Nittany Lion Pictures--CC is always welcomed!

BHE · Feb 13, 2009

Was at my alma mater this week and took some pictures of the lion, what do you think? What could I have done different? Thanks!

1.

2.

3.

These pictures were all taken with Tamron 70-200mm 2.8

BHE · Feb 13, 2009

Anyone?? I can take the criticism!!

JMD · Feb 13, 2009

I think less depth of field would have been nice as the tree branches in the background aren't all that spectacular.
Justin

ShutterSpeed · Feb 13, 2009

your white balance appears to be off...

Sw1tchFX · Feb 13, 2009

I was hoping for some football

and yes, your hue is all over the place.

mikemicki · Feb 13, 2009

Not bad. For me #2 & #3 seem a bit on the *cool* side (as in a cool blueish hue). Just curious, but is there a story behind the lion's right ear? It looks as if if broke off then put back on.

Chairman7w · Feb 13, 2009

Three is very dynamic - nice comp. But yeah, it looks a little cool and could use less DoF.

manaheim · Feb 13, 2009

I have yet to see anyone really capture a statue in a way that's interesting... well, not too many people, anyway. Unfortunately, in this particular case the statue itself doesn't have a ton of interest, so that makes it more challenging.

I'm sure this has some personal interest for you, so that probably makes a big difference, so certainly enjoy it for that.

BHE · Feb 14, 2009

mikemicki said:
Not bad. For me #2 & #3 seem a bit on the *cool* side (as in a cool blueish hue). Just curious, but is there a story behind the lion's right ear? It looks as if if broke off then put back on.

I seem to remember some stroy about the ear but can't recall what it was. It's been over ten years since I attended classes there.

I adjusted the wamth on 2 and 3 and they do look better. Thanks for the input.

BHE · Feb 14, 2009

manaheim said:
I have yet to see anyone really capture a statue in a way that's interesting... well, not too many people, anyway. Unfortunately, in this particular case the statue itself doesn't have a ton of interest, so that makes it more challenging.

I'm sure this has some personal interest for you, so that probably makes a big difference, so certainly enjoy it for that.

Chris, I can see your point--this probably isn't the most interesting to people unless they have a personal connection to Penn State University!

I do think the 3rd picture is pretty strong though!

Eldrich · Feb 14, 2009

This statue is probably the most photographed location in central PA! I had my family in town and we were walking around the campus one day and didn't really have much to do, so I said "what the hey, lets go to the nittany lion shrine, thats what people do when they visit campus" and there were 2 other families there already, so there was basically a line, 3 families long, to photograph this lion! we ended up just leaving without walking up to the shrine.

anyway, that being said, I agree with the comments about white balance, something which is totally correctable if you shoot in RAW, but should be payed attention to while shooting if you shoot JPG. Compositionally I like the third one the best. It is a huge statue, and the others don't really give reference to its size. The close angle doesn't exactly give a reference of its size, but does represent the size because it looks bigger in the frame. With such a hugely photographed statue, and frankly one thats not all that exciting when taken alone, the pictures that stand our are extreme points of view and things like that.

I have a hard time capturing sculpture myself. Though I always try if there is a statue, but they usually come out very boring. I'm not really sure why.

hope you enjoyed your time in good ol' state college, as suggested above, I'm currently there

BHE · Feb 14, 2009

Eldrich said:
This statue is probably the most photographed location in central PA! I had my family in town and we were walking around the campus one day and didn't really have much to do, so I said "what the hey, lets go to the nittany lion shrine, thats what people do when they visit campus" and there were 2 other families there already, so there was basically a line, 3 families long, to photograph this lion! we ended up just leaving without walking up to the shrine.

anyway, that being said, I agree with the comments about white balance, something which is totally correctable if you shoot in RAW, but should be payed attention to while shooting if you shoot JPG. Compositionally I like the third one the best. It is a huge statue, and the others don't really give reference to its size. The close angle doesn't exactly give a reference of its size, but does represent the size because it looks bigger in the frame. With such a hugely photographed statue, and frankly one thats not all that exciting when taken alone, the pictures that stand our are extreme points of view and things like that.

I have a hard time capturing sculpture myself. Though I always try if there is a statue, but they usually come out very boring. I'm not really sure why.

hope you enjoyed your time in good ol' state college, as suggested above, I'm currently there

Eldrich, thanks for the comments. I actually did shoot these pictures in raw format; I'm just a newbie and very inexperienced with post processing. If anyone can provide help with Capture NX2 adjustments I would appreciate it.

I'm using my trial period for Capture NX2 but I haven't spent a ton of time on there--it seems a little overwhelming. I'm sure as I process more photos the easier it will become. This whole thing is new to me, including photography itself.

Eldrich · Feb 14, 2009

I've never used Capture NX2, or anything like it, but whatever you're using to convert from RAW to JPG should have something which allows you to adjust the white balance. Depending on the type of lighting used, there can be different color offsets to the whole scene. Your eyes are better at adjusting for this effect than camera's are. That is why your camera has separate settings for flourescent lighting, tungsten lighting etc. when in auto, because it is attempting to correct for the different style of lighting to make it appear more as your eyes see the scene.

However, when shooting in RAW, you can adjust this continuously, and can try different things to see what works. I suggest just playing around with the white balance adjust until you get a sense for how it changes the photos. The first step is realizing how to see white balance. The three shots you posted all look like they have three different white balance settings to me. Usually in a set of photos from the same thing, it is good to have them all at the same setting, otherwise it is a little discordant to look at.