What would [insert your name here] do?

08/03/2004 01:23:53 PM · #1

I love this website. I am real new at this. Ironically, I will be working at National Geographic in the next 10 years as a photographer. I can prove it...you'll just have to wait a few years.

Here's a picture I took. Beautiful subject, sorta blah photograph.

Why? How would you improve this shot before and after photographing it. Give me details, details, details!! Thanks!

Message edited by author 2004-08-03 13:27:04.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED

08/03/2004 01:27:13 PM · #2

Broken link I'm afraid.

Pedro

Nikon D200

08/03/2004 01:27:22 PM · #3

//photobucket.com/albums/v293/thatcloudthere/Marnie%20-%20Fashion%20Design%20Project/?action=viewÂ¤t=IMG_1630.jpg

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/03/2004 01:27:32 PM · #4

You image host isn't supporting direct linking. Try putting a regular link to the photo's page instead.

08/03/2004 01:28:00 PM · #5

Does it work yet?

//www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=95552

08/03/2004 01:28:55 PM · #6

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/03/2004 01:29:29 PM · #7

Originally posted by GeneralE:

You image host isn't supporting direct linking. Try putting a regular link to the photo's page instead.

Although it looks like they should, with all those links to copy! pretty cool set-up.

C-Fox

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

08/03/2004 01:30:18 PM · #8

Well congrats on your goal. One thing you will notice about national geographic photographys is that they are not only beautiful but they also tend to tell a story.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/03/2004 01:30:51 PM · #9

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by GeneralE:
You image host isn't supporting direct linking. Try putting a regular link to the photo's page instead.

Although it looks like they should, with all those links to copy! pretty cool set-up.

If you host it here, use the thumbnail button with the Image ID number (95552) from the very end of the URL ...

Message edited by author 2004-08-03 13:31:24.

08/03/2004 01:34:53 PM · #10

Thanks GeneralE...

Now that we have all that sorted out:

Beautiful subject, sorta blah photograph.

Why? How would you improve this shot before and after photographing it. Give me details, details, details!! Thanks!

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/03/2004 01:34:56 PM · #11

Are you "allowed" to clone out those few leaves sticking into the frame on the lower-right? I find they break the sense of isolation you're trying to establish for the main subject. I really like the way the clouds work with the branches.

I'd also experiment with different croppings, starting with taking some off the left.

Message edited by author 2004-08-03 13:36:56.

08/03/2004 01:38:06 PM · #12

Originally posted by C-Fox:

Well congrats on your goal. One thing you will notice about national geographic photographys is that they are not only beautiful but they also tend to tell a story.

Yup now I can see it and as Carol put it NG shots tell a story. So what is the story you are telling in this shot? It is compotently shot but the beauty that you found in the subject is lost on me. A photographer named Capra once said " If your photographs aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." The shot is too general, with a lot of things in the frame and nothing strong to focus on. Just my two cents. Isolate the thing that you find beautiful.

08/03/2004 01:38:59 PM · #13

I agree, this photo needs some cropping. This is just the raw photo, the only thing that's been done to it is that it's been rotated (of course).

I'm more wondering about the incredible colours, textures and crispness I'm seeing on this site...what am I missing?

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/03/2004 01:43:20 PM · #14

I use Curves almost exclusively to control tone, contrast and color. Heighten the contrast and saturate the colors a little more if you want a more "dramatic" look.

08/03/2004 01:44:11 PM · #15

I plan on using this tree as an indicator of my photographic skill improvements...I will keep shooting it over the next few months and years to keep sort of a log as I improve.

Brennan...good point. How would you isolate it?

I was trying to tell the story of some rather unfertile section of land but with hope of new growth (low corn growth, dry soil, lots of dead branches, open sky)...

Message edited by author 2004-08-03 13:45:20.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

08/03/2004 01:46:10 PM · #16

Originally posted by BrennanOB:

A photographer named Capra once said " If your photographs aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."

That would be Robert Capa, would managed to live and die by his motto, given that he died photographing on a battle field when he stepped on a land mine. Perhaps if he wasn't trying to get so close to the action...

08/03/2004 01:46:48 PM · #17

Browse through the photos that you like and see what others have done. Most people put their post processing steps in the notes under the shot. Many cameras, and most of the higher end ones assume a degree of post processing after the capture. This shot is in need of sharpening, no knock on you or the shot as every shot needs it to a different degree depending on wether it is intended for print or web and at what reduction. Like with chemical photography, exposure is half the battle, then you have dark room work; now we develop in front of a computer, but it takes just as long to get it right.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

08/03/2004 01:50:11 PM · #18

I'd perhaps get down lower, with a wide angle lens, and shoot up towards the tree. That would increase the apparent height, along with getting you closer to the seedlings. A lower angle would:

Emphasise the size relationship between the seedlings & tree
Bring the seedlings up closer in the foreground as a more important element of the shot
Remove/ hide the pylons/ cables in the lower right background.
Give a more interesting angle to the shot in general.

Then I'd consider framing more carefully so that the other tree/ bush on the right wasn't creeping in to the frame.

I'd also consider using a polariser to increase the contrast in the sky and deepen the blue, or more probably, I'd try to shoot late in the evening or early in the morning to get more interesting light - either sunset or just warm evening sunshine.

If I was really trying to get it more interesting, I'd pay a kid $5 to climb up in the branches wearing a bright red t-shirt and look off in to the distance - again for scale and some contrast.

Sony E 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS

08/03/2004 01:52:44 PM · #19

Originally posted by thatcloudthere:

I was trying to tell the story of some rather unfertile section of land but with hope of new growth (low corn growth, dry soil, lots of dead branches, open sky)...

Great words, now move around so you can have those things you mentioned be the only things in your frame. I find my favorite shots tend to have nothing that does not contribute in the frame. Perhaps get low and close to the corn and earth, I'm not sure, but as they say in modernist architecture, less is more.

willem

Sony Alpha a6700

08/03/2004 01:54:40 PM · #20

Make a choice, either the tree or the corn with the dry soil.

I would get down with the camera in between the corn, showing the cracks in the soil, a bit like my tulip shot in my portfolio but then more towards the soil.

Edit , here is the thumbnail

Message edited by author 2004-08-03 13:56:40.

Olympus 50mm f/1.8 MF Normal Zuiko

08/03/2004 01:59:34 PM · #21

I looked at your portfolio...Beautiful shots, Willem.

How about the darkness in the tree and lack of vibrant colour...Might this have to do with the time of day/angle of shot? Or is it because no post-processing was done...

Thanks for all of your advice so far, everyone!

emorgan49

Olympus E-5

08/03/2004 01:59:55 PM · #22

You have some interesting clouds and some interesting branches that could have worked into a nice pattern togethre but the branches oscure the clouds. Move around some - or maybe crouch down. The house right behind the tree is poorly placed - if you intend it to be part of the story, put it where we can see it, if not move around so it is behind the tree. The power lines can be cloned out if you don't think they add anything. Probably the dead branches shouldn't have been cropped on the right, like hands, heads and feet should be cropped with extreme care. If growth in a barren land was the message. maybe an angle from way down looking up and both the corn stalks and the tree reaching for the sun. Come back when the sun isn't so harsh-

never mind - some one beat me to every point and said it better

Message edited by author 2004-08-03 14:00:41.

08/03/2004 02:02:33 PM · #23

emorgan49, I disagree...your points really helped!

08/03/2004 02:06:35 PM · #24

Originally posted by thatcloudthere:

How about the darkness in the tree and lack of vibrant colour...Might this have to do with the time of day/angle of shot? Or is it because no post-processing was done...

Both. Imagine this shot taken with waning light where each of the dead branches was rimed in orange yellow light shown against a blackish purple sky. A tad more drama then no? I forget who it was that said it, but we do not shoot pictures if things, we photograph the light that bounces off things. If the light is boring you have to work much harder to make an interesting shot. Shoot early, shoot late, and at mid-day, shoot in the shade.