Just thought I'd share

Netskimmer · May 23, 2011

It will be at least a week probably before my gear gets here but I thought I'd share a few of the many many many photos I took when the family went to the zoo last year. Some of them didn't come out too bad, just keep a few things in mind for C&C:

A) These were taken with an old, mid-level point and shoot.
B) I knew nothing of "real" photography at the time.
C) I had little if any control over the environment.
D) We wanted to see everything so we were moving pretty fast which didn't give me much time to get the shots.

Well, now that all of that is out of the way, what do you think?

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4.

Studio7Four · May 23, 2011

It sounds like you feel your photography has come along quite a bit since you took these. I suggest you post a self-critique on these images. Rather than the members of the forum rehash things you already know, we can then follow up with constructive critiques.

photocist · May 23, 2011

why do you post photos you dont even like and ask for c&c?

A-D just seem like excuses so we dont trash your work...

Netskimmer · May 23, 2011

I haven't come far at all, I've just started trying to take serious photos less than a month ago, and I actually like these, espesially numbers 3 and 4. I just wanted people to know the context in which they were taken.
I guess I'm at the stage where the more I learn, the more I realize just how much I have to learn, I guess it's made me a little apologetic.
As for a critique, hmmm...

1.
Could be a little tighter on the subject, could have applied the rule of thirds. Would have been nice if I had time to wait for her to look up but as I said the group was in a hurry and she was too interested in playing with her toes.

2.
Rule of thirds was applied (by accident) I didn't know it existed at the time. Would have been nice to get baby and momma both facing forward.

3.
Could have gone tighter but I wanted to get the lily pads in the shot with him, could have gone tighter and applied the rule of thirds to get the results I wanted.

4.
I could have moved his head a little more to the right and gotten more of him and less background.

photocist · May 23, 2011

Notice also the lack of shadows and definition on each subject. Zoos are really difficult to get good photos from, mainly because they animals generally look sad, the lighting is not even close to ideal, and the environment can be distracting.

id say zoos are for your viewing pleasure, but not necessarily a photogenic place (unless you work there, and can be there at odd hours and get closer to the animals).

Netskimmer · May 23, 2011

photocist said:
Zoos are really difficult to get good photos from, mainly because they animals generally look sad, the lighting is not even close to ideal, and the environment can be distracting.

id say zoos are for your viewing pleasure, but not necessarily a photogenic place (unless you work there, and can be there at odd hours and get closer to the animals).

Yeah, It's just my inclination when I go someplace out of the ordinary is to try and get lots of photos. It can actually be a problem because I spend so much effort on taking pics that I don't get to soak up the experience.

Studio7Four · May 23, 2011

Okay... I'll try to stay away from comments about the lighting and the posing, as those were both out of your control, particularly with limited time with each animal. I agree with you that 3 and 4 are my favorites of the set.

1) I agree that a tighter crop would have helped. I certainly would crop in from the right to remove what looks like a wooden pole - I probably would crop all the way to the edge of her cubby hole. I also would crop from the bottom to remove a good chunk of the grass - because it's so much more brightly lit, the eye is trying to be pulled that way. If you had composed the shot this way, or planned to crop it like this, you could have increased your exposure and the orangutan would have been better exposed (who cares if you overexpose the grass if it's not going to be in your final image?). I don't know how your post-processing skills are, but I'd try to either clone out or at least burn the dead grass clinging to her hair.

2) I would have shot this with my aperture as wide open as I could to try to maximize the blur of the background (it's possible you did this - can't really tell without knowing the relative distances of you to them and them to the fence). It does look like there is a tilt to the image. It's possibly your camera was completely level (elephants lean, and the fence may have been running slightly uphill or not perfectly perpendicular to your field of view), but there is a perceived tilt. I'd try rotating the image a bit clockwise, you should still be able to recrop it for a decent composition.

3) Probably my favorite of the set because of the use of color. I like that you didn't zoom in too much, I agree with keeping the lily pads in the shot. It's unfortunate that you have the bright spot on the lily pad directly above the frog as that draws the eye. You also would have been better to compose with the frog in the lower right corner, perhaps even beyond a rule of thirds position. He's lined up almost perfectly with the diagonal of the image, so moving him to the lower right would have created the story that he is looking - and perhaps getting ready to jump - into the center of the frame.

4) Nicely timed capture, it looks like he is looking directly at you. However, it looks like you used a far-too-shallow DoF here. His face is relatively sharp, but the rest of him, from the top of his head back, is out of focus. That being the case I'd actually suggest cropping in extremely closely. Let his face fill (or essentially fill) the frame and lose the out of focus parts of his body.

From your post I'm guessing you're getting a handle on composition. Just remember that the Rule of Thirds is a good suggestion but not a law - there are some times that a central position is best, or an extremely off-center position. Next is to learn the exposure triangle (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) and to adjust each setting to get the effect you want while properly exposing the subject.

Netskimmer · May 23, 2011

Thanks, you given me a lot to think about with these photos. My post skills (and software) are pretty much nill at this point. In fact I didn't even crop these before posting them.

Did some cropping and some editing with GIMP.

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