I Think I'm Ready.....

To have my photos critiqued and commented on.

I have been doing photography as a hobby for a few years. I love going to the zoo for the relaxation and the chance to capture some of the most beautiful animals in the world. I find the Zoo to be extremely challenging because the enclosures are not photographer friendly for the most part.

Please feel free to critique my photos because I truly only want to get better. I find my post processing skills to be a little weak.

This is my latest collection from the Toronto and Bowmanville Zoo (Ont. Canada)

1.

5) Looks a little underexposed
6) Preference only, but i don't really like the processing.

The others are great though.

i like em...makes me want to go to the zoo...6 is a little strange with the blue on the chin

Welcome to the forums, Marell. On the average, you are doing very good work. You have a good eye for composition and have good control over the camera. You will attract many more critics to review your work if you post only one or two images to a thread. Let's take a quick run at those photos.

#1. Great composition/Great color/Excellent Depth of field. A pro quality shot, marred only by the funky white stuff on it's (captive) nose.

#2. Again, great color, good composition, framed a bit too tightly. DOF is a bit too shallow IMHO. Eyes in focus - good. Only eyes in focus - not quite as good, perhaps.

#3. Good. Framed a bit tight above lion's head? DOF a bit shallow - would be nice to have detail in eyes and whiskers both (for me).

#4. Superb composition. Could go further with DOF, but having entire front of the face in focus is good. Could crop in slightly on the left. Good color. Some light and shadow challenges. Some elements in lower left could be desaturated a bit to limit pulling attention away from subject (a minor point).

#5. I'm lukewarm on this one and to be honest, I'm not quite sure why... perhaps others can verbalize what I'm thinking???

#6. Color seems off on this one (blue tinge - most evident on white portions of the shot). Lighting was not kind to you on this shot.

#7. Even though it is obvious that you fought to focus on the head (which you achieved). The prime area of the shot being presented (and most noticeable) is the tiger's blurry rear-end. There is not enough visual separation between subject and background, causing subject to get lost in the shot.

#8. Reasonably nice color that may lean toward blue (is the parrots beak blue in real life or should it be blackish - I'm not sure...) Again, I would've gone a bit deeper with the DOF to catch the beak and a bit more of the surrounding feathers. Again - eyes in focus - good. Only eyes in focus... leaves an awful lot of the shot out-of-focus... It's an artistic choice, but for me, I'd like to see a bit more detail on the bird.

I think you have great potential. It is obvious that you are working hard at it. Keep hitting it hard and I think you will develop abilities that would be conducive to bringing you a photographic income that could steadily increased over time - if you desire to do so.

Regards,
Mark

ImageMogul wrote in post #14899183
Welcome to the forums, Marell. On the average, you are doing very good work. You have a good eye for composition and have good control over the camera. You will attract many more critics to review your work if you post only one or two images to a thread. Let's take a quick run at those photos.

#1. Great composition/Great color/Excellent Depth of field. A pro quality shot, marred only by the funky white stuff on it's (captive) nose.

#2. Again, great color, good composition, framed a bit too tightly. DOF is a bit too shallow IMHO. Eyes in focus - good. Only eyes in focus - not quite as good, perhaps.

#3. Good. Framed a bit tight above lion's head? DOF a bit shallow - would be nice to have detail in eyes and whiskers both (for me).

#4. Superb composition. Could go further with DOF, but having entire front of the face in focus is good. Could crop in slightly on the left. Good color. Some light and shadow challenges. Some elements in lower left could be desaturated a bit to limit pulling attention away from subject (a minor point).

#5. I'm lukewarm on this one and to be honest, I'm not quite sure why... perhaps others can verbalize what I'm thinking???

#6. Color seems off on this one (blue tinge - most evident on white portions of the shot). Lighting was not kind to you on this shot.

#7. Even though it is obvious that you fought to focus on the head (which you achieved). The prime area of the shot being presented (and most noticeable) is the tiger's blurry rear-end. There is not enough visual separation between subject and background, causing subject to get lost in the shot.

#8. Reasonably nice color that may lean toward blue (is the parrots beak blue in real life or should it be blackish - I'm not sure...) Again, I would've gone a bit deeper with the DOF to catch the beak and a bit more of the surrounding feathers. Again - eyes in focus - good. Only eyes in focus... leaves an awful lot of the shot out-of-focus... It's an artistic choice, but for me, I'd like to see a bit more detail on the bird.

I think you have great potential. It is obvious that you are working hard at it. Keep hitting it hard and I think you will develop abilities that would be conducive to bringing you a photographic income that could steadily increased over time - if you desire to do so.

Regards,
Mark

Thank you for taking the time to comment and critique. I will limit the photos in the future (sorry about that).

Im blown away by your kind, positive and supportive comments, so thank you for that. We are our own worst critics and sometimes I feel as if im not good enough.

4. I actually won 3rd place in a photo contest with the Toronto Zoo on FB with this shot (turned into a popularity contest though and not really a photography thing).

5. Shot through dirty green tinged glass (was hard to pull the proper colors) but I liked the composition how it's framed by its wooden climbers. (for some reason)

6/8. I really think I am going to have to re calibrate my colour on the monitor because you arent the first people to mention that. I thought it was just FB doing something funky on their end.

From one Mark to another. Thanks!

Mark

Love number one. Comp on all is okay, but they are looking soft to me.

ImageMogul wrote in post #14899183
Welcome to the forums, Marell. On the average, you are doing very good work. You have a good eye for composition and have good control over the camera. You will attract many more critics to review your work if you post only one or two images to a thread. Let's take a quick run at those photos.

#1. Great composition/Great color/Excellent Depth of field. A pro quality shot, marred only by the funky white stuff on it's (captive) nose.

#2. Again, great color, good composition, framed a bit too tightly. DOF is a bit too shallow IMHO. Eyes in focus - good. Only eyes in focus - not quite as good, perhaps.

#3. Good. Framed a bit tight above lion's head? DOF a bit shallow - would be nice to have detail in eyes and whiskers both (for me).

#4. Superb composition. Could go further with DOF, but having entire front of the face in focus is good. Could crop in slightly on the left. Good color. Some light and shadow challenges. Some elements in lower left could be desaturated a bit to limit pulling attention away from subject (a minor point).

#5. I'm lukewarm on this one and to be honest, I'm not quite sure why... perhaps others can verbalize what I'm thinking???

#6. Color seems off on this one (blue tinge - most evident on white portions of the shot). Lighting was not kind to you on this shot.

#7. Even though it is obvious that you fought to focus on the head (which you achieved). The prime area of the shot being presented (and most noticeable) is the tiger's blurry rear-end. There is not enough visual separation between subject and background, causing subject to get lost in the shot.

#8. Reasonably nice color that may lean toward blue (is the parrots beak blue in real life or should it be blackish - I'm not sure...) Again, I would've gone a bit deeper with the DOF to catch the beak and a bit more of the surrounding feathers. Again - eyes in focus - good. Only eyes in focus... leaves an awful lot of the shot out-of-focus... It's an artistic choice, but for me, I'd like to see a bit more detail on the bird.

I think you have great potential. It is obvious that you are working hard at it. Keep hitting it hard and I think you will develop abilities that would be conducive to bringing you a photographic income that could steadily increased over time - if you desire to do so.

Regards,
Mark

Mark got to this quicker than I could! Not a bad take. Watch your over processing in some, and be conscious of your cropping.

Marell wrote in post #14899264
... We are our own worst critics and sometimes I feel as if im not good enough...

Hold on to these traits - they are the reason you continue to improve.

...from one Mark to another...

Shot 5 is just... well... not very good. Perhaps that cuts to the chase. Others are done well. But do watch the over processing. The last few are really over the top to me. some like the look, I am more to the point that the shot shouldn't scream "I have been photoshopped"... which these do. But as harsh as that sounds, except for 5, they are all solid shots.

#6 needs to have the contrast moved down and lightened....I had to use saturation brush for the nose to get it close to white..

A couple of light balances and give it a sharpen and you get a very nice image.

The bad part of it is the whites are blown under the eyes.

Shot #5 is not that far off from being a good one. I like the idea of using the foreground to frame the subject. Bringing the camera higher would have given you a better framing composition with a lot less dead area above the subject and below the top of the frame.

Agree with the general comments about good composition and the tendency toward over processing in some.


Paul