yelow-belly... advise wanted

[spelchek]

Hi all.. got this pic last friday on a fishing trip to Somerset Dam, near Brisbane. I do a lot of fishing, and one of the incentives for getting my A85 was to always have a camera ready to take as many pics like this as I can. Got the waterproof case also for when im on the salt water as assume the salt air cant be good for cameras, plus im hoping to get some shots undrwater of fish on the line in the future.. like my new years (2 weeks) fishing trip coming up.

Just wanted to get some critical feedback of this photo, and how i should look to improve photos of its type in the future. I know I should be trying to tget rid of the shadows on faces ... I tried to this time by using the flash. But other than that it was on full auto (for quickness, we catch and release mostly only keeping a few for dinner).

If needed, i can post a larger version.

http://www.raafwarbirds.org.au/conventions/xmascon/fish%20baders.jpg


File Name
IMG_0500.JPG
Camera Model Name
Canon PowerShot A85
Shooting Date/Time
12/17/04 16:09:26
Shooting Mode
Portrait
Photo Effect Mode
Off
Tv(Shutter Speed)
1/500
Av(Aperture Value)
6.3
Metering Mode
Evaluative
Exposure Compensation
0
ISO Speed
Auto
Lens
5.4 - 16.2mm
Focal Length
5.4mm
Digital Zoom
None
Image Size
2272x1704
Image Quality
Super Fine
Flash
On
Flash Type
Built-In Flash
Flash Exposure Compensation
0
Red-eye Reduction
On
Shutter curtain sync
1st-curtain sync
White Balance
Auto
AF Mode
Single AF
Color Space
sRGB
File Size
1424KB
Drive Mode
Single-frame shooting
Owner's Name
brad wright

[Meerkat17]

Welcome to the Critique Forum
The first thing I would advise is to straighten the horizon - if you are using Photoshop then click on the Measure tool, drag a line along the horizon and then go Image Menu/Rotate Canvas/Arbitrary, click OK. You might have to do this a few times.

Other than that I feel the photo is fine, perhaps just slightly overexposed de to the flash fill.

Cheers
David

[spelchek]

Thanks for the welcome .. it was with some trepidation that i posted it this forum with such exceptional photos :)

Your suggestion re: the horizon is also noted.. I actually meant to say that I had made that critism myself.. Ill do some 'photoshopping' (in my case Fireworks-ing :)) and fix that.

As for the overexposure.. it was taken early afternoon on a beautiful, bright sunny day... I used the flash (onboard flash on the a85) to get rid of the intese shadow in some regions (eg face). Is there a better way of doing this (apart from reflector boards etc)? Mabye a shorter exposure?

Cheers :)

[Meerkat17]

As for the overexposure.. it was taken early afternoon on a beautiful, bright sunny day... I used the flash (onboard flash on the a85) to get rid of the intese shadow in some regions (eg face). Is there a better way of doing this (apart from reflector boards etc)? Mabye a shorter exposure?
Cheers :)
I think you have covered most of the options open too you - Ive not used an A85 camera but judging from your Exif data you could play around with the "Flash Exposure Compensation" possibly try setting your own White Balance.

I take it that the sun was to your left when you took the shot? You could have tried having the sun directly behind the camera and using flash fill.

Only experimentation will get you the shot you want most of the facial shadows are being caused by the peek of the BB Cap and I would say from the angle the sun was quite high - at that height its dificult too not get shadows.

Hope this helps

David

[PhotosGuy]

and how i should look to improve photos of its type in the future.
Speaking as a fisherman & not as a photographer, hold the fish toward the cam & use a wide angle so you can lie about the size! ;-)

[jonnyhorizon]

i like the overall color and angle down to the camera
do straighten the horizon
i think the fish shows the overexposure more than the rest so i would painstakingly select just the fish using the magic wand or lasso and adjust the levels on just that
perhaps overall levels adjustment would suffice
if you bother let us see the new pic...j

[Rob Beltman]

Well, you're getting your fair share of feedback. The shading would by the way have been far less had you taken the shot from a higher position. Having people look down in these conditions worsens the shade. Because the guy looks down at the camera, his face is cramped and looks less relaxed/happy than one might imagine he really is.

Tips for improvement? I would start with: what do you want to show? Is this picture about the fish, the guy or the sky? Build your picture from a general idea of what you want to tell the viewer or take home as a memory. Given the conditions I would suggest holding the fish facing the camera, but slightly to the side, having the guy take it a bit up to his face and keeping the horizon straight at 1/3 from the bottom (the sky is really great).