2/7/2005 7:55:34 AM

I love this! How creative! We may see this one again..

2/7/2005 9:44:30 AM

How the heck?? I love this!

2/7/2005 11:06:41 AM

Really cute, I love it!

2/7/2005 1:21:32 PM

Wonderful and so creative Laurie! LOVE IT!

2/7/2005 2:45:00 PM

Very cute! Tell us more of the details, please!

2/7/2005 2:47:55 PM

This is fantastic, Laurie! Love the title, too!

2/7/2005 3:11:02 PM

Thank you all for the nice comments.
I'm not sure if you want details on the squirrel or the photo. So, I'll give you both. This is an orphaned baby squirrel that I'm raising. She's about 4 1/2 weeks old and just opened her eyes the day this photo was shot. I had to be careful not to expose her eyes to too much light. As a result, I had to settle for a shutter speed of about 1/60 at F11. Because she's constantly "on the go" when awake (with eyes open), 1/60 wasn't enough to prevent motion blur. So, I put her in the glass to keep her still long enough to shoot. I considered a little basket but then you wouldn't be able to see her whole body.

The backdrop is a large piece of fabric (from Wal-Mart) draped over a PVC frame I built for my "studio". For lighting, I used one of those construction lights from Home Depot diffused with a sheet of sheer white fabric over a second PVC frame. There was also some natural light coming in through a window. My flash (SB800) was mounted on a Stroboframe and bounced off the white ceiling. This helped eliminate shadows cast by the other light sources. If memory serves, I bumped the flash output up by a full stop.
I struggled a bit with White Balance. The shot ended up with a slight orange/magenta cast. Once uploaded into PS, I desaturated the reds. That fixed the problem. I also adjusted levels and did some selective burning. Oh ... I also used a tripod.
That's probably way more than you wanted to know!

2/7/2005 3:40:56 PM

Wow - just as I was scrolling down the comments to find my space to leave a question of my own - low and behold you've already filled in the blanks. So, just want to say that this is SUCH an adorable capture and your careful planning and setup really paid off. Thank you for sharing all of the extra details as well. I found the info to be very helpful as I'm considering working on a home studio (just for personal use) of my own soon. I love it!

2/7/2005 6:52:15 PM

Laurie ~

Thank you for filling in the blanks ... we can never get too much of the details! It's definitely a one-in-a-million shot!

2/7/2005 7:45:48 PM

Super job, Laurie! Sooooo cute.

2/7/2005 8:53:41 PM

Very creative!!! Wondered how you got that squirrel in the glass!! I bet he/she keeps you very busy!! Excellent capture!!!

2/7/2005 11:46:20 PM

Terrific capture, Laurie! Very, very cute!!

2/8/2005 1:53:45 AM

Thank you, Laurie! Incredible subject, capture and education. I'm indebted.

2/8/2005 11:35:26 AM

I seen this in photoflash and I just wanted to tell you that I think this is just amazing! You did such a wonderful job of presentation, I hope to see it again!

3/3/2005 4:52:52 PM

I saw this in photoflash as well. How utterly adorable and well executed! Sooo cute! Great job!!! You must be doing a fine job of raising the baby too! It sure looks healthy :)

3/3/2005 7:23:00 PM

i love it too ! very well indeed

3/4/2005 1:52:00 AM

Laurie - Great image and story - I love your orphan photos! You are quite the squirrel mom.

3/4/2005 9:04:51 AM

Congratulations, Laurie, on being a finalist!

3/15/2005 7:58:52 PM

Congratulations, Laurie!

3/15/2005 8:45:40 PM

Congratulations on your finalist Laurie!

3/15/2005 9:02:01 PM

Awesome! I knew this one would make it! Congratulations Laurie!

3/16/2005 10:56:44 AM

Congrats, Laurie!

3/16/2005 12:36:46 PM

Thank you all for your very nice comments!

3/17/2005 10:03:03 AM