Adidas410s
05-07-2007, 03:34 PM
I learned a very valuable lesson about the importance of post processing your photos. I posted some from the Rangers game last week that I had done little if any work on other than cropping. After some advice on a photo forum...I learned some great things to think about in processing and it definitely made a difference. I hope this example can help those on here who like to shoot:
here's the original photo:
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/5749/p1013325qx5.jpg
- Obviously my lens isn't big enough to create the tight shot that one would want, so I had to crop the picture to focus on the action and remove all of the dead space. After the crop...I ended up with this shot (with some minor sharpening)
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/712/yayianuf6.jpg
- I was pleased with this picture...and just assumed that because of my limitations in equipment and software that this is as good as it would get. However, I had the following suggestions given to me:
1. It needs to be straitened - look at the vertical lines of the wall & you'll see your level was off a bit.
2. Framing - there's a lot of dead space behind the player and not much space for the ball to move in to. So if you have the uncropped version I would suggest sliding the crop quite a bit to the left - put the right edge about half-way over the bag - this still leaves the reference point that the bag is right there but it allows the focus point to be shifted towards the action more because the action won't be at the edge of the frame.
- So from there...I started from scratch and after about 15 minutes (and the downloading of a free noise reduction program) later...I ended up with this:
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/7534/iankinslersr2.jpg
The moral of the story is don't give up on a photo and settle for something average. Also, just seek out compliments and praise for your work. You'll only get better by seeking the advice and constructive criticism of those who are more knowledgeable than you.
Equipment
Olympus e500 (entry level dSLR camera that includes 2 mid-range lenses with it. This setup is the best value on the market for any introductory amateur photographer.)
Zuiko 40:150mm (picture taken at 150mm)
Software (all free)
Paint.Net (by Microsoft)
Noiseware Community Edition (their other versions cost $$ but the community one is free)
That concludes random life lessons from Adidas :)
here's the original photo:
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/5749/p1013325qx5.jpg
- Obviously my lens isn't big enough to create the tight shot that one would want, so I had to crop the picture to focus on the action and remove all of the dead space. After the crop...I ended up with this shot (with some minor sharpening)
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/712/yayianuf6.jpg
- I was pleased with this picture...and just assumed that because of my limitations in equipment and software that this is as good as it would get. However, I had the following suggestions given to me:
1. It needs to be straitened - look at the vertical lines of the wall & you'll see your level was off a bit.
2. Framing - there's a lot of dead space behind the player and not much space for the ball to move in to. So if you have the uncropped version I would suggest sliding the crop quite a bit to the left - put the right edge about half-way over the bag - this still leaves the reference point that the bag is right there but it allows the focus point to be shifted towards the action more because the action won't be at the edge of the frame.
- So from there...I started from scratch and after about 15 minutes (and the downloading of a free noise reduction program) later...I ended up with this:
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/7534/iankinslersr2.jpg
The moral of the story is don't give up on a photo and settle for something average. Also, just seek out compliments and praise for your work. You'll only get better by seeking the advice and constructive criticism of those who are more knowledgeable than you.
Equipment
Olympus e500 (entry level dSLR camera that includes 2 mid-range lenses with it. This setup is the best value on the market for any introductory amateur photographer.)
Zuiko 40:150mm (picture taken at 150mm)
Software (all free)
Paint.Net (by Microsoft)
Noiseware Community Edition (their other versions cost $$ but the community one is free)
That concludes random life lessons from Adidas :)