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d7500 200-500mm. Took this a few weeks ago and like the image. Situation was back-lit so I had to increase the exposure of the squirrel. Opinions or suggestions on how I could improve the image?
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Very cute critter and nice setting.
I'd probably try burning down the bright background a bit or alternatively lowering the overall exposure a bit and then opening up the shadows a bit to bring back the squirrel and tree bark. Lot's of ways you can do that and perhaps even a bit of Shadow/Highlight adjustment could do the job.
I guess in a general sense I'd probably try to brighten up (dodge or shadow recovery) the squirrel a bit and tone down (highlight recovery or burn) the background a bit.
I like the composition but would be tempted to experiment with other options like a 4x5 aspect ratio in landscape orientation (basically crop away a bit of background on the right) or maybe even try a crop to portrait orientation focusing more on the squirrel and tree with just a bit of background. That's super subjective and you might come right back to where you are as it's a very pleasing composition but it might be worth checking to see how different presentations might look.
And then when you settle on your final tones and possibly alternate compositions I'd add a subtle vignette to gently darken the edges of the frame, especially around those brighter background areas which is something I do to about 90% of the images I process. It can really help to make the subject pop and is very useful if you'll ever print and matte an image to help keep the viewers eyes in the frame instead of following the brighter areas and drifting out of the frame to the matte board. The vignette should be subtle and not look like a dark ring around the photo but a touch of edge darkening (we used to do that by hand burning down the edges under an enlarger in chemical darkrooms) can help many if not most images.
Great job with focus keeping the eyes razor sharp and overall good job with the exposure in challenging light (main subject shady, bright background)
Nice shot!
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Thank you for the amazing feedback! I really appreciate the depth you went into. I agree that the difference in brightness between the squirrel and the background is a bit harsh so I'll try playing around with the exposure, shadows and highlights. It's funny how you mention that you sometimes come back to where you started with the composition as that's exactly what happened to me. The vignette tip is great, I'll definitely keep that in mind.
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... what DRW said, plus my two cents... tree and blurred greens overwhelm the squirrel IMO. Crop would be beneficial from my PoV.
