what viewfinder you have, but I have found that a 45-degree viewer lets you get down to the animal's level, and almost automatically gives a better negative space.

What do you think?

The subjects aren't as impressive, but I think that the backgrounds work better. There is either some water, or the distant sand is thrown well out of focus. I find that making the sand dark is best, if it can't be taken out of the shot. Water can be light or dark, as suits the shot.

Tim

Thanks for the comments - it is appreciated. I'll keep all of them in mind for the next time.

Karl

Karl

I agree with the above comments, Weedy Sea Dragons are far too ornate to get a good picture of them with anything other than a very "negative space" background, however they have a very small territory and move slowly enough to mean that when you find one, you generally get a lot of photo time with it (don't fry it with your strobes now !).

For you info, they exist right the way around the Australian South Coast as far as NSW Central Coast, including right outside of Sydney Harbour heads. Below is a Flickr link to a photo of a Weedy that I shot in Port Botany last year. For some reason we always seem to call them Seedy Wee Dragons !

Regards

Dave Bluck - Sydney