Look at me!!!

[soularchive]

Dear all,

I'm a newbie in photography. I took a photo of a peacock in Sentosa last Saturday and my intent was to capture it's colorful feathers in full frontal shot. I felt that something is not right with the shot but I can't really pin point it down due to lack of experience and knowledge. I hope you can help enlighten me.

I took the shot with my Sony A350. I remembered I mistakenly chose macro mode because it was not reset from my previous shot. Was it the problem or composition? Thanks

[Octarine]

Congratulations to such a picture! I'd suggest you adjust the picture to get the bird straight up. Would be even better if the original picture is wider so that you could also include the line of blue dots at the lower left side. Target is to get is symmetrical.

[geeteethree]

The fact that the peacock is smack bang in the centre makes it look not right. Read up on the rule of thirds. Also cutting off the peacocks legs may look quite awkward from a viewers point of view. The colours are fantastic though, maybe up the contrast a slight bit. Good start though, work on the simple things slowly and you will see a large improvement in no time!

[ztommy]

Without the legs kinda odd but the colour is good and so is the light. very natural shot

[Rashkae]

Originally Posted by geeteethree The fact that the peacock is smack bang in the centre makes it look not right. Read up on the rule of thirds. Also cutting off the peacocks legs may look quite awkward from a viewers point of view. The colours are fantastic though, maybe up the contrast a slight bit. Good start though, work on the simple things slowly and you will see a large improvement in no time!

The rule of thirds isn't a law... In the case of this peacock, the centre framing is actually quite good, as it's trying to capture the symmetry of the feathers.

Would have helped if they were symmetrical though.

[geeteethree]

i never said it was a law. I do think it has to be addressed in this picture, especially if the exact symmetry has not been achieved.

[nigel84]

Originally Posted by geeteethree The fact that the peacock is smack bang in the centre makes it look not right. Read up on the rule of thirds. Also cutting off the peacocks legs may look quite awkward from a viewers point of view. The colours are fantastic though, maybe up the contrast a slight bit. Good start though, work on the simple things slowly and you will see a large improvement in no time!

I disagree. The peacock smack bang in the centre here, is great. No nid to apply the Rules of third.

Originally Posted by geeteethree i never said it was a law. I do think it has to be addressed in this picture, especially if the exact symmetry has not been achieved.

Even so without the exact symmetry, we could see the idea of TS,which i think there isn;'t any need to address it with telling him to follow the rule of thirds. I cannot imagine myself taking a peacock applying the Rule of thirds as well. IT would be kinda unbalanced.

TS, first off, i think you should adjust the pic so that the peacock is right smack in the centre. Now it seems tilted. Next you might wan to bump up the colours and saturation. Should you get another chance of capturing such a moment, i suggest, lie down, capture the entire peacock complete with its feet and make sure the pic is straight.

[calebk]

Originally Posted by geeteethree The fact that the peacock is smack bang in the centre makes it look not right. Read up on the rule of thirds. Also cutting off the peacocks legs may look quite awkward from a viewers point of view. The colours are fantastic though, maybe up the contrast a slight bit. Good start though, work on the simple things slowly and you will see a large improvement in no time!

A centered composition adds strength to the subject, and works with existing strong subjects in the frame, such as in this case. Can you imagine a rule-of-thirds composition with this image? I think it wouldn't look half as strong.

That said, I agree that in order to make this work out better, a more accurate symmetry needs to be achieved. Right now, it's slanted, and that takes away strength from the subject. Also, as geeteethree pointed out, the legs cut off makes it seem a little weird, and that's what might be missing (pun not intended).

[soularchive]

Thank you all for the feedback and suggestion. The problem of the picture not being symmetrical is spot on. I had a hard time croping the picture because the background is not very conducive. The shot itself was taken in a hurry as the peacock was walking like a model that wouldn't stop for a pose. To better explain myself let me show you the original and what I think is my best crop (It is most probably still very far from expectation).

Thanks again

Original


Final

[scenar]

What you could do is to shoot this from a low angle (i.e. almost proning..) this would allow you to possibly incl the legs but throw the background out of focus. rite now, your angle is making the grass very distracting should u include the legs. A low angle would defocus the background around the legs, drawing more attention to your subject.

[PyeeL]

I prefer the first crop. The symmetrical composition is fine too. But the tilt has to be corrected.

[geeteethree]

Credits to soularchive, the photographer.

i have done some cropping, rotation and this is what i have come up with.
Please let me know if you want this picture removed.

let me know what you guys think. Personally i think it is a stronger crop.

[incubus]

ive just skimmed thru the previous posts and to me, the rule of thirds was already applied in the first picture. it may be dead centre vertically, but horizontally it is at the bottom 3rd of the pic.
my only nitpick is the exclusion of the feet. It needs a base for it to cling to and give the whole photograph a solid foundation.

ure getting there with this

[soularchive]

Thanks again.

If the situation allows it I really do think that the prone position will give better shot.

To geeteethree, your crop is great. It tells me to work around the symmetrical problem by not being symmetrical in the first place. Not only the Peacock becomes more outstanding than it's feather, it also accentuate the path of the feather from the center to the outer side. So you also do think that the leg is a distraction?

[geeteethree]

I think the bottom part of the crop with the legs could be more appealing where the grass is.

I do agree with the others that a lower point of view would've helped out the photo.
Keep shooting mate

[ZerocoolAstra]

Originally Posted by geeteethree Credits to soularchive, the photographer. i have done some cropping, rotation and this is what i have come up with. Please let me know if you want this picture removed. let me know what you guys think. Personally i think it is a stronger crop.

ok i have to admit that I agree with your point. Your version of the crop does seem more appealing. However, the lack of the feet still makes the photo strange, somehow.

[ssping83]

i think the rule of thirds need or need not be used for a picture like this..

while i'd say that geeteethree's version is not too bad.. i think a crop with the subject placed in the centre will have worked as well (imagines the "rays" from the peacock reaching from the centre of the frame to the edes)..

[sprintist]

i agree with caleb and gang, placing the symmetrical peacock at the third took away so much attention. a well mirrored image welcomes much more intepretation and observation in this case

[ServeChilled]

Looks better without the legs.. prolly its just me. And hell the centered shot looks much better , more dynamic imo.

[lightbrush]

I prefer TS 1st version. The slight tilt and slight off-centre gave it some dynamic tension. No legs is not a problem for me. The picture is not so much abt the peacock but abt the patterns.
What it needs is a good boost in the saturation and contrast.