How am I doing for a Noob! :)

Raj_55555 · Apr 14, 2013

Hi guys! Although I started Photography just a couple of months back I am really passionate about photography. I purchased my first camera (Canon sx50hs) a couple of months earlier and went berserk; even dared to open my own Facebook page a couple days back.

I have been active member of other forums (programming and stuff), but photography is new to me. Hope I am welcome here, and fnd my way around easily.
Here's one of my most fav pics as a token. Feel free to critique, but please don't flame me. I've been learning photography hardly for two months.. Fire away..

jjh221 · Apr 14, 2013

thats a good looking elephant

Benco · Apr 14, 2013

Very cool image. The background is a bit bright though, it looks blown even though it's not.

Designer · Apr 14, 2013

You're doing fine! Keep up the good work.

BoRyan · Apr 14, 2013

The image is great. The post processing needs some development. Great shot!

Raj_55555 · Apr 14, 2013

BoRyan said:
The image is great. The post processing needs some development. Great shot!

That's one of the things I am hoping to learn here.. Do you have anything particular in mind?

Raj_55555 · Apr 14, 2013

@jjj221 and Designer Thanks for the nice comments, I really appreciate it..

@Benco Actually the background is blown out intentionally, there were some man made stuff at the back which was ruining the feel of the image. I felt this looks more natural, then again I was just going by my instincts and not my non-existent photographic experience.

IceCanAm · Apr 14, 2013

Welcome to the site.

Benco · Apr 14, 2013

Raj_55555 said:
@jjj221 and Designer Thanks for the nice comments, I really appreciate it..

@Benco Actually the background is blown out intentionally, there were some man made stuff at the back which was ruining the feel of the image. I felt this looks more natural, then again I was just going by my instincts and not my non-existent photographic experience.

That's cool, as long as it's something you were doing deliberately then why not? if it had been unintentional then it could have been something that was worth bringing to your attention but so long as you're aware of the issues of blown highlights then it isn't an issue.

Keep up the good work.

vintagesnaps · Apr 14, 2013

You might need to learn more about how to set your camera to get a proper exposure so the photo doesn't look too bright/too light, that can help keep the color looking better and not too washed out. You could try changing your vantage point, if you can notice your background before you take the picture maybe you can move around and get a better background showing in your viewfinder.

The close up of the elephant works nicely to show all the texture and lines of its skin, that makes for an interesting photo.

smalltowngirl13 · Apr 15, 2013

Hello and welcome aboard!

RMTac · Apr 16, 2013

Welcome to the board!

Tony S · Apr 16, 2013

If you had changed your ISO up and adjusted the exposure the fine details in the skin would have shown much better,but with a shutter speed at 1/30 I'm afraid this image is really hurt by the softness caused by motion. Your idea to eliminate the distractions in the background is good, but I think a slightly different composition with the head all the way up into the upper right corner would have also done that, which would even work towards putting the eye (which should be the sharpest point in this image) in the upper right third of the image (read up on "rule of thirds, it's a good guideline). By also composing that way you would have brought more of the elephants leg into the lower left adding more interesting texture into the image.

Keep clicking away, it's one of he best ways to develop an eye for composition.

Raj_55555 · Apr 17, 2013

Tony S said:
Keep clicking away, it's one of he best ways to develop an eye for composition.

Thanks a lot Tony for such a descriptive reply. I have a question though, you say

If you had changed your ISO up and adjusted the exposure the fine details in the skin would have shown much better

.
I had the idea that ISO is only for instances where the image is getting darker and is not properly exposed. In other words it's a bargain in low light situations, with the downside being noise. I always try to shoot at the lowest ISO possible, am I missing something here?

And change the exposure which way, is the main subject over exposed in your opinion? Keep in mind mine is not a DSLR rather a Bridge camera.

Thanks a lot for your response, I really appreciate it.

Tony S · Apr 17, 2013

The problem with the ISO you were shooting at is that you had to have an exposure with too slow of a shutter speed that let camera and subject movement impact the quality of the image. I think you had plenty of latitude in ISO range to increase it so your shutter speeds were fast enough to eliminate the motion. If that exposure on the elephant is what you want, then you can have it with a higher ISO, you only need to adjust the shutter speed and aperture to get the correct exposure to convey the image the way you want. there are plenty of online exposure charts that can show you what a comparable exposure would be at a higher ISO.

I would always take a sharp well exposed image with a little bit of noise in in over an image that is exposed that leaves things soft from movement.