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21/03/2009 12:26:16 a.m.
kathleen Posts 221	Hi Canon S.I Thanks for that, we sort of needed a visual when it comes to distracting objects that takes the eye away from the impact we try to create. I know sometimes we don't think to look around to see whats in the view, we are concentrating on catching that action. But a moment to check can make all the difference later when we see our shots. The light and pole behind the caught ball is what kept grabbing my eye. Your caught ball action deserves all the attention; so what I have done roughly in photoshop, is I have taken the pole out from behind the action so the eye goes straight to that caught ball. I also rotated the image counter clockwise by 2, as I felt the image was slighly slanted, but hey, in sports photography, anything goes. This is just my preference for the grandstand roof level in the background. If the background was a shallow depth of field, I don't think it would matter. I have also done a crop, so the eye does not move out of the action out into the car-park and grounds on the left, also some off the right to bring the balance back in to the main action. Slight lighten to the levels, but all monitors are different. Keep an eye on whats in your viewfinder, it would have been better to have moved slightly to your left if no one was in the way and took your shot. I like the sharp stop the action look for this, I think movement would not have worked as well. If you have a telephoto lens, use it at times to create close action, don't be afraid to zoom tight in on some of these sorts of shots and totally blur the background out with a shallow depth of field. As always, these are just my preferences, hope something might help. Kathleen.
21/03/2009 12:48:49 a.m.
kathleen Posts 221	Hi Canon S.I I am not sure why, but I cannot see the workshop image of yours I up-loaded with my comments, I'll try again. Comments again are: Thanks for that, we sort of needed a visual when it comes to distracting objects that takes the eye away from the impact we try to create. I know sometimes we don't think to look around to see whats in the view, we are concentrating on catching that action. But a moment to check can make all the difference later when we see our shots. The light and pole behind the caught ball is what kept grabbing my eye. Your caught ball action deserves all the attention; so what I have done roughly in photoshop, is I have taken the pole out from behind the action so the eye goes straight to that caught ball. I also rotated the image counter clockwise by 2, as I felt the image was slighly slanted, but hey, in sports photography, anything goes. This is just my preference for the grandstand roof level in the background. If the background was a shallow depth of field, I don't think it would matter. I have also done a crop, so the eye does not move out of the action out into the car-park and grounds on the left, also some off the right to bring the balance back in to the main action. Slight lighten to the levels, but all monitors are different. Keep an eye on whats in your viewfinder, it would have been better to have moved slightly to your left if no one was in the way and took your shot. I like the sharp stop the action look for this, I think movement would not have worked as well. If you have a telephoto lens, use it at times to create close action, don't be afraid to zoom tight in on some of these sorts of shots and totally blur the background out with a shallow depth of field. As always, these are just my preferences, hope something might help. Kathleen.
21/03/2009 12:50:22 a.m.
kathleen Posts 221	Sorry, now its there twice.
21/03/2009 8:29:54 a.m.
sizzlingbadger Posts 42	Thanks for the comments. The DOF is shallow even at f5.6 because it was taken at 200mm and close up, remember DOF is also proportional to distance and not just f stop (a lot of people forget this). Histogram looks fine in Lightroom and Photoshop and I also calibrate my monitor, maybe I could move the brightness of the image down a little though.
21/03/2009 8:37:03 a.m.
Canon_S.I. Posts 283	Thanks Kathleen, like what you did, i didn't even notice the pole behind the ball,i'm going to Darfield tomorrow to get some pre season pics and will take on board your helpfull comments.If i remember rightly wer'e allowed 1 post per week if this is the case i'll post another pic next week and see if i have learned anything :-),cheers.
21/03/2009 12:53:08 p.m.
Kiwiangel Posts 101	sizzlingbadger wrote: I take quite a few photo's of wildlife. This is a typical close up of a bird, a Weka. How can I improve the composition of images like this for design usage ? In general wildlife photography focuses on portraying the animal, but I'm sure for design purposes there are other compositional areas to consider. I love the image of the Weka. Crisp focus on the eyes and an interesting viewpoint. I love the angle of the beak compositionally. I am not a designer, but have a few of my own thoughts... I would think about the purpose of the shot. The image you have shows up the head beautifully, but feels a little impersonal (like Canon SI mentioned getting lower for eye-to-eye, therefore engaging the viewer more). Including something of the environment might help give some relationship or indication of habit/habitat. As well as thinking of the purpose of the image, think about its potential use. A bit more copyspace (shallow DOF to give blurred bg) may increase its usability more, ie. increase the number of jobs it might be suitable for. A purchaser can always crop away unwanted bg to suit their need, but it is harder (and not cost effective, I would think) for them to add it in. I do love the picture though. I love wildlife pics.
24/03/2009 4:32:28 p.m.
Rosie Posts 157	sizzlingbadger wrote: I take quite a few photo's of wildlife. This is a typical close up of a bird, a Weka. How can I improve the composition of images like this for design usage ? In general wildlife photography focuses on portraying the animal, but I'm sure for design purposes there are other compositional areas to consider. Hi Sizzlingbadger, This image is great! Love it. A few tips from a Designer's perspective (I have a graphic design background) would be allowing space for copy/text (so subject matter/focal point not always smack bang in the centre of the image). A lot of your images in your portfolio demonstrate this perfectly (#100500_1 and #100500_30 are a couple of examples). Shallow depth of field and interesting angles also make images interesting and complement design. In saying that, stock images aren't ALWAYS used with text on them. You're doing a great job! Cheers, Rosie.
26/03/2009 9:45:13 a.m.
Rosie Posts 157	Hi again Sizzlingbader, A common thing often asked when designers find that perfect image for their artwork is "Is there a landscape version of this shot?" (or vice versa if the image is portrait). So one thing to think about could be taking both a landscape and portrait shot of a subject/scene. An example of this is Kate Meredith's images #101010_56 and #101010_22. Hope this helps! Cheers, Rosie.
1/04/2009 3:27:47 p.m.
Thadeus Posts 12	Hi Canon SI. Well done on being the brave first one in for critique - I think it is awesome and hopefully I'll have the courage to post some images here as well. I thought the composition of the image could have been improved if you shot portrait as the action is quite localised and mainly vertical in the shot - you could then have zoomed a bit closer and make work in the frame a bit better. The other thing that struck me was that the lighting tower distracts from the action and it could have been either moved to the side by a sidestep by you or deleted in Photoshop. In regards to the other comment made on this I like the idea of getting movement in the scene but I think you'd need to have a monopod so the background isn't blurred but you are still able to quickly respond to the action. Good shooting Thadeus
8/04/2009 12:09:20 p.m.
Mel Posts 166	Hi Folks Just wanted to let you know that when you want to upload an image for critique you can start your own new post - you don't have to add your image to this current forum, unless of course you want to : ) Cheers Mel
15/04/2009 4:01:20 p.m.
MelissaR Posts 9	Hi Sizzling badger. From a designers perspective, its a lovely photograph, but no room to put copy or work around the central focus. I would recommend to pull back to allow us to move to the left, right, up, down and create spaces for text or headings if required. We can crop short, but not wide! Nice shot tho. Good work!
20/04/2009 5:57:16 p.m.
photohunter Posts 69	I think that if people want critique on their shots then they should join a group that does that. I feel this is a stock site for selling images and not for critique
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