wildlife criticisim

[Dann Thombs]

The waxwings are certainly the best of the bunch. My only critique of those would be to sharpen the second a bit, and not have the first so centered. The background and colors are pleasing.


I'll rundown the rest with a few suggestions. Many will be applicable to only future shoots rather than fixing the current photo. Take all with a grain of salt since I'm no pro.


Humming Bird: A bit dark. The contrast between the leaf shadows and sunlight makes it difficult though.


Canada Goose: Good action. Might be better to have a side or front angle. Getting in close so the background is not to prominent might be better.


Rabbits: If you had the angle of the Cottontail on the photo of the Pygmy, then it would be perfect.


Squirrel: Nice background, just cropped a bit too tight. Try not to clip small parts unless you're zooming in for a detail shot. Backing up a bit would make this a very nice one.


Nuthatch: Nice photo, just avoid the center comp. Supress some of the highlights a bit in post.


Red-wing Blackbird: Nice background and focus. I'd crop a bit so the bird is more on the left, looking right. Boost the shadows a bit.


Rufus Hummingbird: Great photo. Get in a little closer or crop and get the bird off-center, and this will be a keeper. Love the colors, good eye for the combination of pink and blue.


Hawks: Good focus but the foreground elements distract a bit. Not a whole lot you can do in the field given the situation, but there may be some post-processing work that could clean it up.


Sora: Nice colors. I'd just get a bit lower on the ground.


Yellowheaded Blackbird: Another nice one, just a bit of cropping to move it off center and you're good.





I look forward to seeing some more shots. The others have given soem good tech advise. For comp just remember a few things:


- Get as low as you can, preferably eye-level. This will give a better vantage point as well as provide more distance between the subject and the background. Even at narrow apertures, you can still get good background separation.


- Move the subject of center and have them looking into the frame rather than out. Also try to make sure they are either at a side-profile, or facing you, not running away.


- Don't clip small things like wing tips or limbs. If you aren't getting the entire animal in the shot, then crop even deep and go for a detail shot of the face or similar.


- If possible, don't crop in post-processing. Practice framing the shot as you take it, and then you will get to use every pixel you paid for in the final shot.

[kam007]

<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"]Thank you all for your input! It is very valuable information to me. For instance just the other day I learned that you want to take RAW pictures, I was taking JPG since I took my first shot. Stuff like this will definitely help for out in the field. This morning I got a call at 5am from a friend that was looking at a moose on campus when she was talking to me. Of course only seeing one moose in my life, I jumped out of bed and rushed out there. Didn't end up seeing it, the police pretty much kept curious people at bay. Instead we went to a Great Horned Owl nest to take photos.


<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"]I have wanted to take a photography class here at the University that I go to, but unfortunately next semester is about photography history, not how to work a camera and the basics, that is why I don't know very much about cameras. I've asked tons of questions and that is basically how I got to where I am today. I still have a lot of inprovement and still a ton of questions. The only thing is that I feel most of these questions are obvious or abstract. I should just make a word document of all the questions I have hah.


<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"]Best,


<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"]Kameron

[Colin]

If you're taking pictures of large animals, I would suggest also researching what Howard Hill has to say about photographinig animals. He's best known as a hunter via the longbow, but what he says about photographing large game is quite valuable.


The nutshell version is that moose, elephants, rhinos, bears, pigs, elk, lions, whatever... are all potentially lethal. Even if you think you know how a type of animal behaves, every individual is different and unpredictable. If you're not afraid of them, you have no business getting close to them, hunting or photographing. He pointed out the case of a missionary/elephant hunter he had met who was absolutely convinced, after killing scores of elephants, that an elephant would cease charging if you shot it in the head. A few months later than man was killed by an elephant who continued charging after being shot several times in the head.


I remember at a the top of a mountain in Wyoming, a woman chasing after a 'little' black bear with a camcorder. I could have taken that woman out with one leg, one arm, and a fork, and even with a couple of rambo knives I wouldn't get near a black bear. It'll probably run away, but you don't want to bet your life on that for a photograph.


Be careful dude. It doesn't take a stupid person to do stupid things. I've done far more than my share myself []

[Dann Thombs]

And that's why I stick to macro.