Graham Harris  

Quoll feeding by Graham Harris

June 2025 - Quoll feeding

About the Image(s)


The image was taken at a Devils@Cradle Wildlife Park in Tasmania. The Eastern quoll is a nocturnal carnivorous marsupial which is believed to have become extinct in mainland Australia in the 1990s but still present in Tasmania. I tried to capture the main d=features of this animal at a low angle whilst scavenging on a wallaby bone.

The image was taken using Sony A550 with a 18-300mm lens at 120mm. The settings used were F6.3 at 1/1250s shutter speed and an ISO 3200 – conditions were quite dark with the subject in late winter afternoon shadow but some bright sun at the top right of the frame. The image was cropped to remove some of the bright highlights and post-processed using Lightroom Classic (opening up shadows and reducing highlights). Digital noise reduced and subject sharpness increased using Topaz Photo AI).

This round’s discussion is now closed!
4 comments posted

Allen Kurth
I've never seen this animal before. Thanks for sharing. It looks like you have already done every thing I would recommend. Perhaps a linear Gradient in lightroom could bring the highlights on the right down a little more.   Posted: 06/11/2025 14:18:15
Raj Panandiker   Raj Panandiker
Interesting animal. Thanks for sharing.

I wonder if a 3x4 portrait format would give the animal a bit more breathing room on top and bottom. Also, there appears to be a soft blurry spot right behind his jaw - perhaps a Topaz artifact. You might be able to fix it.   Posted: 06/13/2025 22:12:58
Lillian Roberts   Lillian Roberts
This is very cool, I have never seen this animal before! I'm visiting Tasmania in October, but only for a few days, not sure I will have such an opportunity to see this guy.

My rule of thumb for cropping is that if the animal stands up or raises its head, there should be enough space within the frame so it won't cut its head off (metaphorically speaking of course!) So I agree this image would benefit from a bit more space above. But I see the bright highlights already creeping in in the upper right corner, so I understand why you chose this crop.

It is possible to select just the BG in CR - I assume LR as well, intersect it with a gradient and apply exposure reduction to make the exposure look a bit more even. I confess I'm not skilled at such things so I can't advise you other than it is possible. Might be worth trying? But I would not hesitate to enter it into Nature Division competition as is.

Lillian   Posted: 06/21/2025 14:13:30
Pinaki Sarkar   Pinaki Sarkar
First of all, for me this is a new creature, a first for me.
The eyes are reasonably sharp, the background light is little harsh but then again you eliminated most by cropping. That is good...I notice a slight yellowish-green cast, especially in the shadows and on the quoll's fur.. not sure how to fix it. Good Work.   Posted: 06/21/2025 17:44:07