I took some pics this weekend.

ohiogsp · Post by **ohiogsp** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:50 pm

I want your guys opinions on these pics. I think they are good but want some opinions.

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:12 pm

What do you want an opinion of? The picture's? If so are you using an SLR?

12 Volt Man · Post by **12 Volt Man** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:15 pm

Very nice.

ohiogsp · Post by **ohiogsp** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:20 pm

I am using a Nikon D70. Yes the pics. Do you think they are good pics? Do you like the photography?

hubweims · Post by **hubweims** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:46 pm

the quail photo is good. nice sharp image to focus in the cover. gsp photo is pretty ordinary. he is a beautiful dog, but the actual photo looks like any other snapshot you could take with any camera. i think you caught him in a bad pose. the other dog photos were fantastic. what ever program or manual settings you were using with them, i would store it as a preset. they look fantastic. nice, sharp, detailed focus, great lighting, and blurred background. i would use this setting for the gsp and retake. photo with the snake (i don't like snakes!!!!) is good as well. u caught him with his tongue out. camera did a good job of stopping action and gave you a really detailed photo of the snake. you could use a program to sharpen up the grass/cover if you wish, but it's a good picture. if u asked to me to pick the best one, definately i would say the last. i like how you offcentered the dog for most of the frame. all of the other pics has your subject dead center of the frame, and sometimes just moving a little offcenter will add the needed drama. you can see it in the last one. dogs body and head take up most of the left side of frame.

12 Volt Man · Post by **12 Volt Man** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:50 pm

I have used the D70 for over a year and I'm still trying to figure out the finer points.

A lot of taking digital photos is the post processing. I used photoshop to tweek a couple of your photos. You will see a big difference.

You can really get a ton of help from photoshop.

12 Volt Man · Post by **12 Volt Man** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:54 pm

Two more...

I do like the photos. I really like it when the subject is in clear focus and the background is blurred. Nice

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:56 pm

That's the same digital I have. I also shoot a Nikon F5, Hasselblad x-pan, Pentax 645NII and a Mamiya RB67. Hope your not offended at anything I saw.

The first photo of the quail. Good photo but you forgot the rule of third's. Devide the frame into thirds up and across and don't put the subject in the middle of it. The quail is looking to it's right so if you had moved it left a bit, it would not have been centered and would have been looking into the picture. Had you moved it right the same amount, it would have been looking out of the picture with dead nothing behind it. The direction of the bird's look direct's your eye.

In the second photo, the orange leash is a huge distraction as is the partial body of the guy holding the leash. You would have been better off either with the leash gone and the guy out of the frame or the guy kneeling next to the dog with that leash out of sight.

The third photo is almost a home run for me but, and you knew that was coming. Look at the dog's eye's. First their a bit soft meaning not the point of focus. Compare those eye's to the Britt's eye's. Then I would have done a portrait rather than a landscape with the dog's head toward the left side, notice the body is facing into the frame? same as the quail. Last use a fill flash. The eye's are a bit dead for lack of light.

The photo of Otis I shot with light's and my D70. Notice the light's in the eye's? It's called catch light, It draws your attention to the eye's and the focus is there. Whenever you can, focus on the eye's and use a flash. Beware of hitting the dog straight on with the flash. You'll get red eye from the light bouncing around inside the eye ball and coming back out. If you can't move the flash off camera, get someone to direct to eye's away from the camera a bit. Nikon make's a flash, SB 600 that will work in commander mode with the D70 that will let you have someone else hold the flash off to the side a bit. The background out of focus really let's the dog stand out nice, really like that shot.

I don't like snake's so I'll skip that one!

The Britt is absolutely beautiful. The background out just enough you can tell it's there but the eye's sharp and the dog just pop's out of the photo. Great shot!!

12 Volt Man · Post by **12 Volt Man** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:58 pm

ahhh what the heck. I went ahead and did the last one too.

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:06 pm

Here's your Weimarraner cropped for a portrait and I sharpened in a photo program a bit. I'm not very good fixing photo's with the computer.

12 Volt Man · Post by **12 Volt Man** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:10 pm

Here, just for fun I added a little blue tint to the dog's eyes.

Great points from the others. They know more than I do. What settings do you like on your D70? ISO, White Balance etc...???

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:13 pm

Hey 12 volt man. Did you just adjust the contrast on that quail of brightness? Sure show's of the light in the eye better. I really suck with the photo program's I have. Got photoshop and it blow's my mind. It was a gift.

Pryor Creek Okie · Post by **Pryor Creek Okie** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:15 pm

They're better than the pictures I take.

12 Volt Man · Post by **12 Volt Man** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:15 pm

I obviously cropped a little, then adjusted the levels, then the shadow/highlight, then juiced up the saturation a little. That's about all I know how to do. Those adjustments have turned a lot of crappy photos into nice ones for me. Mine always seem to turn out on the dark side like Ohio's.

gdog · Post by **gdog** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:16 pm

I like the pics. Composition makes or breaks a photo. Don is right...try the rule of thirds. I have a D80 and shoot with the "grid" on in the view finder. I am not sure if the D70 has this or not, but it can help composing a shot.

12Volt is definately right about post editing pics can really help. Anyone who does not have Photoshop or PaintPro or some editing software should check out the following link:

http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

It is a FREE (YUP..FREE) image browser, editor and convertor. It doesnt have all the bells and whistles as some of the editing programs, but it has everything needed to do what 12Volt did and more. It's easy to use and again FREE.

12 Volt Man · Post by **12 Volt Man** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:25 pm

Even more blue in the eyes. For some reason I think that looks really cool.

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:28 pm

Fooled with the shorthair a bit. Notice the distracting green legs are gone but the orange leash isn't. Also now the dog's leg's are cut off.

Re-cropped it and still can't get out the leash. But made a chest and head view and the cut off leg's are gone.

Something I might add. The eye's are the gateway to the soul!

12 Volt Man · Post by **12 Volt Man** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:39 pm

Sorry..... Now I am having too much fun with this.

hubweims · Post by **hubweims** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:03 pm

ohio,

i hope you are getting some good ideas. i think the take home message should be to buy a decent editing software. the great thing about using a good slr camera with good number of megapixels is that you can crop and zoom without loosing any detail to your shot. until you have more experience and comfort using the rule of thirds you can take a pic, and then crop it so that the subject is posed better in the shot. you can do this with any camera, but your d70 has the mp to really bring out the best in each shot. i would look at photoshop to purchase. the photoshop essentials is only like 250-300 bucks. you can get the whole creative suite for $1200 (what most professionals use). i think for what you are wanting to do with your camera and photos the essential software will suffice. i have a mac and use a program called apperture. it's a slight step up from essentials for the same money, but i don't know if it is pc compatible.

don/12volt,

if a pic is a little dark, all you have to do usually is increase the exposure in the program. highlights and shading works, but most of the time if you just increase exposure it will brighten images a bit. kind of works like increasing the aperture on the camera. i don't think the brit photo needed it though. sometimes i feel the lower light adds drama to a shot. the original brit photo was nice, dark, blurred background with the little light in the frame really bouncing off the dog's coat and collar.

DGFavor · Post by **DGFavor** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:05 pm

Sort of on topic I guess...is anybody printing off photos much anymore? I've got tons stored on computer but have never taken a disc to get photos processed.

I did just receive today a new little toy that is pretty cool... a Canon PIXMA Pro 9000 pro grade photo printer. I wanted to start printing some of my photos and framing them up and thought this would be fun. It's quite a bit bigger than I thought it would be but wow, the first couple photos I've printed off look great. Just like from a good photo lab. I planned on taking it with me to our Reg. 9 field trial to print some on site candid photos to present to winners/judges/etc. in premade custom frames but not sure now - it's pretty good sized to be hauling around.

Anybody else do much photo printing/framing?

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:06 pm

Yes sir, we are having fun now!!!!

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 8:03 pm

DGFavor wrote: I planned on taking it with me to our Reg. 9 field trial to print some on site candid photos to present to winners/judges/etc. in premade custom frames but not sure now - it's pretty good sized to be hauling around.

Anybody else do much photo printing/framing?

Both HP and Epson make portable 4x6 printer's maybe Cannon also. I think HP also make's a 5x7 portable printer. They will work off of battery that is extra or mine, I had both, run off a 350w inverter plugged into the cigar lighter. Both make very nice photo's. Strongly recommend one! Both give result's every bit as good as commerical print's. They also come with editing software and HP's software is the best by far. Epson's stink's.

I have printed a lot of nphoto's up to 8 1/2x 11 on an Epson R300 and now an Epson R260. Don't care for theur service but suspect they'll all be the same. Have aa number of 8x10's several years old and no fade at all. For glossy paper, Kirkland from Costco is cheap and work's well, don't know the image like tho and Costco couldn't tell me anything. Staple's and Office Max have good paper's, get professional grade's. I like the satin and the heavyweight matt. Epson matt is printable on one side only, Staples both side's. I only buy either Staple's or Office Mart anymore. Tried Kodak and you couldn't give me a train load of that stuff.

Checked with Staple's and Office Max and they claim image life 75+ yrs. Hard to know for sure as all testing is in accelerated aging test's. The image like is with the photo under glass or in an album.

I do build my own frame's from scratch and have done a bunch of matting. But that's a whole new subject.

Don't ask me how the dog got in there. Just a ham I guess!

Casper · Post by **Casper** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:07 pm

My sister prints all her own pictures. Not sure what kind of printer but it is good enough that I dont knowtice a difference.

DGFavor · Post by **DGFavor** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:57 pm

I've got an HP G55 All in One printer that did a decent job of printing photos but it's an Apples/Oranges deal compared to the Canon photo printer. It'll print up to 13"x19" photos and look really good - no doubt they'd really look good in the hands of some of you that know what your doin'! Wonder how long the ink cartridges will last - I think there were 8 various color cartidges I put in the thing.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contr ... elid=12892

ohiogsp · Post by **ohiogsp** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 2:20 am

Great tips, thanks guys. I do have photoshop I just didn't mess with these pics cause I wanted opinions on the raw version not a edited version. Your sugestions will help me to get better pics in the future.

Post by **Greg Jennings** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:19 am

DGFavor wrote:Sort of on topic I guess...is anybody printing off photos much anymore? I've got tons stored on computer but have never taken a disc to get photos processed.

<snip>

Anybody else do much photo printing/framing?

If I want to have something printed, I download them to the Wal-Mart or Sam's photo printing sites. It's cheap and they do a good job.

Best regards, Greg J.

Yawallac · Post by **Yawallac** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:44 am

What leash?

...collar? ...bent tail?

Don · Post by **Don** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:05 am

How did you do that? Is that photoshop? I have it but can't figure out how to use it. That is great!!

midwestfisherman · Post by **midwestfisherman** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:22 am

Nice pics ohiogsp. Much better than what I susally come up with. The photoshop adjustments look good too.

Yawallac · Post by **Yawallac** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:26 am

Yep, Photoshop.

Post by **Ayres** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:53 am

If you want Photoshop, but absolutely free (not the $649 pricetag, and not an illegal software crack), then try out the GNU Image Manipulation Program.

Gimp, for short.

Here's a link for the free, open-source program: http://www.gimp.org/

And, Ohio, I like the weim pic a lot even without the "rule of thirds." Brightened up a bit, and if it was my dog I'd pay to have that photograph.

Buckeye_V · Post by **Buckeye_V** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 10:17 am

Ohio.

As my wife is finding out, becoming a good photographer takes time, practice, having good equipment and LUCK!

I like the quail, weim and snake photo.

Justin

P.S. Hope to see you at a hunt test this spring. I'm gonna need some more birds

rnbiii · Post by **rnbiii** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 11:16 am

A couple notes on photoshop...

1. You can get an educational discount if you (or someone you know) works in the field of education. Only $299. http://www.adobe.com/education/purchasi ... icing.html

2. There are lots of "how to" books on photoshop ranging from the basics to more than you'll ever need to know.

Ruffshooter · Post by **Ruffshooter** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:08 pm

You have some good subjects, With any photo or any type of camera the first and formost things to think about are composition, position of the subject and what will detract from the photo. Stuff sticking out of the head blending colors etc. When doing wildlife one does not always have the oportunity to get the perfect shot. So give your self some room for error. In other words more space and more conservitive settings. Take more shots at different settings.

Crop and set up the photo with good positioning when taking the photo, don't rely on photo shop. If you start out good you will end up good.
The snake is set up good but I would like to see more of the snake and have the yellow on the snake pop more. ( this one takes practice)
The Weim: I would like to see more of the dog. Head shots should IMO be down to the shoulders or more of the neck more contrast of color to make the dog stand out more. Rotate the camera to crop him better.
The shorthair I would like to not see your legs see more of his legs and no leash. Nice looking pup. Get down to his level and not shoot down.
The quail. Rotate the camera as everything is verticle. look again at ways to make the quail stand out in that grass and crop tighter. but show more of the bottom of the quail.

Having said all this I like each of the subjects and think once you get the hang of the camera you will get great photos. I can't get the hang of these Digital SLRs. Give me film.

Have fun with it.

SettersRus · Post by **SettersRus** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:14 pm

I take the photos my wife does the photoshop stuff. Most of my photos are underwater. Check out the dog photo its the same one in my avatar. She really had a brite orange checkcord on her when the picture was taken. My wife used photo shop and removed it. You would never know it. The orange and white dog is laying on the couch, but you don't see the couch. The eel is just a picture I took in Honduras.