-
First Time - Snowy
Hi. Sure would appreciate whatever feedback or C&C on what was a pic from my first day of using my camera and lens. Brand new to photography and all that ....
so here is the pic and then specs, etc.
Sony SLT A77v
Minolta 300mm F4 prime
f7.1 at 1/1600
ISO 200
Heavy crop to top and sides because background was all the same and not interesting. I used a tool in LightRoom (don't have PS) to clean up a couple of background spots that were a distraction (yellow dead leaves on ground)
I have another pic of this snowy from a different angle. But I liked this one. If interested I can post it later so you can have a comparison.
My own critique: perhaps cropped too much out of picture. Not sure focus is dead-on. Lighting angle has a shadow on bird's shoulder, not ideal. I'm sure there is more but hopefully you kind folks will explain both what I did right, what could be better, and how to correct in both the composition (pic taking) and post-processing (again, using LightRoom).
Many thanks in advance,
AP
-
I like this, I agree that the crop may be a bit tight on the sides, I feel like the bird is being squeezed but I love the pose and the details on the feathers. I don't have a problem with the shadow on the left shoulder. Very nice.
-
Hi Andrew, and welcome to ETL! You have a good self-critique, and I'm sure this is better than the first bird images of MANY people. I would loosen up the crop bottom and sides, and crop a little more of top. I don't know your camera, so can't comment on whether the focus could be better but it looks good from here. You're the best judge of that viewing the unadjusted file at 1:1 in LR. Your camera settings look good.
The whites look good, but the blacks may be a bit dense.
Lighting angles can be hard to control. In this case if the bird had raised its head just a bit it would be better, so the beak wasn't lost in the shadow.
It's often good to get down to eye level with a bird, if you can get a pleasing background.
I would remove the two bright objects remaining in the BG, especially the one on the left.
When you find a cooperative subject work it from as many angles and compositions as you can, keeping an eye on exposure compensation if you are using an auto-exposure mode. Manual exposure will give consistent results as composition changes, if you have time to find the best setting. I'll usually shoot one in auto-exposure and check the histogram and blinkies on the back of the camera and set that as a manual exposure to continue working a subject, with occasional checks to see if I have the best setting.
It sounds like you are new to all this, so keep posting and asking questions!
Check my web site (below my signature) for two Lightroom tutorials. The second one has just been revised and may have typos or other issues, but I'll go ahead and post it in case it will help you.
-
Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
-
Warren: Thank you for the kind comments. 
Dianne: First, thanks very much for your C&C! I have already visited your site, read the LR articles, but will go back again and re-read and apply some of what you wrote to some of my other pics.
I'd like to post the original, to see if there is anything else you might see/comment on ..... and I do have another pic; same bird, same pose, different angle. I'll post it as well, hopefully you'll let me know if one was better than the other ....
First, the original (actually I think I must have saved my edits on the original, but have another made at almost the same exact instant):
I think I can't post two pics in one reply (right?), so I'll do another reply with the different angle pic ....
AP
-
OK, this is another view of the Snowy in the same pose ....
Better composition? I know one thing I can do better -- capture a little more picture towards the bottom and a little less towards the top ....
AP
-
-
Hi Andrew and welcome. You have come to the right place! Diane is a master of this craft.
Lovely bird in a very interesting setting. There's not much more that I can say after Diane.
Well done! I would love to see more!
-
Glennie: Thanks for your comments! I've seen a bunch of your work here, and it's magnificent. And your knowledge of post-processing far surpasses mine; hopefully I will start to understand more as I get a bit more experience.
Dianne: Yes, just beginning to play with post-processing options in LR ... your tutorial was very helpful. I'm still referring back to it, and working on other photos I thought were bad. Now with some work, they are not ........ as bad. 
FYI, the Sony A-77 is an APS-C camera, so not full-frame. Yes, I was centering on the head/eyes. I do have other options for metering (evaluative, centered, spot) and I'm not sure I could tell you what I used in this case (would LR tell me?). What do you recommend I use for these kind of shots?
You asked if I could get closer - I was about 30' away, I'd guess. Not sure if I could have gotten any closer, but perhaps could have gotten lower. You thought I could get the bird bigger in the pic, not sure how I do that without enlarging/cropping. Can you offer any suggestions? (bigger lens? Thinking about a 1.4 tele to add to the 300mm).
And you asked about exposure: I was trying to use the lightmeter in the camera, and I'd say I was 0 to +1, if that helps explain anything.
Heading out this weekend to do some more shooting, so hopefully will take a bit of what was commented on here and do better ....
I also have a few more pics from my first session I will post, just to get some additional C&C on them.
Thanks again for taking time to comment
AP
-
By getting the bird bigger I meant by getting closer or using a longer lens (or teleconverter if the image quality holds up with it). That's the struggle of almost every wildlife photographer. Cropping is best minimized.
