Time to get out of the pan and into the fire-- C&C please

[expat42451]

I ve been batting about here asking and receiving a lot of really excellent help. So one must wonder what good it is since there have been no images forthcoming. So here are a few

DSC_1548 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

These are a scant few of lets see--1788 images taken since the D 7000 was bought 4/13/11.

Comments and criticisms would be welcome
Expat

 

[KmH]

As you can see, people are not willing to visit your Flickr and then comment here, on what they see there.

Post 1, or at most 2, photos in your thread if you want C&C.

 

[The_Traveler]

Original

In this one, you caught great eye-contact with the guitarist.
Very strong picture but, imo, there were some real problems.
The background was too bright, drawing the eye,
there was was too much space and brightness at the sides, again allowing the eye to wander.
His face and eyes are too dark while his shirt is right on target for exposure; any brighter and it would pull the eye. Dark skinned people in brightish light with white clothing is a real exposure problem that I almost always end up fixing in post.
You clipped his head - ugh.


Now look what happens when you bring his head down in the frame to a stronger place(a little rough, I know, but it was a low-res image).
Crop it tighter Don't worry about clipping the bodies and the hands, it is a tight composition and the mind accepts that as long as it is tight all around..
Fix his head (I grabbed some of the existing and moved it around)
Lighten his face and lighten his eyes even more, enough so they stand out.
Darken the background and clone in the bright spots
darken the foreground singer and the corners.
sharpen for local contrast (this gets more contrast in the face to make it pop.)
et voila

 

[expat42451]

Traveler

Amazing what your changes did to the photo. Thanks very much for bringing it here to share.

Several questions-- how much of what needed changing would you have attempted to do "during" the shot...I am assuming (limited experience) that shooting a band requires more "snap shooting" since the people movement is very dynamic. Cropping the head in the exposure was an error...frame things better. Exposure-- should I have done something different with the camera? The first thing that comes to my mind is should I have used a more aggressive active D -lighting setting during shooting? Before I posted these when looking at the group at the end of the days shooting, the first thing that came to mind was the exposure problem in quite a few of the band due to the light background and darker skinned players. I thought hmmm maybe different active d-lighting settings. One of the things I have noticed due to my inexperience with the camera is the ease with which it is possible to really blow out highs.

Second question-- I am curious about what what post processing software you are using-- I use ViewNX, am inexperienced with the program...other than gaining familiarity by using pretty basic functions there i.e. contrast, brightness, color, active d lighting and cropping I have not yet done much more with the program and dont know if its capable of doing what you have done here.

Once again thanks very much for taking the time to bring the photo over here and demonstrate what needed doing. I really need this kind of critique.

Warmest Regards

Expat

 

[expat42451]

I have decided to go ahead and pay dues here--have just completed the payment--with the help I am getting, I am most happy to join and support the work here. Thanks to you all.
Expat

 

[The_Traveler]

The framing is just experience and visualizing the end shot.
The exposure is just experience and making endless mistakes.
In a situation like this with very sunny background, dark skin, I routinely over-expose by half to three-quarters of a stop to compensate for the backlighting and expect to do some PPing.
I don't use ViewNx for anything so couldn't give any help with that.
All of these changes were done in PS although I'm certain a good hand with any PPing software that can do uses layers, masks or control points could have used it as well or better.

The most important part is the experience to look at any picture and decide what to do that you think will improve it.
This takes experience and a little taste best gotten by looking at lots of pictures critically.

Lew