Image Critique

[NorthWoods Bill]

A lot of firsts today. First post on this forum, first action shot, first time using new 70-200 F4L IS Lens. And actually only about the third time using new camera (Rebel 2Ti). Prior to this I have used cell phone cameras but I am trying to get really serious about photography as a hobby. I guess what I am saying is an honest critique and suggestions for improving the image PLEASE!!

Also, keep in mind this was the JPEG uploaded to Picasa so I am not sure I did not loose some quality because of the upload. When posting photos on this forum how do folks typically process them? I am shooting is RAW

Thanks!

- Bill R



(Edit: So in uploading it seems the image was downsized even more, is there a way to upload a larger image for your viewing and critique?)

[ChadS]

@NWBill, welcome to the forums. I believe that even though you may have uploaded the image to picasa you ended up linking the file in your post - so it's a small thumbnail that expands somewhat then clicked on but certainly not full res.

I use the same camera/lens combo quite often. You'll need to provide more details on the shooting details - f/#, ISO, etc. Also, what processing did you use to convert from RAW to JPEG? How much sharpening, etc. I tend to shoot JPEGs only for sports and JPEG + RAW for everything else.

As to the picture it's a nice shot but it probably would have been better if you were on the bottom of the hill shooting up so we can see everyone' faces (including the dog's!).

[HDNitehawk]

Bill

Welcome, to the forum.

I upload the pictures I want to display to flickr. I upload the full jpg file, there is a option with flickr to share the file. I usually grab the mid sized link and then just paste it in my post. It works well. I have never used Picasa so I wouldn’t know what it does or doesn’t do. I am sure someone else will have experience with it and can help you.

As for your picture, I am sure what I am seeing is not a good file. The IQ in the posts looks like I am viewing a blown up thumbnail when I click on it. So perhaps the first thing to critique is how you upload your pics

Usualy for a critique a person would provide EXIF data or an explanation of how they took the pic.

Rick

[NorthWoods Bill]

Here is the link to the image on Picasa.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

I will have to upload photo details this evening as I am currently at work.

I would have preferred to shoot from the bottom of the hill, but it was ICY. I was not willing to risk the camera, gear and my body to get to the bottom of the hill. Actually I probably could have gotten to the bottom fairly easily, but getting back to the top may have been a different story.

[Sean Setters]

Here is the link to the image on Picasa.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

I will have to upload photo details this evening as I am currently at work.

I would have preferred to shoot from the bottom of the hill, but it was ICY. I was not willing to risk the camera, gear and my body to get to the bottom of the hill. Actually I probably could have gotten to the bottom fairly easily, but getting back to the top may have been a different story.

As noted, the bottom of the hill would have been a better location to shoot the action. However, I can understand your hesitation.

As for the image, it looks to me like the rider is out of focus. Were you using Al Servo focus or One Shot? Also, the image looks under-exposed to me. Typically speaking, when I'm shooting in snow, I'll add some positive exposure compensation so that the snow doesn't turn out 18% gray but instead looks a bit whiter. Personally, I don't care if snow is blown out a bit--snow's supposed to be white, right? :-)

Here's a shot I took this weekend. We got a very light coating of snow, and my girlfriend wanted her picture taken in it. When we were traveling to the location, it started to flurry. We jumped out of the car and I started shooting (ambient light only). I over exposed the image to exaggerate the sense of wintery weather and bring a bit more detail into her black coat:



I ended up choosing a different shot to post to my flickr photostream, but you get the idea.

By the way, the technique you used to post process and save your image stripped all of the EXIF data out of it. I'd suggest figuring out a way to leave the EXIF data in tact if you're asking for a critique. It's much easier for us to gather most of the info we need from the EXIF data.

[NorthWoods Bill]

Sean,
I thought the rider looked a bit out of focus also. This was one of a three frames shot using a burst. I focused the first shot using auto focus, held the shutter and followed the rider down the hill.I had the camera set to the sports setting. The image was processed in lightroom and uploaded using the Picasa plug in, I will go back and look at my settings to see why the data was stripped out.

I was approx. 100 to 150' from the rider and I am wondering if I should have been using the 18-55 lens instead of the 70-200. Was a telephoto the right choice for that kind of shooting? Most of the shots were taken in the 150 to 200 range on the lens, maybe I would have been better off shooting with a shorter focal length and then cropping in Lightroom?

Another thing I found in using the camera is that in the few seconds I had to take the shots I kind of went in auto pilot and now thinking back I struggle to remember how I did it exactly (inexperience at play I guess). I know I took some other shots where I just kept clicking as the subject moved. What I dont remember is whether I just let up half way on the shutter button or all the way. If I let up all the way will the camera take time to focus before taking a shot if the shutter is pressed all the way down without pausing at half way?

I know I have more questions than answers right now but I am trying hard to leard. I have been reading books and watching video tutorials. I am attending a four hour class - first half this week, second half March 3rd. I want to get to the point where I am a very good amateur.

Thanks for the help and advice!

[ChadS]

@Bill sports mode for this type of shot was probably "iffy" and you were using the right lens. Unfortunately in sports mode the camera is generally trying to keep a fast exposure and probably held the aperture at f/4 (the fastest for the lens). With the exposure details we'd know exactly how this was shot. The dog bounding along certainly needs a fast exposure but the sled doesn't move that fast in-frame given the direction it's going. Because you had a fast f/# your depth of field was thin. The auto-focus probably locked onto the dog as the object to track rather than the sled. Starting out there's nothing wrong with the preset options and something it's just faster to click over to sports or portrait rather than set everything (since the T2i lacks program modes). However, for this shot I'd likely have been shooting aperture priority or even manual with the ISO set to auto.

The IQ (image quality) of the 70-200L f/4 IS is FAR superior to the 18-55 kit lens and cropping would have just made things worse.

[ham]

I think not only is the focus a little off, but it seems as if there's motion blur too, which I wouldn't expect at f/4 in bright conditions. What ISO was this shot at?