First Wildlife Post Attempt, a Favorite... Tiger Face

[LinzRiverBalmer]

Critiques welcome but be gentle, I just got a new computer and am just starting to learn post processing, working in LR and trying Topaz Adjust.

This is a captive tiger, not a zoo but a park, Out of Africa in Camp Verde, Arizona. All of the animals came from bad situations, they also have 2 grizzlies, hyenas, etc. Lots of tigers and lions.

If you ever get the opportunity, go!!! There are no cages the animals are in containment that mimics natural habitats and are about 5 acres each. Quite incredible.

They have them set up with platforms that jut out over the enclosures without fencing for photography.

So this photo an all time favorite of mine.

This is a heavy crop on the face, full frame is just outside of the head total, it was a little crooked so when straightened I liked the heavy crop for the patterns it gave.

I was probably about 8 or 10 feet from the tiger. If you notice my profile pic, that is me as a kid with a tiger that belonged to a friend that had been rescued and we were advocating, he ended up at this park many years ago. So I have no fear of big cats.

Details on photo.......

Camera Sony Cybershot DSC HX 100/V

Exposure: 1/320 at f/5.6
ISO: 100
Focal: 144mm

Handheld, advanced auto portrait, slow synchro flash. Shot in full afternoon sun with tiger underneath an overhang shed with head sticking out in sun.

LR crop, contrast, clarity, levels. Topaz adjust fixed whites pulled them back, noise reduction for whiskers and nose hit by sun.

Please excuse the messy copyrights, trying to figure out how to add my normal through LR....ugh

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Linz - Welcome to the Wildlife Forum! I don't mind the close crop but it still isn't straight. A cocked head is fine but from your opening comments it sounded like you were going for straight. To straighten it, it needs some ccw rotation using the eyes as the guide points.

I'm not very familiar with your camera but I think it is an advanced P&S aka a bridge camera. Does it allow you to shoot in RAW? The image lacks fine detail and it may be the camera, the self-described large crop or a combination of both.

To really pull this image off, you needed a little more dof to have both eyes and the whole face sharp. How much control do you have over your camera settings with your camera?

The answers to these questions will help us help you to improve both in the field and in pp. A great way to learn is to jump right in and post comments on other threads and follow them. It doesn't have to be technical, just tell us what you like or don't like.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Linz and as Rachel said, a warm welcome.

Rachel has made some very good observation and feedback, but I a little concerned as to wether we are able to give you any more that ETL can do in terms of advice. The reason I say this is that generally the feedback we offer here also relates to camera & lens adjustments, such as DOF, SS, EV adjustment etc etc and I'm unsure if our feedback would apply to your kit? We can offer also help in PP, but again, this dovetails with the camera/lens. Always happy to help and sorry if my comment seems rather negative, but I feel I needed to mention my thoughts. I think the biggest factor is one of heavy cropping which is a downside of the kit you have. Heavy cropping will never give you a strong IQ and therefore the image sadly will suffer. I will send you a link which may help your © and perhaps other areas in LR.

I hope I haven't discouraged you, and welcome hearing your thoughts.

TFS
Steve

[Gregor Bergquist]

Hi Linz

I do see why this is a favorite. Tigers have strong faces. I agree with comments above. Picture is also for my taste to orange/saturated.

Thanks for sharing, Gregor

[LinzRiverBalmer]

Thanks to all of you.....

Rachel I will address your questions and mine first. The camera listed is the old version, this picture was taken early 2012. I now have the newest version which is the HX300.
same principles, more MP at 21.4 still has the Carl Zeiss lens with huge zoom.

they don't have RAW capabilities which I catch big trouble with Dad for, he would prefer I have a can, Fuji, or lumix for RAW.

until the new computer and programs I didn't even have a way to process RAW so it wasn't an option.

i wish the Sony utilize it but they don't and the 2 I have are the best in the game in the bridge camera group for one reason....... You can't beat the image stabilization which is huge for me as I have tremors and muscle weakness.

sony has not been easy to deal with when there are issues but between the Carl Zeiss less, image stability and burst mode of 10fps its about the best I can do.

i could easily sell all my cameras and get a DSLR Sony that's cheaper and add a lens. Would still have all the basics I already have. Problem is I'd have to deal with changing lenses, dust, etc.... Did I mention tremors.... Lense in the dirt probably not good.

i do have last years canon powershot sx40 which does RAW but it is so hard to handle with its build, recessed controls, that I have it for sale and a friend has it.

The new Sony shoots at 350 res so I might get better pictures, time will tell.

i do have a question about your critique, please don't think I'm sounding snotty or cranky in this, I'm not just confused.....

can you explain the lacking fine detail??? I've looked several times today and can't figure it out. I thought I was going to catch flack for this being too noisy.
i thought it was pretty great and shocking that you can literally count the hairs on his nose and eyebrows.

so can you explain the detail, I'd really like to understand and differentiate.

i do see its still not quite straight, to straighten more i would lose more of his nose.

i can post the original. I never touched the sharpen tool and really only messed with his left eye in PP. I was more worried about noise than anything else.

now to hit on settings of the camera...

For Steve too....

this was shot with the older Sony listed above, was shot at 10MP

on both cameras I do have complete control just like a DSLR. The settings look almost identical to my dads canon 7D.

so I have positions for P, A, S, M..... Complete control over shutter or Exp and ISO. They both have a very good in camera HDR setting.

the advanced auto mode I do get stuck in because it takes 3 shots and combines them or separates them based on white balance.

if I shoot macro which I do a lot, I have to use manual on this camera as macro only comes n automatically, there is no little flower button to push. But you can add a function setup for macro, they call it gourmet.

so yes I can set everything, my big problem is not setting things fast enough to get my shot or understanding it. Meaning I see a tiger I want the shot I don't process what needs to happen setting wise to get the shot, so I stick it in auto instead.

i wish animals were more cooperative for timing shots...lol

i have been critiquing quite a bit in avian and ETL and OOTB, have done some here..... Will do more.

funny thing, I'm completely comfortable critiquing as I instinctually see both good and bad things, comes from growing up at a pre press business.
i am actually over critical of my stuff and only have a few favorite photos. My family approves of way more of my pics than I do.

Steve.... Don't worry about negative or discouraging, I get it locally enough from Pro family that aren't super supportive of my camera choices.

i do what I can do for my limitations..... Physical and budget. I get flack for no Mac either as I grew up on them but can't afford one at home.
the new computer is a high res led 23 inch hp all in one. I got one with a special graphics processor and compared things to the color on the macs in the family.

speeking of limitations someone also mentioned only using the LCD screen on camera to check histogram. Another thing I get flack for..... I never use my eye view finder, I have a vestibular disorder that causes vertigo and eye problems and I can't see this way.... I can't use magnifying glasses, microscopes, or binoculars either.
so my LCD screen is my friend.

Think I've answered everything and then some.

i am trying to learn, and won't post too much, I'm enjoying posting on and seeing others.

i probably won't ever stack up to most of the people here, my health and equipment won't allow it, but on good days I'm still trying.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Linz, thank you very much for the concise and informative BKG, this really helps and I can get to understand a lot more, thank you. I will come back to you later, but I may also build on a PM for you too, which may help you.

Post away, it's the only way to learn and remember we were all at a learning stage at one point, we have just progressed things and are still learning. Please feel free to post images and comments, would welcome your thoughts and it too is a great way to learn.

Thanks again and will be in contact.

Thanks
Steve :cheers:

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi LInz,

very welcome to this forum. The suggestions above are a good start for you.
I have read your questions. One popped up to me: How do I see details?
Well, I would say, you are here in BPN because you obviously want to learn. You need to interact with other posts with comments, read comments and all will be solved very fast. It is all about learning, reading and to write your own opinions on a image. Even when you think, I might be wrong, just write it. It doesn't matter, you can learn than more!!!
That's how we all learn from each other. To have different perspectives, different ideas,...etc.
Hope you will learn lots in here as I did. :bg3:
Enjoy it and do not hesitate to ask the forum :w3

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Linz, just sent you a long PM which I hope will help.

Thanks Rachel, Gregor & Anette for chiming in, just looking at who has read this thread, hoping they may have also chimed in.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Linz - thanks for the long explanation and the information both about you and the camera will definitely help us to help you. My little bit of familiarity with your camera comes because when I help friends camera shop for a good P&S to take on a major trip, it is often the one they wind up with. The lens is very good. It does still have that shutter lag of a P&S though which can be frustrating :S3:.

Lacking fine details means that many of the areas appear smooth and within most of the blacks and many of the whites in your image there is no detail. When an area lacks detail you don't see the structure and nuances in color and tone that you would if detail was present. You are correct that on the top of the nose we see detail and I'm guessing that as the closest point to the camera, that is the focus point of the camera. As you can see, that detail drops off fairly quickly from there. By the way, can you select where the camera focuses? With wildlife it is best to focus on one of the eyes but that often is not the point closest to you.

I hope this helps.

Rachel

[LinzRiverBalmer]

Thank you all again, I really appreciate everything.

Steve I have answered most of your questions in your PM

Rachel, Steve brought something up in his private message that some data may be getting lost in how I am uploading here so I will read some of the stickies to make sure I'm doing this correctly.

I do see now where you are talking about loss of detail and think I may have been so worried about noise and reducing it that I completely overlooked sharpening.

However I do think in general the image could have more information and my settings were off.

Went back through and found my original original file and realized I took this under extreme lighting and was messing with flash. Probably would have gone better not using slow synchro flash..... or any.

Was also in my phase of taking pictures at an angle when I was recovering from surgery, had to toss a lot of pictures for a habit I didn't realize I was getting into.

Anyhow, I do compensate for that shutter lag Rachel, and some of my tremor by using the high burst mode when I can, the 10FPS has really captured some great stuff for me, especially in macro and moving objects like birds. Only issue I have with the high burst is that when you depress all the way and take the 10 shots depending on mode you are in it does take a few more seconds than optimal for the camera to process and save the photos.
I did find that using a 10 speed SD card does help.

The new 300 has benefits, has a 55mm thread so filters are now possible, and the battery is tiny, much lighter.

Enough out of me. I figured I would post the original file from the tiger so you all could see what I worked with at the beginning, last year.

I will get to writing replies in this forum. Many thanks.

[Carl Walker]

Hi Linz - I too have just joined this forum and am learning heaps from everyone here. Your enquiring mind and passionate interest already shown so far will get you far here. So just keep at it as there are plenty who are willing to help as you can see. Keep on posting:S3:

[Steve Canuel]

Your OP is a little smudgy on some spots and oversharpened in others but looking at your original file, you should be able to easily fix those issues. The mods can definitely steer you in the right direction. The original does have a few hot spots but just needs a little shadow work and it'll be fine. It looks plenty sharp and the noise doesn't look bad at all to me.