Trip to Twycross Zoo

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2 Jun 2005
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Thought I would post a few pics to get opinions and advise on what I could improve on as im still a novice but still very keen with my canon 350d.

Anyway here are some photos from yesterday when to be honest the weather was terrible at times.
1#
IMG_0904.jpg

2#
IMG_0949.jpg

3#
IMG_0961.jpg

4#
IMG_0989.jpg
 
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aren't they just brilliant places for photography?!

I have to find a small relative or female friend to drag along as i feel mildly ridiculous going on my own!

good shots though, number 2 and the otters are my picks of them!
 
Some good shots there to pick from but almost all of them seem to have been poorly processed (If at all)!

The biggest single criticism is the lack of shadow detail, followed by the in-focus cages and stuff. I know it is hard to avoid but if its ruining the shot, its ruining the shot...

To emphasise what I mean about processing, here is a very quick job done on just one of the "mediocre" shots that lacked some punch AND shadow detail. This took no longer than 2-3 minutes in PS to do:

IMG_0961edit.jpg

(will remove on request, of course)

Bit more time in PS and you will have some cracking shots there :)
 
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Theres a few nice ones in there mate with good composition. Others are not so good. Ones that stand out to me are the pelican, otter and one of the monkey shots (in future number your pics to make it more easier for us :p)
 
Thanks for some feedback, I havent done a great deal on after processing and as im trying to perfect my manual skills rather than any auto setting on the camera. I do get thou that one of the whole points of using digital is the aftertouch software you can do. I didnt use Photoshop as to be honest I just havent learnt enough to put into practice. It was hard to get most pics how I wanted as reflection off the glass on the cages was a nightmare to cope with and as stated althou the weather might not look it, rain was a pain on the day.

DRZ its funny as I quickly used in canon zoom browser the raw process and changed that same image to B&W and I do admit I get no where near the same level of detail please explain more or if you have any tips or guides you use for photoshop please tell.

Ive been using a SLR for only 4 months or so and I havent no-where near scratched the surface.
 
Right, I opened the JPEG in PS, cropped it to how I liked it (a touch closer) and then went to the channel mixer, ticked monochrome and then fiddled with the sliders a bit until it looked about right.

I then applied an S curve to get more contrast in the image, then used the shadow/highlight tool to get some of the shadow detail back.

Dodge/burned around the eyes to bring them out a bit more and then finally slightly sharpened it before saving.

If I had taken more time a levels tweak and stuff might have been useful but it was just a quick one to show you what I meant :)
 
Excellent shots there mate, my favourite is definately of the girraffe (spelling?), one because i really like girraffes (spelling again?) and 2 i think that the composition that you achived looks really nice and also the light that you captured it in really seem to make the girraffe look 'old' and 'graceful'. Great shots :)
 
Thanks for all the positive comments guys, it does a lot for my confidence as im still feel like a real novice.
 
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