3 for CC! (Another Arboretum trip)

Austin Greene

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Hey everyone!

Well today I figured I would put my studies off for a bit and head out to the UCD Arboretum again. Because of the wind, not much life was out, and the lighting was funky, but I still enjoyed myself! I thought I would post up a couple of the photos for general CC. My goal for the day, seeing as how little life was out, was to focus on details and getting those eyes right.

Oh, and as for the watermark, this was my first time messing with LR3 (its been CS5 prior, but I got a new SD card so I can shoot RAW now), and I thought I would give the watermarking function a try. Tell me if you think its a too distracting or not, I tried to keep it minimal (next time I'm thinking I'll remove "photography")

So here we go:

1. This one is quite a crop, as the hummingbird was out pretty far over the creek. I like it for the colors and his little plume of forehead feathers. There was still a surprising amount of detail, which I was happy with. I'll have to have a special hummingbird hunting trip sometime to really nail one...



IMG_2028-2 by TogaLive, on Flickr

2. I love shooting these little guys! Though I can't quite decide if I should trim a bit off the top of this one compositionally. Overall I didn't think this photo was great, primarily because I didn't quite get the eye, but I didn't hate it either. What do you think?

IMG_2062-2 by TogaLive, on Flickr

3. First time shooting a turtle, and my favorite photo of the day! I couldn't get too close to him because he was pretty skittish, but I was quite happy with the lighting on his head (what I wanted to focus on) and the details that it brought out. Most of all, I think I really couldn't get enough of that beautiful eye!

IMG_2102-2 by TogaLive, on Flickr

As always, I appreciate any and all CC! ;)

Toga
 
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Huh, what lens are you using? f/2.8 200mm?

I'm not sure these pictures belong in the Beginner forum :p
 
Huh, what lens are you using? f/2.8 200mm?

I'm not sure these pictures belong in the Beginner forum :p

Ha, I wish I had that kind of glass! These were shot with the Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6

I've only had my T3i for two months, I'd still consider myself a beginner, but I appreciate the compliment! ;)
 
nice for number 3 :thumbup:
How about a little more space above the head?
 
Ha, I wish I had that kind of glass! These were shot with the Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6

I've only had my T3i for two months, I'd still consider myself a beginner, but I appreciate the compliment! ;)

The pictures are crisp, the DOF is nice, the background not distracting. I would have decreased the DOF for the first though, the branch gets in the way. But other than that, nice.
 
Keep all the great CC coming, I really appreciate it! I'll watch my DOF next time I get to shoot a hummingbird!

Mleek, Overread, LightSpeed, Bossy, cgipson1, any of you veterans have any thoughts as well?

Was the watermark too distracting, or is it tolerable?
 
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As a general rule, I do not like watermarks, but these are ok.
 
Keep all the great CC coming, I really appreciate it! I'll watch my DOF next time I get to shoot a hummingbird!

Mleek, Overread, LightSpeed, Bossy, cgipson1, any of you veterans have any thoughts as well?

Was the watermark too distracting, or is it tolerable?

About watermarks. You'll get a broad spectrum of commentary on that.
I don't really know what the big deal is. I watermark everything. Mostly because that's what I feel like doing.
More or less a matter of personal preference.

I think your watermark is fine.

As to the images. They are nice. You're probably on your way to being kicked out of the beginners forum, like what happened to me.
lol

One thing though. Cropping and wildlife.
I'm sure you know this but, I'm not a fan of cropping in order to get a close up.
Main reason being print quality, should you decide to print.
I'll crop a bit off the edges to fine tune a composition, but if I have to go more than that, then I haven't done what I should have, with the camera.

Wildlife is hard. Even with a 300mm prime lens you have to get close for that amazing image.
Sometimes that requires sitting in one place all day long until sunset, without moving, twitching or announcing your presence.
Turtles aren't that tough, but birds are. If you're 10 feet away from a bird, he can hear the shutter release. He can hear the camera focusing.
A birds senses are mush more keen than people think. Hearing is phenomenal along with vision.
I've been in positions to get a bird shot where the bird was no more than 5 feet away and I'm like oh man, I'm gonna get some real good detail.
Only for him to sense the slightest movement and take off like a bat out of hell.

My pick of the bunch?
#2 on composition and even lighting, along with knowing how hard this can be..

I've certainly produced much worse than any of these in my time.
Keep it up.
 
Keep all the great CC coming, I really appreciate it! I'll watch my DOF next time I get to shoot a hummingbird!

Mleek, Overread, LightSpeed, Bossy, cgipson1, any of you veterans have any thoughts as well?

Was the watermark too distracting, or is it tolerable?

About watermarks. You'll get a broad spectrum of commentary on that.
I don't really know what the big deal is. I watermark everything. Mostly because that's what I feel like doing.
More or less a matter of personal preference.

I think your watermark is fine.

As to the images. They are nice. You're probably on your way to being kicked out of the beginners forum, like what happened to me.
lol

One thing though. Cropping and wildlife.
I'm sure you know this but, I'm not a fan of cropping in order to get a close up.
Main reason being print quality, should you decide to print.
I'll crop a bit off the edges to fine tune a composition, but if I have to go more than that, then I haven't done what I should have, with the camera.

Wildlife is hard. Even with a 300mm prime lens you have to get close for that amazing image.
Sometimes that requires sitting in one place all day long until sunset, without moving, twitching or announcing your presence.
Turtles aren't that tough, but birds are. If you're 10 feet away from a bird, he can hear the shutter release. He can hear the camera focusing.
A birds senses are mush more keen than people think. Hearing is phenomenal along with vision.
I've been in positions to get a bird shot where the bird was no more than 5 feet away and I'm like oh man, I'm gonna get some real good detail.
Only for him to sense the slightest movement and take off like a bat out of hell.

My pick of the bunch?
#2 on composition and even lighting, along with knowing how hard this can be..

I've certainly produced much worse than any of these in my time.
Keep it up.

Well taken good sir, and I appreciate the quality critique! I try to get as close as possible with my 55-250, but I think I will have to just sit and camp in one spot sometime to really get the shot given my focal length limitations atm. Right now I'll usually sit in one spot for 30 minutes or so, and then move on, so I'll work on that.

As for the birds, I know exactly what you mean! The Egrets out here are spazcakes. One bit of AF, or one second of IS motors running, and they are GONE. I can't quite blame them, though, the Arboretum can be crawling with photographers sometimes. I certainly find your top pick interesting, and it makes me think about what actually matters in an image, and what goes into taking a photo. I really appreciate all the great advice!

P.S: If I do eventually get kicked out of the beginner's forum, I'll take it as a compliment, but I do enjoy it here :p
 
The only ciriticizim I could offer is that you've outgrown the "Beginners" forum.

I think that may only be in the case of wildlife photography, which so far I've devoted all of my shooting time to ;)

My portraiture skills are non-existent, and I don't have a functional tripod, so my landscape photography is in the same boat! Regardless, I'll probably just post future shots like these in the galleries for the sake of not stealing views from people who need them more, but I'm sure the beginners forum will see more threads from me when I give portraiture a try!

Once again, thank you for all the great CC everyone, its great to know my hard work is paying off, and I appreciate flaws being pointed out so I can improve!
 

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