"untitled"

[rangeen]

Am new to the world of DSLR's and this picture happens to be one of my first few candid shots.....found it good my self so am here for the experts n critics reviews....

I will like feedback on the composition.
I have composed the picture this way because I want to show the expressions on the subject.

I will like feedback on photography techniques.
The following is the camera settings used to photograph this picture.
I have chosen my Nikon D90 with 80-200mm with F5.6 - 1/60 - ISO-800 @ 200mm compensation because I want
to show some details as well.

I will like feedback on post processing techniques.
I will also appreciate if the critiques may please suggest me the title for the picture.

A larger vesion of the picture is available at http://sivark.com/hemantrangeen/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/meow.jpg

thanking you all in advance

 

[rangeen]

May i have some constructive criticism on this pic please :think:

 

[wildsoyabean]

your photo lack the punch in it...it doesnt bring a user to any point of focus.

tweak a little bit in ps...heres what u get. i brought the attention to the eyes of the cat which intensify the mood more.

 

[Ian]

your photo lack the punch in it...it doesnt bring a user to any point of focus.

tweak a little bit in ps...heres what u get. i brought the attention to the eyes of the cat which intensify the mood more.

Total junk bit of post processing wildsoyabean. You've blown out the highlights and given the cat a completely distorted colour spectrum. Straight in to the bin with such rubbish.

Rangeen:
Pretty damn good effort actually. Slightly over exposed as the yellow in the cats eyes is a bit muted compared to the yellow normally found in most cats eyes.

Now for the niggly bits:

Composition: Fine, assuming it's not a crop.

Focus: It could do with stopping down to F8 to capture more of the jaw and head in focus.

Exposure: Almost spot on, I'd bounce the flash off the ceiling with no diffuser and use a white card at the back of the flash to put some of the energy forward to fill in the shadows. That will also increase the catchlight in the eyes and bring the eyes in to a more vibrant yellow.

Post processing: Good. Not over the top and cats and wildlife best benefit from gentle post processing to enhance the captured image, not convert it in to a high key nightmare from hell.

Overall: Good effort with room for some improvement.

 

[askpaul]

to wildsoyabean:
Abusing of contrast to draw attention doesnt create better photos. Increase of contrast just made the subject lost lots of details, which are necessary to have longer attraction for a picture. Secondly, the expression of the subject and picture become so fake that it is quite a turn off.

to TS: i just find the colour not vibrant enough. perhaps it was not taken in a well-lit environment. i wonder if increase the colour saturation a bit will help?

 

[wildsoyabean]

its looked fine on my screen. guess working on netbook does matter alot.

 

[pokiemon]

to TS: i just find the colour not vibrant enough. perhaps it was not taken in a well-lit environment. i wonder if increase the colour saturation a bit will help?

the trouble is not because it is not taken in a well-lit environment but rather understanding where the light source is coming from. to add on to ian's bit on the flash i would experiment bouncing off the ceiling or the side to see which yields the best results.

one more thing i would do for pp is to crop it such that the eyes are levelled. currently the left eye is higher than the right eye.

otherwise this pic can be submitted to night safari.

 

[pokiemon]

I will also appreciate if the critiques may please suggest me the title for the picture.

suggestion for title? i would name my picture to what i want to draw the viewers to. for example if the eyes are the main focus, i would title it "hypnotized" cos the longer you stare at the eyes it brings you into a trance.

 

[eyes]

 

[pokiemon]

nice i like this version better.

eyes - by the way i am not so sure if you own the copyrights over TS's work.

 

[eyes]

nice i like this version better.

eyes - by the way i am not so sure if you own the copyrights over TS's work.

It's the TS' own mark on his orignal (upsize) version.

 

[cabbySHE]

Perhaps you could enlighten the TS and the rest who are learning on what you'd done. This is more pleasing admittedly.

 

[rangeen]

Hello again,
First of all I would like to convey my sincere thanks to all the members/senior members/critique for your comments, suggestions and guidelines; some suggestions from the senior member/ critique Ian have helped me a lot.

Wildsoyabean I would totally buy Ian’s point that pp has further deteriorated the picture.

Ian:
Honestly speaking this picture was clicked at a dark street (so bouncing the flash off the ceiling was out of question) n this cat is a stray cat actually n not a pet; it was mere luck that I could click this
n NO this is not a crop at all this is the original photograph... though I feel I should have uploaded the upsize and a pp'd version but the bandwidth here sucks (excuse-me for the language) as you can see one of our fellow members "eyes" has uploaded my upsized and pp'd version of the photograph

Askpaul:
Yes as I mentioned earlier this place was a very dim lit lonely street and the shot was taken quiet late in the evening, perhaps that’s the reason for NOT so vibrant colours; but you might like the upsized version that "eyes" has uploaded.

Pokémon:
Thanks a ton for suggesting such a good 'title' for the pic.


Further I would like to say that all the points from the respective members/ critiques have been well taken n will surely be taken care of in future.

Any further suggestions (on the 'title' part)/ comment shall be highly appreciated.

Would also be grateful if you all can give me some suggestion n your views on the upsized version.

 

[sampan]

suggestion for title:
"are you looking at me?"
"I am watching you"
"looking at you"

just my two cents

 

[Ian]

Wildsoyabean I would totally buy Ian’s point that pp has further deteriorated the picture.

Ian:
Honestly speaking this picture was clicked at a dark street (so bouncing the flash off the ceiling was out of question) n this cat is a stray cat actually n not a pet; it was mere luck that I could click this
n NO this is not a crop at all this is the original photograph... though I feel I should have uploaded the upsize and a pp'd version but the bandwidth here sucks (excuse-me for the language) as you can see one of our fellow members "eyes" has uploaded my upsized and pp'd version of the photograph

Rangeen,

That is the sort of background info you should post with an image, eg: dark street etc as that has a marked bearing on the overal critique of the shot. Sadly here in Perth most feral cats are so skitterish that you can't get close to them without taking months of time to gradually gain their trust.

Glad to know it's not a crop and eyes version while an improvement in terms of contrast and colour does loose a bit of the natural colouration of the cat. I know only too well about bandwidth sucks issues as technically I'm still on dialup here at home until the powers that be upgrade my phone exchange to ADSL2+.

 

[rangeen]

Sampan thanks a lot for your efforts on suggesting all these titles for the pic.
But till now I feel Pokémon’s "hypnotized" suits and describes it the best :thumbsupthank you Pokémon)
Would really appreciate if Ian being a senior member and a professional for past 33 odd years may please suggest me a title as I need to give in some entries for a group show so I perhaps need to title it any help regarding the same would be highly appreciated.
Cheers :cheers: :cheergal:

 

[rangeen]

Ian here also its the same (the cat issue) but as i mentioned this was shot @ 200mm and was instant :cheers:

 

[pokiemon]

It's the TS' own mark on his orignal (upsize) version.

my apologies!

ok i couldn't stand the slanted eyes anymore so i corrected it. using photoshop 1) contrast +10, color balance red +10 and lens corrrection angle 3.5 degrees.

 

[rangeen]

Thanks Pokémon for this edit.... point well taken n will very well be taken care of in my next post........”Untitled-2” watch it out.

Please don't mind me asking - how do you use "lens corrrection angle" in a pic? :think:

 

[pokiemon]

Please don't mind me asking - how do you use "lens corrrection angle" in a pic? :think:

apologies. let me make myself clearer. to correct the slant in your picture, go to photoshop -> filter -> distort -> lens correction -> transform -> angle -> 3 degrees (anti clockwise)