who, like any other, can't stay out of the mud . . .

OMG! Love this shot and the conversion - definitely a keeper - and one for the wall. I would just up the highlights in the eyes for more impact - just sightly though! TFS

thank you Sandra, had to take about 17 shots to find this one tucked away in amongst them . . .

Great photo Andy!

For me personally it could do with just a tiny bit more sharpness on the left eye and a slightly higher contrast but appreciate that that comes down to personal preference.

nice shot, look at all that hair !!

thanks, re; the sharpness, it's difficult when certain subjects won't stay still, and I was working at f/2.8 on a 60mm macro lens, so DOF is rather limited, i'm not sure how to get a fast enough speed with sufficient DOF while not letting iso (and noise) creep up too much, although I suppose I could have gone up to 200 or 400

I love it.
Its one of those "is it better or worse with the blur" shots.
Personally i think the slight blur gives it movement and tells more of a story.

What shutter speed were you using? Maybe could have gotten away with F4?

was using AV, f/2.8, ISO 200 and it gave a speed of 1/125

Hi Dave, going by the 1/125th shutter speed on a 60mm lens, there's almost no way that is motion blur, its more likely DOF (or lack of) blur due to the plane of focus (the subject is angled, so the hair on both sides is not in focus).

I get what you are saying, and I agree it looks good

cheers

Russ