Peacock
by airdance

Comment by sheapod:
The colors on the peacock are beautiful. The leaves in the foreground are a bit distracting, although I'm not sure there was much you could have done about that. I've chased a peacock around the St. Louis zoo on more than one occasion in an attempt to get a good shot. You might have tried to wait for him to come out in the open, but they aren't exactly cooperative creatures. You could also crop out some of the leaves and branches on the right side so the eye focuses more on the bird.

Ali 2
by airdance

Comment by airdance:
This sure helps ! I'm just an amateur trying to improve my performance; what material should I use for such a bouncecard ? Would white cardboard do the trick ?

Paris, Sacre Coeur
by airdance

Comment by airdance:
Thanks for the tips, guys !

Paris, Sacre Coeur
by airdance

Comment by eschelar:
Nice image with lots of interest with the people and great colour.

If you were to shoot it again, I would suggest perhaps moving forward and going wider in your zoom if possible. This will get rid of the wire, and change where the tree interacts with the building.

Things to watch for would include the angle on that foreground promenade.

Try cropping a slice off the bottom. It places more interest on the cathedral at the cost of the depth of the photo. It won't necessarily make it better, but it changes the pic quite a bit. You might like the depth or you might prefer it a little flatter, more like a postcard perhaps.

Ali 2
by airdance

Comment by eschelar:
Your focus is really good. Can't complain about the composition either, but I would say that your lighting is a little unbalanced. I don't know if that was intentional, but I would guess it isn't.

One tool that you might want to look at for correcting the lighting in this picture would be the tutorial on shadows and highlights on this website. Most notable is the blown area of highlights under the eye where you lose the detail of the fur. Also, you lose detail in the shadow areas.

Another thing you might want to look at would be the lighting in the sense of how to shoot other pictures.

It is often said that if you have a strong direct light, try to place something that either blocks or diffuses that light in it's most direct path.

Most people use cloth screens or bouncecards. Some use a bouncecard to lighten the other part of the subject, largely preserving the special quality of the light they saw in the first place, others would block the light to soften it's effects. In this picture, the result would be that the catchlights in the eyes would be changed, allowing more detail of the iris, rather than of the catchlights themselves. Notice how it is easier to see the eye that is behind, but it is out of the depth of field.

If you balanced your light differently, I feel it would allow you to expose a little differently and get more detail in the foreground eye and balance your shadows a little.

I am by no means an expert in using these techniques, but that is just what I gather from the basic principles.

i hope it helps.

Ali 2
by airdance

Comment by airdance:
Thanks ;)

Paris, Sacre Coeur
by airdance

Comment by gaurawa:
Wire is a must clone-out here.. spoils the image.
the tree on the left is covering more than it should.. instead of just providing a frame, its covering parts of the building which is not so good..

Peacock
by airdance

Comment by Art Roflmao:
Branches in the foreground ruin what would be a very nice shot, IMO.

Deer
by airdance

Comment by Art Roflmao:
Nice shot - could be a tad sharper and maybe try to get rid of the shadow in the lower left.

Diamond Doves
by airdance

Comment by Art Roflmao:
Cool orange goggles they wear! :) I'm not a fan of the shallow DoF on this one - wish they were both in focus.