676 Photos Later.....

Skedaddle · May 7, 2009

*The new edited versions of the photos are father down the thread. Take a look and let me know if you like them better.*

I was at the zoo for at least four hours and managed to take 676 photos and use four AA batteries. Here are some of the best (in my opinion) out of all of them that are up for C&C. Is the exposure correct? Should some of them be cropped? Do the colors look ok? How is the composition in these photos?

Each of the photos, except the seagull, has had a little bit of editing dome to them.

Let me know what you think of them.
Thanks.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Ecas32 · May 7, 2009

wow those are great. i cant believe you did these with a powershot. the only crop i would change is #4. i would crop it a little tighter and move it down so you can get the duck and its reflrection an equal distance from the top and bottom of the picture

Skedaddle · May 7, 2009

Thank you.

I was thinking the duck photo would need a crop but I wanted to see how other peoplpe thought I should do it.

Anyone else?

EhJsNe · May 7, 2009

#1: Seems a little dull, more contrast maybe? Other than that very good.

#2 Fluffy! I like it. the look on it face is funny, all mad and whatnot. (maybe he doesnt like his pictuere taken

)

#3 is good, the white balance seems wrong...or maybe its the squirrelys coat (which I would like to make into my coat

)

#4 Is neat, but seems boring, nothing just goes POP! if you know what I mean....try the tighter crop, if it doesnt work, just hit "undo". Fun Fun digital is. (Im still getting used to my D70, its odd, its big, its heavy, it has a flash, and after I press the button I can decide if I need to retake the shot. Something an Fm10 cant do....)

#5, my favorite, is perfect in my opninon.

Skedaddle · May 7, 2009

Thank you for the comments EhJsNe. I'll try adding more contrast to the first photo. I added some but I didn't want to over do it. On the 3rd photo, I'll try to adjust the color and see how that looks. As for the 4th, I am definitly going to be cropping it.

c0ps · May 7, 2009

I love the colors in the photos. Nice job

Overread · May 8, 2009

I like what I see here

Though to my eyes they all seem to have a greeny cast to them and I would encourage you to have a read here and then use the levels tool to remove that colour cast:
Levels -- Part I

Auto levels can work perfectly fine, but do read up about using the dippers for setting manual black and white points as well as the manual controls - you might not need them but its good understandings to have for when you do.

Aside from that the only other thing is that they are rather central, but I suspect the limits of your camera (auto focus) have pushed you that way plus its a trickier thing to compose moving animals offcentre (because they move!)

Skedaddle · May 8, 2009

Thank you for the comments.

I'll take a look at the link and try to put what it says to use.

Anyone else?

taracary · May 8, 2009

Wow --- I would love to get shots that look this good.

The squirrel does look a little green ---though maybe that's his personality showing through?

The only other thing I would try is to post-process the duck a little after you get it cropped. It's a great shot, but everything is so vivid he doesn't quite pop the way you would like to see. If you use photoshop you should be able to bring the brightness up ever so slightly just on the duck to make him stand out from the background a little. Just don't overdo it or he'll look like a lawn ornament.

SemperAi · May 8, 2009

I love the squirrel and seagull ones =).

I agree on cropping down the duck photo. Otherwise, nice!!

Skedaddle · May 8, 2009

Thank you for the comments.

I have already cropped the duck and fixed the squirrel but I have not posted their fixed photos yet. I have also cropped the extra space on the right on the seagull photo.