Critique for improvement

jchiver · 11 Jan 2012 at 21:51

Hi All,

I would like some advise please.

I have been playing with my camera this evening to try and learn its features and understand it a bit better.

I have taken a few indoor pictures of my cat using my 400d with a 50mm 1.8.

I was playing to get a better feel for dof and also the use or higher ISO.

This is the original

I felt the noise was to high as it was shot at 1600iso - f1.8 @ 1/80sec. With this in mind I reduced the noise using LR and recovered the blacks using the recovery tool.

This was the result.

Is there anything you would do different with this picture?

Thanks for any help
Jeremy

33L · 11 Jan 2012 at 21:59

Was this shot in RAW?

If so adjusting the WB so the cats fur looks white and not yellow would be my first, On my calibrated monitor it also looks a little underexposed. Those two are easy to fix.

As you get used to the lens remember the corners and edges, try and frame your shots so that you have no clipped feet or anything else that might make a good shot a brilliant photo. The focus looks like its on the nose, with the avaiable light it seems thats probably a good focal point to get the camera to focus on. It works ok here with the eyes closed but rule of thumb is get the eyes in focus, or for a shot like this the whole head/face should be in focus which means either stepping back or closing the aperture down a bit.

Imsorry if that came across harsh, it wasnt my intention, written word just doesnt seem to get across im just trying to be helpful.

An Exception · 11 Jan 2012 at 22:10

Correct WB & increase exposure.

jchiver · 11 Jan 2012 at 22:23

33L said:
Was this shot in RAW?

Yes it was

33L said:
If so adjusting the WB so the cats fur looks white and not yellow would be my first, On my calibrated monitor it also looks a little underexposed. Those two are easy to fix.

I have updated it based on your suggestion and the shot is now as follows

33L said:
As you get used to the lens remember the corners and edges, try and frame your shots so that you have no clipped feet or anything else that might make a good shot a brilliant photo.

I completely missed this but will try to remember in future. Thanks

33L said:
The focus looks like its on the nose, with the available light it seems that's probably a good focal point to get the camera to focus on. It works ok here with the eyes closed but rule of thumb is get the eyes in focus, or for a shot like this the whole head/face should be in focus which means either stepping back or closing the aperture down a bit.

I will try this next time. unfortunately my cat has decided to move (not a very good model

) but next time I try i will go for the eyes or head.

33L said:
Im sorry if that came across harsh, it wasnt my intention, written word just doesnt seem to get across im just trying to be helpful.

Nothing to be sorry about just happy for the feedback so i can learn.

Thanks again.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

jchiver · 11 Jan 2012 at 22:23

An Exception said:
Correct WB & increase exposure.

Thanks for showing me.

jchiver · 11 Jan 2012 at 22:35

I just had another go and I think this time the WB, Noise, focus and composition are all ok but if not please feel free to let me know. Its the only way i will learn

Thanks

SMed · 12 Jan 2012 at 07:36

To me it looks just a touch underexposed still. But the composition looks a little better.

33L · 12 Jan 2012 at 07:53

Got to agree with the above. If you don't have a calibrated monitor. Check tour history gram to see where the exposure sits and adjust accordingly. Like a pilot, if you can't see, fly by instruments.

Devrij · 12 Jan 2012 at 08:10

I like the second shot, focus, WB and DOF are much better. You've lost a touch of detail in the black fur. As above, checking your histogram will help you work out your exposure where your screen is misleading you. Any time you have a large area of black or white in your shot it's worth checking your exposure, as your camera metering can be confused by them and over/underexpose.

jchiver · 12 Jan 2012 at 22:58

Thanks for the feedback and I have now looked at the histogram and had a little play.

To get an idea of where it should be i have made a few edits and also included the histogram

Pic1

By jchiver at 2012-01-12

By jchiver at 2012-01-12

Pic2

By jchiver at 2012-01-12

By jchiver at 2012-01-12

Pic3

By jchiver at 2012-01-12

Photogaz · 12 Jan 2012 at 23:11

I prefer the first one of that shot.

engstrom0304 · 12 Jan 2012 at 23:14

The second of those is good imo.

An Exception · 13 Jan 2012 at 00:27

You not getting enough light into the cat's eyes, the eye's are the hero in this image, so they should be given more prominence.

Lifted shadow shadow detail, increased contrast a touch, then added a mild vignette to focus attention onto the face.

jchiver · 13 Jan 2012 at 08:26

when i get home tonight i will have another play. I found that if increase the light i then lost the detail in the white fur.

iamtheoneneo · 13 Jan 2012 at 09:09

histograms are great and all as is the clipping mode in LR but its not the definitive way to process a photo. figure out what type of look you want from a shot and roll with it - its not essential to try and keep all the details if for instance you have a very narrow focal point. Its a bit different if you were taking landscape shots for example.

Ksanti · 13 Jan 2012 at 10:58

iamtheoneneo said:
histograms are great and all as is the clipping mode in LR but its not the definitive way to process a photo. figure out what type of look you want from a shot and roll with it - its not essential to try and keep all the details if for instance you have a very narrow focal point. Its a bit different if you were taking landscape shots for example.

This.

While much of the advice has been perfectly valid here, don't use the histogram to judge whether a final image is 'right'. Use a histogram to check if your image has stuff blown out or lost in black while shooting so you can shoot again to get better image quality allowing a better final product in technical terms. It's not really a processing tool so much as a shooting tool. Obviously if you're consistently getting comments that your images are horrendously underexposed then check the end histogram as well to check if there's a huge gap in the highlights etc. but don't view processing as just trying to get detail in every section of the histogram. Find a style you like and go with it.