Trying to be a better photographer

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

E

Earl Beasley

Member
Member's gallery
This is my first post. I’m looking for feedback to see if I’m at least improving from a technical perspective. Thanks for your critique.
Nikon Z9, Nikon VR600 f4E, Nikon 1.4 TC, ISO 3200, 900mm, -6.7ev, f10, 1/1000
 

Attachments

  • 1-2-25 Bushtit 1.jpeg
    1-2-25 Bushtit 1.jpeg
    365.3 KB · Views: 48
Member's gallery
Earl Beasley said:
This is my first post. I’m looking for feedback to see if I’m at least improving from a technical perspective. Thanks for your critique.
Nikon Z9, Nikon VR600 f4E, Nikon 1.4 TC, ISO 3200, 900mm, -6.7ev, f10, 1/1000
Click to expand...
Very nice image, well composed and great moment captured with the glance back towards you.

Can't say much about improvement as we haven't seen any previous images but this is very nice.

Lot's of ways to capture great images but the EXIF data suggests there are a few things to think about.

For instance it's typical to shoot single wildlife images wide open at the maximum aperture which would be f/5.6 for the 600mm f/4 plus 1.4x TC. Yeah sometimes we want a touch more depth of field especially as we approach macro shooting but stopping a shot like this down to f/10 typically doesn't help the backgrounds and isn't necessary to keep that single subject in sharp focus. Opening up closer to that f/5.6 maximum for lens plus TC would give you cleaner backgrounds plus either higher shutter speed when desired or lower ISO. Sure when you really want to bring out more background detail or have multiple subjects or again if you're shooting closer to macro with appropriate lenses then stopping down a bit can help but it's not typical for a shot like this.

Also not sure about the -6.7 stops of exposure compensation for a mostly midtone image. You made the exposure work so no real problem in this image but it's pretty rare to dial in more than a stop or possibly two stops of exposure compensation in either direction and suggests something strange with metering or light to need nearly 7 stops of exposure compensation. What metering are you using and what exposure mode (e.g. Manual with Auto ISO, full Manual with manual ISO, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program, etc.)?

Again, great image and you made it work but since you asked about technical improvement I'd look into why this shot required nearly 7 stops of negative exposure compensation and think about what aperture you want for various kinds of photos with one like this being closer to portraiture and typically shot at close to wide open aperture.
 
Member's gallery
DRwyoming said:
Can't say much about improvement as we haven't seen any previous images but this is very nice.
Click to expand...
This is what I was going to tell you about improvement. Without a reference, we cannot tell. Even if we did have reference, I wouldn't comment about your improvement as a photographer. It is tough enough to critique a photo, as often the photographer takes criticism too personally.

As far as the image goes, it's very nice compositionally, but does appear to have undergone extensive sharpening in post processing, to the point of being a distraction were it a competition photo. (Was it?) And were it my photo, I'd not present the photo in a square format, but in a landscape orientation with more to the left of the photo, so that the "bird has more to see."

I like how you've isolated the subject from the background, as well as how you've simplified the image by not including subject distractions. There is no question of what the photo's subject is.

There are little points to improve upon, and a lot to compliment in your image. Overall, well done, and a very few changes to the image would make it an oustanding one. I look forward to seeing more of your images posted here.
 
Member's gallery
DRwyoming said:
Very nice image, well composed and great moment captured with the glance back towards you.

Can't say much about improvement as we haven't seen any previous images but this is very nice.

Lot's of ways to capture great images but the EXIF data suggests there are a few things to think about.

For instance it's typical to shoot single wildlife images wide open at the maximum aperture which would be f/5.6 for the 600mm f/4 plus 1.4x TC. Yeah sometimes we want a touch more depth of field especially as we approach macro shooting but stopping a shot like this down to f/10 typically doesn't help the backgrounds and isn't necessary to keep that single subject in sharp focus. Opening up closer to that f/5.6 maximum for lens plus TC would give you cleaner backgrounds plus either higher shutter speed when desired or lower ISO. Sure when you really want to bring out more background detail or have multiple subjects or again if you're shooting closer to macro with appropriate lenses then stopping down a bit can help but it's not typical for a shot like this.

Also not sure about the -6.7 stops of exposure compensation for a mostly midtone image. You made the exposure work so no real problem in this image but it's pretty rare to dial in more than a stop or possibly two stops of exposure compensation in either direction and suggests something strange with metering or light to need nearly 7 stops of exposure compensation. What metering are you using and what exposure mode (e.g. Manual with Auto ISO, full Manual with manual ISO, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program, etc.)?

Again, great image and you made it work but since you asked about technical improvement I'd look into why this shot required nearly 7 stops of negative exposure compensation and think about what aperture you want for various kinds of photos with one like this being closer to portraiture and typically shot at close to wide open aperture.
Click to expand...
I typically shoot Auto ISO. Matrix metering. It was probably fairly dark and I more than likely just adjusted the WB since it’s faster…for me anyway. Thank you for the critique, I usually just get the old wow nice shot kind of thing from friends which boosts the ego but really doesn’t help my technique.
 
Member's gallery
Whiskeyman said:
This is what I was going to tell you about improvement. Without a reference, we cannot tell. Even if we did have reference, I wouldn't comment about your improvement as a photographer. It is tough enough to critique a photo, as often the photographer takes criticism too personally.

As far as the image goes, it's very nice compositionally, but does appear to have undergone extensive sharpening in post processing, to the point of being a distraction were it a competition photo. (Was it?) And were it my photo, I'd not present the photo in a square format, but in a landscape orientation with more to the left of the photo, so that the "bird has more to see."

I like how you've isolated the subject from the background, as well as how you've simplified the image by not including subject distractions. There is no question of what the photo's subject is.

There are little points to improve upon, and a lot to compliment in your image. Overall, well done, and a very few changes to the image would make it an oustanding one. I look forward to seeing more of your images posted here.
Click to expand...
I did add sharpening in post. Looks like I may have push it too much. I do try to keep that to what i see a minimum to try and not make the shot look edited. thanks for seeing that, good to know i missed on that.
Interesting thought on the format. I do need to be more thoughtful of format.
Thank you for the critique
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top