WPC 1328 - Insects ANALYSIS
Jul 20, 2013 01:23:25 #
auntmary has graciously volunteered their WPC 1328 - Insects RESULTS entry for critique and analysis to find out what they could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you auntmary and thank you everyone!
from WPC 1328 - Insects RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=68
from WPC 1328 - Insects RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=68
Bzzz Off!
Jul 20, 2013 09:14:16 #
I like the background colors very much and that it's positioned as coming into the frame, so for composition it works for me.
The degree of blurriness of the bee is what troubles me: not blurry enough for me to think of as "artistic" and not sharp enough to be documentary with a WOW factor.
The degree of blurriness of the bee is what troubles me: not blurry enough for me to think of as "artistic" and not sharp enough to be documentary with a WOW factor.
Jul 20, 2013 15:21:56 #
It's a very nice shot. I don't know if anything can be done about the burned out areas on the bee. Some cropping might improve the shot, though I'd try to keep the bee in the same relative position. When I hit Download on the original file, I could see some blur behind the bee in its flight. Overall, well done!
Jul 21, 2013 10:13:19 #
I personally would have used a faster shutter speed, there is a bit of blurring.
Jul 21, 2013 10:24:12 #
Sure, faster speed, but still it is ok.. but a simple background of sky would have been better. Then use layers to add a simple single stemmed flower perhaps red. See if the image can be excessively brightened to see eye detail,, if so layer the bright eye onto the photo or use layer of the whole image and erase to let the bright eye show thru.
Bees ain't easy, knees is, but not "Bee's knees" **.
** 1920's phrase meaning "the height of excellence"
Bees ain't easy, knees is, but not "Bee's knees" **.
** 1920's phrase meaning "the height of excellence"
Jul 21, 2013 10:31:06 #
Disagree about the background. If anything makes this shot, it's the colorful background.
Jul 21, 2013 10:49:01 #
RMM wrote:
Disagree about the background. If anything makes this shot, it's the colorful background.
now that you mention it, the background could use a tiny bit of saturation adjustment also.
Jul 21, 2013 12:17:44 #
The background is pretty but distracting. The bee is not sharp but that's OK if that is what you wanted.
Over all it's kind of nice.
Over all it's kind of nice.
Jul 21, 2013 14:35:40 #
I'm ok with the background-- it's fairly muted. The bee,however, is hot with blown highlights on the top.
My recommendations to "make it better"?: Use manual flash with output adjusted to match (but not exceed) ambient light reading. This would also freeze the wings a bit. But was this the intent? Flying insects are a challenge. JMHO.
My recommendations to "make it better"?: Use manual flash with output adjusted to match (but not exceed) ambient light reading. This would also freeze the wings a bit. But was this the intent? Flying insects are a challenge. JMHO.
Jul 21, 2013 15:09:18 #
St3v3M wrote:
auntmary has graciously volunteered their WPC 1328 - Insects RESULTS entry for critique and analysis to find out what they could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you auntmary and thank you everyone!
from WPC 1328 - Insects RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=68
from WPC 1328 - Insects RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=68
No EXIF data to suggest better settings. The highlights on the bee are blown out. The background would have been nice if it didn't have so much noise - I suspect the it was over cropped or perhaps ISO too high but can't tell without the metadata. The bee is also too contrasty, most likely oversharpened, and over saturated. Need to go easy on those sliders. Again, I suspect it is over cropped and therefore the bee detail is just not there.
Jul 21, 2013 19:32:02 #
Jul 27, 2013 23:07:34 #
She might reduce color saturation a little to see if the bee would look a little more natural, it may or may not help, but if it were my pic I would have certainly played with the saturation in post to see if it made a difference. Capturing a bee in flight like that is something that you just can't walk outside and do, it is usually just happens and if you are trying for it you usually miss, at least that has been my experience. When you get them you just take what you get, it is rare that a shot like that can be composed, usually you can make some improvements with cropping but she has done a pretty good job with that already, I like that she left more open space in front of the bee than behind, it gives a sense of direction and of where the bee is headed. I just think that it is great that she got that shot.
Jul 27, 2013 23:28:41 #
Needs to be cropped more. That said, it really isn't sharp, at least to my liking though or maybe it's just that it's noisy...As for getting bees in flight, it really isn't that hard. You just have to anticipate them.....I started a thread yesterday ( http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-136002-1.html ) in which I had a bee in flight...I did take about a half dozen shots to get one I liked though...Bottom line is just keep practicing & you will get better & better images. It isn't easy, but it isn't hard either...BTW, it's a male Carpenter Bee in that image & they can be a bit more difficult to capture in flight, more so than others like the Bumble Bee I got...
Jul 28, 2013 07:45:39 #
I like the blurriness as it shows the motion and speed. Sharpness could be better and appreciate that you could capture a moment like this. Great work!
Jul 28, 2013 11:49:51 #
Thanks, everyone for your comments and input. After the contest was over, I went out and tried again. If I can figure out how to attach a photo to this stream, I will post it. That being said, the original shot was more difficult for me as I had no reference point to try to pre-focus and he would only hover so long while I tried to manually focus. All in all, it was a good exercise for me for manually focusing on moving objects, especially for BIF. I am still struggling with exposure issues, I shot it in RAW but was hesitant to play with it too much because the way I interpret the rules, only minor adjustments are to be made. Thanks, again, this has been a good learning opportunity for me.
bee in flight
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