Hello fellow BPN'rs! After a few days of blustery cold, I thought I would present to you a slightly warmer image, taken in Hawaii two springs ago. I have gone ahead and cropped this image about 35%, (keeping in mind Diane's advice for a slightly looser crop) but that is the only adjustment I have made. Critiquing my own image before adjustments, here is what I see and initially thinking I would work on:
Big pink flower that is OOF in the back - need to tone that down as it is fighting for attention with the subjects eye, where I want the viewer's primary focus to be
Possible tighter crop ( I know that contradicts what I said above, however I am thinking that this image could carry a "portrait" style crop, which would eliminate the distracting twig on the RHS (short edge) of the subject
If I don't go with a portrait-style crop, then need to lessen the twig's prominence on the RHS
Maybe need to tone down the overall BKG to highlight the subject more
The image's specs:
Camera: 5D MK II
Exposure: 1/250 @ f 2.8
Focal Length: 125 mm
Exposure Bias: -1/3 ev
ISO: 100
Location: Hawaii
Thank you in advance for your helpful thoughts and comments!
Hi Melyssa, clipping the pigeon i.e. not having all of it in frame is an issue, moving the whole frame to the right would have been better, use the screen on the back of the camera for composition & histogram, nothing else, especially colour! Conversely, if you had the opportunity in moving to the left it would have helped to fill the gap on the RHC so all you had was a sea of OOF vegetation and the feral/rock dove/pigeon actually sat within that sea, so all you saw was the sharp subject. I quite like the OOF vibrant flowers in the FG, but the one in the BKG is an issue as you said, irrespective of toning/knocking it back it is quite dominant. Personally I hate to see an image cropped to vertical from landscape as you are asking a lot of the pixels and it limits you in final output size, however at this size it would not be an issue. Pixel bashing is never ideal, if you get the shot in the bag, change format, that's easiest and best route, never think, 'oh I will crop it vertical later', that's bad practice in my book. Do as much in camera as possible, the image will be better and you will have less PP work.
BTW, why did you choose Partial metering as the subject appear not to be backlit?
If you get more opportunities then just keep practicing & experimenting, it's the best way to learn and costs nothing. Gaining a bit more SS, i.e. cranking the ISO to 200 or 400 is always good to have more SS up your sleeve and with this body you will have no issue with IQ.
Thank you so much for your detailed feedback Steve! I am so appreciative :) I have attached the original, non-cropped version here as a lightbox image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pethjq34kl...-2111.jpg?dl=0 so that you can fully see what I am working with. In terms of position, I was leaning around the corner of our hotel balcony shooting across the other balconies to try and get him with full foliage around him, and though I succeeded in some frames, this one was the sharpest of all of then though the foliage is not ideal, as his position is not fully surrounded by it. After reviewing the images, I thought a tighter crop would bring more attention to the orange of his eye and the purple iridescence of his neck plumage; and also allow for a less distracting (by that I mean sparse) RHC.
In terms of the Partial Metering, that was set that way because I simply didn't know how or why I should change it. I am still learning the technical aspects of photography :)
Thank you again for all of your wonderful feedback, it has been duly noted!
Really pretty and I love the idea. Agree that I wish the whole pigeon was in the frame. Also the OOF flowers are a bit overpowering, maybe de structure wise them or blur them a bit.
Hi Melyssa, firstly it's great to see you embrace feedback etc as you do, and certainly in doing so you will learn very quickly from all the help given by the folks here.
Getting out & about and literally 'playing' with your camera to see what happens is a great way to learn, plus the more time you spend with your camera, the better you are at understanding how it performs. Just sitting with the manual and taking shots although perhaps boring will mean you start to understand the basics and in doing so means no bad habits, but a great platform. Once you become more confident the easier it becomes, but you know you are doing it the right way.
With the additional information you have added to the image, it gives a clearer picture both in terms of what you were trying to achieve and the restrains you faced which is great for the viewer, add more of this in your initial postings in the future, the more you offer the better the feedback. Also if you can, add key specific areas you are looking for advice on and remember, don't worry if it sounds a daft question as we have all been there, but more importantly there may be others who want to ask the same question, there is never a silly question.
Just taking you original, I just applied a very quick couple of blurs and a couple of tweaks, not great, but you get the idea, however going this routine means you are 'manipulating' the image and taking it away from the original capture. Personally I would try to create the effect/style you want as much in camera, obviously there is a limit and can be harder, however just also build on you basics in PP, all the gimmicks can wait till later once you have a better grasp & feel of what things do.
I really like the cool and warm contrasts here. Your self-critique was good. It would be a stronger image with the entire bird in the frame -- even if vegetation intervenes, it's good to leave room for the virtual body parts. Using f/2.8 was good to help blur the flowers -- a nice effect -- but there is always some danger that it will leave the bird a little soft. (Looks pretty good here, though.) Did you manage to get just one focal point on the bird's head? You gave the focal length but not the lens -- that can be important information as lenses vary a lot in quality.
Steve's RP boosted a little contrast on the bird, which is good, and he also did a little sharpening. That can be good for a JPEG but isn't a fix to rely on for a soft capture.
You could probably clone out that one twig in the LR corner, maybe replacing the area with something from the area along the bottom edge just left of center.
Thank you Dvir! Yes, I completely agree in regards to the flowers being overpowering - I think I may go back through all of my shots and see if I can find a similarly sharp image with less pink blobs in them ;) Love your site BTW! Especially your Pindus project - really lovely body of work :) Thank you for your feedback!
Steve! WOW! You made this look amazing! Thank you for taking the time to show me the potential here through your exceptional eye :) I have so much to learn and I am so grateful for the time and energy you, Diane and everyone else give to one another here ... someday I hope to be able to return the favor.
You are absolutely right, I truly need to go out and start practicing on very specific elements of technical capture with my camera (although very boring) it is a great suggestion and I know I need to do it to raise my skill level. These shots are from when I was just becoming enamored with Avian photography, and to be honest, was just enthralled with the fact that I actually took a somewhat decent picture :) Now, I am completely focused on the technical elements, and that is what pushed me to join BPN :)
Moving forward I absolutely will give more context to the images to help everyone else viewing understand the scenarios and what I am looking to gain from their feedback :)
Thank you again for all of your wonderful input, I am so appreciative :)
Hi Diane :) Thank you for the feedback! In terms of the lens, it was a 70 - 200 2.8 L - next time I will include that as well with the specs :) The Focal point was on the birds eye, but actually the neck feathers are sharper than the eye, it was single-focal point set. Originally shot in RAW so I can work to sharpen, etc.
As always, I am so appreciative of your valuable feedback, thank you so much!
Hi Melyssa, ultimately always have fun. Yes the techs are key, but don't get too bogged down, the more you get to grips with your kit & subjects you will then be surprised how things become instinctive and you quickly forget that in fact you have already done things in the process. Likewise, as I said before, just the simple things for PP are the main areas you need to truly understand and take charge of, save your pennies for later to buy other software if required otherwise you will be like a 'deer caught in the headlights' not knowing which way to turn. The term we use in the Wildlife Forum is 'Less is more' and Edward A is seeing the benefit here in ETL following that it seems now.
BTW, Keep an eye on where you are placing the focus point and what is sharp, sometimes you can find the kit is either front or rear focusing which means you may need to have it looked at for some fine alignment, but at this stage don't worry, just be aware as it's pointless going down this route just now.
All the best and perhaps we may at some point see you posting in Wildlife and we don't bite.
A great capture of the bird in such a lovely environmental setting Melyssa. I like the soft pink flowers and the way they work in with the pink overtones of the breast feathers---might there be a way to push some of the orange flowers in the pink direction 9Or maybe just super soften the orange). I'll bet maybe? a good PSer could clone some of the green sword-like shoots across the big pink blog to subdue it's influence.
Pigeon In Paradise :)
Do as much in camera as possible, the image will be better and you will have less PP work.
