Slightly Cliche, but I like em.

[shavri]

Took these shots and like it, but I think there is more I could have done. Any C&C that would help me learn and grow will be appreciated.
Thanks

[stevefossimages]

Hi Shavri:

Nice images of two beautiful subjects. The flower isn't all it could be because of the clutter of the leaf fronds, particularly going over the flower blooms themselves. And the background, rather than being soothing in softness, has harsh glare spots that detract from the subject. The tiger is great. It looks a little too blue to me, most easily seen from the blueish cast to the tiger's white cheeks. I get rid of this in photoshop by going to adjustments, selecting hue/saturation and desaturating the cyan tones.

Good stuff. Show us some more.

[Ian King]

Nice shots. And as you asked for C&C..

Ist photo - dappled light is difficult to deal with, it places emphasis where you might not want it - the white areas distract. Great rich colours though.

2nd photo - would agree with Steve, too blue, I use 'curves' in pp to lessen it. Also, I might be tempted to crop it a little more.

Ian

[md_129]

Great shots,

I think everything has already been said as far as critiques :)

Check out this Link here for some FREE amazing video tips http://www.zuga.net/

[shavri]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will work on keeping them in mind. So much to learn, It is a darn good thing that photography is so fun even as you are doing all the learning. I imagine I will be gratefully accepting more advise on my 5 millionth post but hopefully by then I will know enough to at least start helping others too. In the mean time, thanks for sharing your knowledge all of you who took the time to comment.

[Sharpy]

Hi Shavri,
Had a go at removing the slight colour cast from the tiger. Open Levels dialogue box, get the 'white ' eye dropper and click in an area that should be white, that usually does it.
Regards Alan S.

[shavri]

Thanks, I will give it a try :)

[Ian King]

Have tried to make best use of the detail whilst losing that cool blue. I think he/she looks a little warmer now.

Ian

[shavri]

Thanks, I will need to play around an bit and get comfortable with this.:confused:

[Ferco]

nice shots! like the edits!

[Ian King]

On laziness, you and carsj are both right, and I did exactly the same for a while. But now that I've been digital for 4 years (film for 20) I feel I can give this advice, for what its worth. It's nothing new but it doesn't hurt to reiterate a few platitudes.

1. Shoot everything in manual mode - it forces you to consider the settings that will produce what you're aiming for. I think there's no better way of learning how your camera works. I still shoot almost everything in manual - but now for the control it gives me.
2. Take as much time as you need. Rushing off a series of shots in the hope of getting what you want just isn't good enough. Make your friends wait!
3. Once you've taken a shot, check the composition, histogram, wb and focus - then adjust and re-shoot as necessary.
3. Learn to post process properly. I trudged through PS for ages before realising I should invest some time in tutorials. There are some great free ones out there. We're all self taught to some degree but a lot of time can be saved with a few pearls of wisdom.
4. Of course, it takes time; but my 17 year old neice only took up digital photography 5 months ago and is now producing consistently excellent shots - better than mine if I'm honest.

Have fun.

[CARSJ]

good sound advice....thanks Ian :)

[shavri]

3. Learn to post process properly.


Amazing how large those 5 words really are. PSCS2 is overwhelming. Starting to work through many of the great tutorials on the threads here. Hopefully soon I shall start to grasp it all... or maybe at least some? :lol:

[stevefossimages]

Ian, good advice.

One caveat: Shoot in manual WHEN THE SITUATION ALLOWS IT. When I'm out on the road en route to a location, or hiking the wilderness trails near where I live, my camera is set at Av and the aperature set wide open. The iso is 400 (the 100-400L I generally have on for bombing around is slow, and the 20D sensor is great at iso400). Where I Iive, I may startle a wolf or flush a grouse or encounter any number of photographic opportunities in fluctuating light the don't allow even someone with lightning reflexes to adjust with the manual setting in time to freeze a fleeting image. In those instances, there's barely enough time to rip the camera to your eye, bumping the shutter button on the camera on the way to wake it up and capturing a sharply focused shot.

With the 300D, I missed many shots because it took too long to wake up. With the 20D, there's essentially no wakeup lag. But on manual for those off-the-cuff shots . . . forget it.

[stevefossimages]

Have tried to make best use of the detail whilst losing that cool blue. I think he/she looks a little warmer now.

Ian

I like your toning of the tiger best so far from what I've seen. It is slightly washed out, however, and darkening shadow tones or bumping contrast or overall saturation, now that the cyan is removed, will help that. It could, of course, be my monitor. There's all the fluctuation from monitor to monitor, and mine is calibrated for my prints, not for yours. So it could just be that difference.

[dancinec]

I appreciate the pearls of wisdom from Ian and Steve and it not even my thread. Very nice capture and post processing.

[Ian King]

Many thanks for your comments Steve.

You're quite right regarding the camera setup needed for a quick response. I'm extremely jealous that you have access to such abundant wildlife and fantastic scenery! (I particularly like the abstract landscape shots on your website - wonderful images that ought to sell well imo.)

On the toning of the tiger, again you may be right. I only made blanket adjustments on colour tone, saturation and sharpening - and took the contrast as far as seemed reasonable on my monitor.

[stevefossimages]

Well, there are many different ways to skin (or post process) a cat, right? It's all good. ;)

And Ian, the wilderness in my back yard is only a plane and an auto ride away.