Photolady2014 wrote:
I will say, I did not update my feelings. From the original post I said I learned so much and I never said I did not like his comments on my photos. Rather I was amazed at the precision he expected in his and photos he judges! I shared the comments so others could see what a judge looks for and the precision! Then I was in my own head, now that I know what is an award winning photo, can I still take one that has shadows and bad background just because it is something I want to take a photo of, knowing it is not going to be a technically good photo?
I will say, I did not update my feelings. From th... (
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Take as much as you need.
For him to make you believe that you need to look for all those perfection before taking a photo is wrong.
Stars do align but if you wait for it, you will miss a lot of opportunities. That will only always happen in a studio environment.
With correct basics & approach, Professional photographers take as much pictures as they can then cull them up for the great one.
The one that fits all the corners and if not, they edit those images to fit their "box".
More so with wildlife which is unpredictable. Sometimes we can have an idea of what we want to take a picture of and we make ways for that image to happen. But still, we just take what is given to us and choose the best we got. What they are good at is planning and doing their shots with room for improvements. Oftentimes they also have a lot of days to keep trying to achieve their shot.
This is an example of planning; There is an unfinished building and a barbwire fence i always pass by and in my mind I see a this composition of dove freely flying superimposed and in contrast with the bleak backdrop. To get the shot, i would stay on this spot when the lighting is correct to my idea and actually wait for a dove to do what i wanted to capture. It took me 6 different days of waiting 5 to 10 minutes each time at that spot to get this photo which i call
"Hope".
Did I capture what I want? Not really. I wanted the bird to be bigger. But that is what was offered to me and I'm happy with that. Wildlife is unpredictable and it would probably take me months of trying before i get what i want. It's all about planning, taking lots of photos and luck.
Here is an example of a shot with room for improvement.
This is my improved composition;
And this is how i shot it, deliberately giving enough space around my subject in relation to the clutter around it.
The full process can be read here:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-580096-1.htmlAs shown, things do not need to be perfect. It only needs to be done with purpose, appropriate technique and approach. Shoot the best possible as per situation and do some post if needed.
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