Danorris From United States, joined Aug 2008, 2 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 661 times:
Hi guys,
I recently upgraded to an EOS 450D and a telephoto lens, and picked up a neat shot of a BK 117 medevac chopper at my airport. I thought I might submit it to A.net -- my first attempt. Surfing the forums and other photos here, it's pretty clear that the bar is set very high indeed. So although I personally love this photo, I'm curious what the wise here think?
I know enough about digital photography to realize that I actually know very little, and enough to make me very anxious to learn more and improve my shooting and post-processing skills. What could be better about this shot, and where do I go from here?
Thanks for any feedback or comments you might have!
Cheers!
EXIF data:
File name : ARCH_9_at_C16.jpg
File size : 574660 bytes
File date : 2008:08:08 23:09:43
Camera make : Canon
Camera model : Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi
Date/Time : 2008:08:07 17:46:20
Resolution : 1600 x 1018
Flash used : No
Focal length : 250.0mm (35mm equivalent: 1078mm)
CCD width : 8.35mm
Exposure time: 0.0012 s (1/800)
Aperture : f/6.3
ISO equiv. : 200
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure : aperture priority (semi-auto)
Redfox From United Kingdom, joined Sep 2003, 170 posts, RR: 3 Reply 1, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 627 times:
Its a great photo and has potential to be accepted for the site. Its does not matter what camera you use or the settings you prefer but composition and quality do.
I think at present it would be rejected for 'distant' and to correct this I would crop so the rotors were just touching the edges of the frame. Keep the body of the helicopter central.
There is a lot of debris being thrown up by the wash and I am unsure whether this needs to be cleaned up.
Its an excellent photo with lots going on to study, best of luck.
Mictheslik From United Kingdom, joined May 2006, 55 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 626 times:
It may have a chance. The grass being thrown up by the chopper could count as dirt (I'm not sure on the regulations about this) What I would advise is lowering the resolution to 1024 px wide. It's got a better chance of being accepted then as it still falls within size limits but small imperfections are not as exaggerated as they would be on a very hi res image
It is a very nice pic though.....and I wish you good luck with it
JakTrax From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2005, 2314 posts, RR: 7 Reply 3, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 1 day ago) and read 604 times:
That's a fine shot for a newbie, looks good to me!
Mic is right about the grass though - it could be seen as dirt but to me it's quite obvious what it is and it looks as though you've deliberately tried to capture it that way to add a creative element.
What I would do though is crop it closer to the rotor edges (more dead space to the left than to the right at the moment) and give it a small boost of both saturation and contrast, as it looks a touch flat. After that, if it was my shot, I'd stick it in the queue!
Danorris From United States, joined Aug 2008, 2 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 585 times:
Thanks for the responses guys!
I see what you mean about the dirt. I do really like the effect of the grass clippings, especially in the heat-distorted exhaust areas. But the smaller dirt at the top of the frame looks a little ugly and distracting. I doubt I'd be able to clean that up in Photoshop -- there's too much of it -- but I'll have plenty of opportunities to reshoot. I work at this airport and those ARCH guys come in nearly every day. Reshooting would also allow me to get closer and use a shorter focal length, which I know would increase the natural sharpness and quality a lot -- I was at my lens's maximum telephoto for this picture, and it's not a pro lens.
Good points about the cropping and saturation. When I look at before & after photos after trying out your suggestions, I can see the shortcomings in the original, but I wouldn't have it figured out without doing it first. My eye is pretty forgiving... most photos look really good to me until they're set next to a better photo; that's when all the flaws jump out at me.
Here's another attempt. I've cropped it much tighter, increased the saturation, lowered the resolution slightly, and used slightly different sharpening settings. I chose not to do much in the way of contrast because when I try increasing it, I quickly lose a lot of detail on the belly and in the cockpit through the windshield.
JakTrax From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2005, 2314 posts, RR: 7 Reply 5, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 579 times:
Yes, that extra boost of saturation has made all the difference - no need to do anything with the contrast now in my opinion. Think you've cropped it a little too close to the rotor edges this time though.
Regardless of the grass I'd put it in the queue because it is a really nice image.
I am sorry to spoil the party but I do not think it will make it. Over-saturated, oversharpened, centered, colour cast are among the rejection reasons you could be getting
ThierryD From Luxembourg, joined Dec 2005, 1618 posts, RR: 55 Reply 7, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 531 times:
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Quoting Javibi (Reply 6): am sorry to spoil the party but I do not think it will make it. Over-saturated, oversharpened, centered, colour cast are among the rejection reasons you could be getting
except for "centered" I agree with Javier; additionally though I could think of grainy and compression (the grass looks pretty weird).
I'd have to have a look at the original file but honestly I don't think it's got what it takes to be accepted here; you're pretty close though and if you watch out to eliminate the given reasons on your next attempt I'm sure you'll have a winner.
Quoting ThierryD (Reply 7): you're pretty close though and if you watch out to eliminate the given reasons on your next attempt I'm sure you'll have a winner.
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