| |
Photo Critique
The Roving Photographer Evaluates Your Pictures
I asked Tyler if I could do a photo critique on one of his photos. I had seen his pictures in response to a question on Yahoo! Answers. He kindly agreed.
I selected his Brahma Steer, one that illustrates a few key points about lighting and composition.
INDEX - PREVIOUS CRITIQUE - NEXT CRITIQUE
|
Tyler's Brahma Steer
Photo details not available - Probably shot with a Nikon D40
Roll your mouse over the image to see the original exposure.
INDEX - PREVIOUS CRITIQUE - NEXT CRITIQUE
|
 |
Kudos on selecting a great subject. The steer is looking straight at the camera, which makes for a strong photograph. The folds in the skin on its chest hang loosely for added texture.
|
 |
On his Flickr page, Tyler has already done a photo critique - he observes that the image is not tack sharp. And a friend commented that the lighting on the face was weak. All true. But, the image has so much potential for a re-shoot, if Tyler is given the opportunity, that it is really worth looking at how to approach the steer a second time around.
|
|
|
|
 |
Exposure Correction
Aside from the comment about weak lighting on the face, the image has an overall gray cast to it. If you roll your mouse over the image, you can see the original exposure. I used ACDSee's Auto Levels function to remove the gray, add some contrast, and warm the image up. (You can use Google Picasa to do the same thing).
In the version below, I attempted to accentuate the skin folds a bit more by putting the left side of the steer's face in a bit more shadow.
Composition
The power in this picture is in the face of the steer. The muddy yard beyond, the fence, and the steer's hindquarters detract from the potential impact of the image.
Here, I apply the power of the crop to bring focus to the real subject in the picture.
No more mud, no more hindquarters, but I couldn't get rid of the fence. That wouldn't be so bad, except for the line of the fence running right across the top of the steer's head - a bit distracting.
Next time
Here are a few things to try next time to get even more from this subject.
- Start out by getting closer. That will give you more detail and help your camera's auto-exposure feature to do more with the available light.
- Get lower (I use knee pads when it is muddy). You'll catch more character if your eyes are nearly level with, or just above, the subject's. See Dinah for an example.
- Better light. Well, this may not be so easy - I don't suppose you can just lead the steer into the perfect light and get it to lie down in this same pose again. So, you have two options - use fill flash or use a reflector.
In absence of those two options, I would bracket your exposures, a bit under, a bit over, and at the meter setting, to find the best range of contrast. The face does not have to be evenly lit - you are really after the greatest range of light values from white to black in order to bring out the skin texture.
- De-emphasize distracting background. Then, there is the fence. If you can get closer and shoot with your widest aperture, then the fence will blur a bit - the more the better.
- And, of course, more attention to focus. With all people and animals, be sure to get the near eye in focus - all other out-of-focus areas will be forgiven if you get the eye in focus.
|
Thanks to Tyler for supporting this photo critique. If you'd like to see more of his pictures, click here.
As with all photo critiques, these comments are mostly subjective. While based on years of experience, please take them as one-man's opinion and use them where you think they will help the most.
Cheers,
Ted
|
