gener202002

Well, I consider this a mute topic. I have received lots of criticism on it. As things now stand I am not able to get out and take pictures very much. I do agree with the idea though that it takes a lot more than just a good picture. A lot more than that. I do have some fun with AI these days but that is about it. I just put the picture out there to see if there were ideas on how to make it something more than it is. I did not consider it a precious picture, just something I wanted to work with to see what I could do with it.

There are a lot of beautiful pictures on hedgehog, and I appreciate the work that people do. As far as criticism, I am perfectly at peace with it and appreciate the feedback. I do not mind people telling me that it is not worth anything. It is all alright. It is a very old subject however. My pictures for the most part are not up to par with the excellent pictures people post here. I have seen a lot of beauty. I just can't get out there to take pictures much anymore.

Thanks to everybody for the feedback.

paulrnzpn Loc: New Zealand

You have very difficult light here, with the bright light of the sun and the dark in the shadows, so it's not easy to get an image like this looking its best. And I agree with others that it looks a bit over-processed. (Tone mapping gone too far, and over-using HDR, can both cause the fringing, for example.)

I see you use 5D Mk2. I use 5D Mk 4 and the dynamic range of the Mk 4 is far improved from previous 5Ds, so that helps a lot when I shoot these types of challenging light scenes. I used Canon 600D before (crop sensor) and the 5D produces images that are many times better and cleaner. Having said that, bracketing on my 600D usually helped deal with any issues with the light I was dealing in this type of scene.

Furthermore, if you are processing from JPG instead of RAW, that is likely to be your biggest problem here, aside from the clipping that is. JPEGs can't be pushed in post nearly as much as RAW.

Looking at the histogram, I'd say there is a bit of clipping at both ends of the spectrum.
So have a look here:
https://www.adorama.com/alc/dynamic-range-photography-explained/

According to the EXIF, you used auto WB. You might want to try one of your camera's built-in presets, or a custom WB. That might also help when processing from RAW.

Finally, with camera on tripod it's often very helpful if you do bracketing in this sort of light, shooting at least three frames, but 5 or 7 is better. Then you can layer them and manually mask in and out in Post (or use a good HDR app).

Maybe also drop the ISO down from ISO-250 to 200 or even 100. Then you should get cleaner RAW images to work from.

But really, I am only guessing with all of these suggestions. It's very difficult light you have there, so you have to play around in the field - take more shots trying out different settings, as mentioned above.

usnret Loc: Woodhull Il

What things in the image do YOU like the most and dislike the most about your capture and why? Perhaps by answering those questions you can intrinsically make improvments.