Pensive Monkey

[Molydood]

Hi everybody,

I have posted here a few times before, and have been reading the forum for a while now, but this is my first ever picture posting.

I recently bought my new 300d camera with 18-55 and 75-300 lens.
I had a small ixus before that, but due to it's limitations, I still have a lot to learn, but I'm slowly being sucked in. I absolutely love the level of control I now have, and can't wait to start taking more creative photographs, and learning about photography. I have already learned tons from all the people on this forum in the last few months.

Feel feel to critique the following picture as much as you like, I know its not perfect due to blown highlights etc, but even though I took some more technically correct shots on the day, this is the one which I find myself going back to most.

http://www.pbase.com/image/32777083.pensivemonkeyLarge.jpg
f5, 1/200. ISO 100, 160mm

you can see the rest of the gallery here:
http://www.pbase.com/molydood/zoo

thanks again
Martin

[Leighow]

MARTIN

In a thoughtful essay, the Luminous-Landscape.com says that we all shoot: - Snapshots .... OK shots),
- Postcards ... Darn Good shots, or
- Images ... World Class shots.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/abstracting.shtml

WELL DONE
As far as this goes, and allowiing for the blown out fur, it seems to me that this is a Postcard. The light is wonderful. The photo is sharp and the contrast seems bang on.

THIS IS NOT A WILDLIFE PHOTO
On the other hand -- and you have not given us a full context for critiquing your image (few members do!) -- the image would not compete well in say an international wildlife competition because it's contect -- a partial portrait -- does not catch the animal in its natural habitat.

PS: Is this the kind of reply that you expected ? What would you like to have discussed instead?

]PPS: I have taken a very similar image of my old dog Bailey as she lay next to a brightly coloured cloth clown. I too had blown out some whites as I had not appreciated the histogram that comes with my G2.

[Molydood]

Howie,

many thanks for taking the time to write that detailed and thought provoking reply. I don't suppose I really knew what to expect, but your comments were great, and i have to agree that this is more of a postcard than a wildlife shot. If you take a look through my pbase gallery (linked above) you will see that some of the shots fit that category a lot better, but don't really do much for the imagination, they are just pictures of animals.

thanks again,
Martin

[PhotosGuy]

Blown or not, I like it a lot. If you shoot RAW in those situations, you have a chance to save some of the highlights.

[Sendide]

Molydood, the title matches perfectly the picture adn I love the DOF
regards
Khalid

[Molydood]

guys, thanks for the comments.
my first day of shooting with an SLR has taught me so much. Its really not about image quality on its own it seems; a good capture can make a picture, but a nice lens on its own cannot. I will probably end up buying an 'L' lens soon, but I've realised now (after reviewing my images from the day) that a pin sharp and perfectly coloured/contrasted image cannot make a boring image interesting to the observer.

It does help though :wink: