Safari photos - comments?
Discussion
Hi guys,
Just back from Safari and trawling through my 2,000 odd images. I'm finding it difficult to see past the amazing subjects and work out if a given picture is actually any good?! Recently purchased a 450D and Kenya was the first proper chance i had to experiement with it, still lots to learn!
What are peoples thoughts on the below, and can anyone advise on some photoshop techniques to improve my shots prior to printing?
This one, im considering getting printed on some sort of canvas frame, but dont want to spend the dosh to find it'll turn out crap!
thanks for looking
Nick
Just back from Safari and trawling through my 2,000 odd images. I'm finding it difficult to see past the amazing subjects and work out if a given picture is actually any good?! Recently purchased a 450D and Kenya was the first proper chance i had to experiement with it, still lots to learn!
What are peoples thoughts on the below, and can anyone advise on some photoshop techniques to improve my shots prior to printing?
This one, im considering getting printed on some sort of canvas frame, but dont want to spend the dosh to find it'll turn out crap!
thanks for looking
Nick
Dogsey said:
Not sure the B&W shots do the subjects any justice and most of the others look a little flat colourwise, although I am on the (uncalibrated) laptop at the moment. Compositional that look pretty good though.
I'd tend to agree with this. The colours in 2, 3 and 4 are a touch flat, you could do them more justice by upping the saturation a little. Not to the point where everything looks fake (like I often end up doing!) but just to give the pictures a lift.The image you've highlighted will make a nice print, but I'd crop it down a little to make sure you could see a little more detail on the animals.
Edited by jon- on Tuesday 29th September 08:29
I would up the saturation and have a play with cropping some of the unwanted grass, tree, guff, that distracts you from the animal - Also remeber the rule of 3rds.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
Below are a couple from a trip I did last year:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
Below are a couple from a trip I did last year:
I'd agree with the comments about them all being a bit lacking in saturation/contrast.
What I think lets these down more though is that in most of them there is a very cluttered background, which detracts from the subject. With the zebra it's a pile of wood, the cheetah it's the leaves, the lioness it's a tree. That's probably why (for me) the Lion works best as it's more isolated.
I realise this was probably pretty hard to avoid as you can't make the animals go where you need them to...
I'm off on a Kenyan safari very soon so it's nice to see what sort of results other people are getting, thanks for sharing!
What I think lets these down more though is that in most of them there is a very cluttered background, which detracts from the subject. With the zebra it's a pile of wood, the cheetah it's the leaves, the lioness it's a tree. That's probably why (for me) the Lion works best as it's more isolated.
I realise this was probably pretty hard to avoid as you can't make the animals go where you need them to...
I'm off on a Kenyan safari very soon so it's nice to see what sort of results other people are getting, thanks for sharing!
_dobbo_ said:
I'd agree with the comments about them all being a bit lacking in saturation/contrast.
What I think lets these down more though is that in most of them there is a very cluttered background, which detracts from the subject. With the zebra it's a pile of wood, the cheetah it's the leaves, the lioness it's a tree. That's probably why (for me) the Lion works best as it's more isolated.
I realise this was probably pretty hard to avoid as you can't make the animals go where you need them to...
I'm off on a Kenyan safari very soon so it's nice to see what sort of results other people are getting, thanks for sharing!
Like you say you can't escape the scenery - so work with what you have. The leopard shot above would have been stunning if you could have taken a closer shot and included the contrast between the canopy of the tree and the colours of the beast. Mind you good luck getting close without it buggering off!!What I think lets these down more though is that in most of them there is a very cluttered background, which detracts from the subject. With the zebra it's a pile of wood, the cheetah it's the leaves, the lioness it's a tree. That's probably why (for me) the Lion works best as it's more isolated.
I realise this was probably pretty hard to avoid as you can't make the animals go where you need them to...
I'm off on a Kenyan safari very soon so it's nice to see what sort of results other people are getting, thanks for sharing!
A lot of the time on safari you are in a landy - with the engine idling - so if you can ask the guide to switch off whenever possible to get your shots it will make a difference to the sharpness.
Take a beanbag to use as a support - if you forget use rolled up jumper just get your camera still to take the shot if you are going for detail.
Below are a couple with foliage to show that you can use it to give you a feel that you are "on safari" rather than in a zoo.
I used a Nikkor 70mm-300mm with a crop factor of 1.5x - that was long enough to capture most beasties.
jon- said:
Dogsey said:
Not sure the B&W shots do the subjects any justice and most of the others look a little flat colourwise, although I am on the (uncalibrated) laptop at the moment. Compositional that look pretty good though.
I'd tend to agree with this. The colours in 2, 3 and 4 are a touch flat, you could do them more justice by upping the saturation a little. Not to the point where everything looks fake (like I often end up doing!) but just to give the pictures a lift.The image you've highlighted will make a nice print, but I'd crop it down a little to make sure you could see a little more detail on the animals.
Edited by jon- on Tuesday 29th September 08:29
My worry with cropping the wildebeast is that if im wanting this blown up to a decent size, maybe even 1m across, i want to retain as much of the quality as possible. Im sure it will look spot on from a slight distance, but might end up with a mess on closer inspection?
D4VE 3LL said:
Comparing the two, the slightly edited ones look much better now, really bring the subject out on the screen Love the leopard in the tree, really well framed and would love to go on Safari one day.
Thanks :-). Have to say, im very happy with the results. Still can't believe i didnt spot the flat colours prior to posting here!thanks again guys. Love the leopard in the tree, really well framed and would love to go on Safari one day.Safari was fantastic, thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is considering, It's definitely worth the extra cost over your average holiday imo. Its not a relaxing holiday however, up before 6am most mornings and some long drives over dodgy roads if your travelling to different reserves. Be sure to book a week at the beach to recover afterwards!
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