What could I do better?

Photography knowledge exchange.

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axeman2729
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What could I do better?

Post by axeman2729 »

I took these pictures yesterday afew were actually decent. Which is the best in your opinion and how can I make all of them better?
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AndyO'Connor
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by AndyO'Connor »

A couple tips I can offer, one is unless you are going for a strict head shot close up, try to make sure the whole animal is in frame, there's a few shots where a coil is cut off.

Also, closer is not always better. It looks like you are using a point and shoot, and a draw back to getting really close is strange distortion, and a really shallow depth of field can make it difficult to have focus on the eyes.

Just keep shooting and see what you like.

Those two to get ya started on working on should be enough, keep posting and asking for help and people here should be willing to give some pointers,
rtdunham
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Joined: January 11th, 2011, 2:43 pm

Re: What could I do better?

Post by rtdunham »

axeman2729 wrote:... how can I make all of them better?
Two questions to help assess your equipment and knowledge level, so people can help you more:
1) Do you have your camera set for spot focus?
2) Are you aware you can depress the shutter half way while focusing on that spot, then move the camera while holding the shutter half depressed, to re-frame the photo?
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sjfriend
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by sjfriend »

First thing I noted was lighting. Either need to change white balance or add some artificial lighting.

I like the second photo best (the one in leaves). The grass n bark backgrounds look flat / unnatural.

As was stated, best training is looking at all the photos here and in books that you like and figure out what they did to achieve it. Then shoot like film is cheap! Which since your shooting digital, it is! If you see a pic here that you really like but can't figure out, ask. People will help.

Just remember we are dealing with live animals we love so use extreme care dealing with them. Don't need to stress them out just for a pic. Remember though, some herps HATE us photo nerds.

Good luck, great shooting, and enjoy.
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Antonsrkn
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by Antonsrkn »

Well there is a bunch of technical stuff you could do different or maybe you can't, it depends what kind of camera you're shooting with. But I'm not going to get into that.

Its different for everyone but when I see a photo of an animal on a road my eyes glaze over, this goes for woodchips and lawns as well. It doesn't look natural to me, detracts from the photo and i lose interest. Having said that, of course there are exceptions.
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Kevin Price
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by Kevin Price »

Hi axeman,

I like the first shot but it’s too dark. This would have been much better if shot with flash. Actually all of them would have been helped by some flash. It appears that you are shooting with a point and shoot. That’s fine, but like Andy stated, too close is not always better, and with a point and shoot it’s harder to get a sharp focus where you want it when up close. Your focus should be sharpest at the animal’s eye. Whether the rest of the animal is in focus or not depends on your composition and what you want it to look like.

The shot with the snake in the leaves with its tongue flickering is another that I like, but let’s look at that image a little more. The white balance is off and it appears too cool or bluish. Having the tongue blurred or not is entirely a compositional issue; it’s whatever you like. The fact that it’s blurred is cool. Problem is that the snake itself is blurred as well. Look at the snakes face and eye. That should be very sharp regardless of the tongue blurring. Again, flash would help bring out more color and make it ‘pop’ more.

I’m guessing you shot this in natural light at a shutter speed the camera selected due to the amount of light available. There probably was not enough light for a faster shutter speed and you had to hold it still for just a little too long, say 1/15 of a second or less. Shooting with a slow enough shutter speed to blur the tongue will also make it difficult to hold steady to keep everything else sharply in focus. That’s a technique and skill issue and it’s something we all work at improving! Can you use your camera in manual mode? If so, start shooting with it in manual and just play around with shutter speed and f-stops. It’s a lot easier than it sounds and you’ll get a good understanding of how your camera works, plus you’ll also know how to make it do what you want it to do as well as understanding its limitations.

What are you doing with your images after you take them? Do you download them straight out of the camera to the computer to post them online, or do you do any type of post-processing prior to uploading them. Just a little post-processing can add greatly to your images.

So, now having read what everyone else has stated, just shoot as much as you can. It can be of anything and not just herps. The more you shoot the better you’ll get. Looking at others photos on this site is great advice and trying to learn how an image was made a certain way. Just a small part of it is equipment, the vast majority is understanding your camera and how it works in any given situation. That’s the art of photography.

Have fun!
dthor68
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by dthor68 »

My favorite is the third one down. However, it is not I focus. Personally, I do not like shots in the grass unless it is at eye level and shot wide open. I guess the most important tip would be to focus on the eye. Also, do what you like and don't worry what others think. If you do not like them than keep working until you do.
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mywan
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by mywan »

Other than lighting the most consistent issue I see with all the pictures is not enough attention to the background border. The 3rd one in particular would have been particularly good with just an inch or two more of the background around the border, but not too much. Once I have a subject in the viewfinder I start scanning around the subject to catch sticks or leaves that stand out and not just chop them in half. Either try to frame them out or offset enough to get the complete background object. The subject does not have to be centered so long as it remains the main focus. This is were the half shutter trick rtdunham mentioned comes in handy. The subject is almost never the last thing I'm looking at when trying to frame a picture. The complete bits and of the environment, not matter how seemingly trivial, can add complexity to a shot that can make or break an image. Things like leaves, knots on logs, small stones, etc., either frame them out or include them completely.

One exception I take is in environment shots. Foreground cover can often be left overhanging on the edges to give the ambiance of looking though a window into another world. Even then you (usually) don't want limbs that enter and leave the edge of the photo. The key is for the frame to make sense to the totality of the photo, rather than just an appendage to it. Just practice framing the background containing the subject such that it frames the subject, rather than framing just the subject itself.

The rest is just technical issues with the camera and its limitations. Notice the blur in the background in the first pic? In some circumstances this is desirable, but other times not. This is the result of what's called depth of field. That wiki article is quiet detailed. How much you want to learn about the technical details of photography is up to you and the effort put into it.
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axeman2729
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by axeman2729 »

thanks to all of you. This is the camera I have http://www.general-imaging.com/x400/
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chrish
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by chrish »

If these were my photos, here's what I would tell myself about them in evaluating them (I'm pretty tough on myself!)


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I like the pose and the behavior captured here. I think it might have been better if
- you had backed off a little further to get a slightly wider perspective or come/cropped in closer to get just the head
- you had gotten closer to the ground so you aren't looking down on the snake
- the photo was sharply focused on the snake's head (eye)
- the photo had a little more depth of field

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This one is ok, but the blade of grass running in front of the snake vertically is very distracting. You should have moved/plucked/cloned it out.
The tail being out of the photo doesn't bother me as much as others, but the picture is not sharp enough.
The blurry tongue is ok, but because it is on that leaf it bugs me somehow.

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Nice composition here, but...
- cropped too tight
- not sharp (shutter speed is too low for this sort of photo)
- the snake is looking away from the observer. It always makes me look at a photo and wonder "what's that snake looking at?" rather than appreciate the photo for itself.
- the leaf under the head is distracting

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Once again, not sharp enough. I do like how you got down low to get an interesting perspective.
The thing to keep in mind when getting down low like this is you have to consider what is going to be in the background. The sidewalk/path in the background is OK, but the fenceline really detracts from the shot. It pulls your eye away from the subject.

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Love the focus on the eye and the low perspective here.
The bark sticking up in the foreground of the snake's head is distracting.
It would be better if there was more space around the snake (cropped too tight)

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This is probably the best photo based on being sharp and exposure, but it is also probably the least interesting. Your other shots show you have a good eye for overall composition and "interest" in a shot, you just need to learn to effectively use f/stop and shutter speed to avoid some pitfalls.

Please don't be offended by any of these harsh statements. My "criticism" is intended to be totally constructive to make you think about some of these ideas when you take photos in the future. This is how we learn to be better photographers. This is how I would evaluate these photos if they were my own so that I could not make the same mistakes in the future.

Chris
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axeman2729
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Re: What could I do better?

Post by axeman2729 »

thank you Chris. And I posted this to get some criticism because I know that my photos are not perfect and that constructive criticism is one way to get better.
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