# Test Driving my New DSLR - Day 2 (Pic Heavy - Kitties inside ;) )



## Raj_55555 (Jun 29, 2014)

It was about time I posted a few taken with my new best friend.. As I'm just starting to get familiar with the system (not as fast as I'd like to), I'd appreciate any pointers that anyone has or any mistakes you spot in my images. I am still a DSLR noob by all means, so go easy one me  

And sorry to lure some of you guys for the kittehs, but it was robbins who inspired me with his awesome Amur leopards. I could manage only two of them though.  

#1. Amur leopard (I swear!  )







#2. Amur Leopard 2 *Dude seriously? I'll just look away!*






#3. Unknown Parakeet Species - I was too lazy to research 






#4. Saras Crane






#5. Black And White & Yet in Colour






#6. Ele - The - Phant


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## a_auger (Jun 29, 2014)

Really nice captures Raj, what kind of post-processing do you do?

I think 1 and 2 have their tint a liiiiittle too far on the purple side, whereas it's the opposite for 5 and 6. Most (except 4) seem a tad underexposed to me. As for 4, I don't know if you can being the bright green grass in the bg down a little? Do you mind if I try editing them a little?


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## Raj_55555 (Jun 29, 2014)

a_auger said:


> Really nice captures Raj, what kind of post-processing do you do?
> 
> I think 1 and 2 have their tint a liiiiittle too far on the purple side, whereas it's the opposite for 5 and 6. Most (except 4) seem a tad underexposed to me. As for 4, I don't know if you can being the bright green grass in the bg down a little? Do you mind if I try editing them a little?


Thanks for the pointers Auger, please do try editing them. I'd love to see what you've in mind! I used LR for all of them.


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## coastalconn (Jun 29, 2014)

Looks like you are having fun!.  I like the parakeet!


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## Designer (Jun 29, 2014)

First three are very good, but the last three seem to have a green color cast to them.


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## pjaye (Jun 29, 2014)

Great shots Raj. I love the elephant.


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## a_auger (Jun 29, 2014)

OK, here goes! Some of these changes will seem pretty subtle, you might have to look at them side-by-side to see what I've done. Playing with the tint slider brings your overall tone towards green (negative) or purple (positive). I find that you never really need to move the slider too far as it can drastically screw up the colour, but it can sometimes bring back a more "natural" colour to a photo.

1: Pretty basic... Tint -9, Highlights +20




2: Tint -7, Highlights +27




3: Exposure +0.3, Tint +10




4: A little more tweaks here as I tried to subdue the bright background without affecting the subject too much. Contrast +15, Highlights -55, Shadows +19, Tone Curve Highlights -31, TC Lights -25:




5: Tint +20, Exposure +0.60, Contrast +15




6: Exposure +0.35, Tint + 14




As always, LR modifications on Jpegs are only approximations of what you can get with RAW, so your mileage may vary. I imagine the more experienced people on the forum might have something else to add, so please take this with a grain of salt!

Again, really nice captures! It's always fun when at a zoo to get some cool shots!


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## robbins.photo (Jun 29, 2014)

Raj, you need to be more careful my friend.  That leopard looks like a real killer.  You can always spot the maneaters... its in the eyes.  Lol

Great set Raj


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## baturn (Jun 29, 2014)

Yes. Great set, particularly the closer image of the crane. And any set with an elephant. So two great sets.


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## Raj_55555 (Jun 29, 2014)

coastalconn said:


> Looks like you are having fun!.  I like the parakeet!


Yes I am, thanks Kris 


Designer said:


> First three are very good, but the last three seem to have a green color cast to them.


Yes,  I am having a difficult time with the white balance.. I need to set the  white balance properly, I read how to do it in the manual, will do it  before I venture out next time. Thanks Designer


symplybarb said:


> Great shots Raj. I love the elephant.


Thanks barb, so do I 


robbins.photo said:


> Raj, you need to be more careful my friend.  That leopard looks like a real killer.  You can always spot the maneaters... its in the eyes.  Lol
> 
> Great set Raj


You said it, my leopard can beat yours any day  :lmao: 
Thanks 



baturn said:


> Yes. Great set, particularly the closer image of  the crane. And any set with an elephant. So two great sets.


Thanks Brian


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## Raj_55555 (Jun 29, 2014)

a_auger said:


> OK, here goes! Some of these changes will seem pretty subtle, you might have to look at them side-by-side to see what I've done. Playing with the tint slider brings your overall tone towards green (negative) or purple (positive). I find that you never really need to move the slider too far as it can drastically screw up the colour, but it can sometimes bring back a more "natural" colour to a photo.


Thank you so much for taking the time to edit all of them auger, I really do appreciate it. As I said I was having a little trouble with the WB, I'll have to do something about it. In the meanwhile, thanks for posting the changes you've made too. I'll try them out in LR and compare them to see the difference.. 



a_auger said:


> Again, really nice captures! It's always fun when at a zoo to get some cool shots!


Yes it is, specially for those of us who love wildlife photography but don't have any scope for it. Thanks Auger..


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## PropilotBW (Jun 29, 2014)

Looks like you're enjoying your new camera!  

Just noticed that the first pic appears grainy.  You can see it in the legs and on the nose.  did you, perhaps, crank up the sharpness?  try using some noise-reduction in LR.


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## robbins.photo (Jun 29, 2014)

Raj_55555 said:


> You said it, my leopard can beat yours any day  :lmao:
> Thanks



Well my leopard is bigger but your's is obviously a stone cold killer - so ya, I'd put my money on yours too.. lol


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## Raj_55555 (Jun 30, 2014)

PropilotBW said:


> Looks like you're enjoying your new camera!
> 
> Just noticed that the first pic appears grainy.  You can see it in the  legs and on the nose.  did you, perhaps, crank up the sharpness?  try  using some noise-reduction in LR.



Yes I am, very much so :mrgreen:.. Not sure why it's grainy though,  the ISO was at 640, but the D100 seems to handle noise pretty well.  Heaven and hell difference from my sx50 TBH. I hardly ever sharpen my  pictures in PP (not necessarily a good thing), NR sounds good to me too  


robbins.photo said:


> Well my leopard is bigger but your's is obviously a stone cold killer - so ya, I'd put my money on yours too.. lol


:lmao: :lmao:


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## DarkShadow (Jun 30, 2014)

Nice shots Raj but the parakeet is my Favorite.


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## snehasmile (Jul 7, 2014)

Hey Raj... I am from Mumbai too ... where do you go to click these animals ??


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 7, 2014)

snehasmile said:


> Hey Raj... I am from Mumbai too ... where do you go to click these animals ??


Hi Sneha, I'm not really from mumbai. Just been there once for a photography exhibition.. Most of my animal shots are at the Kolkata Alipore zoo.. I would say the Sanjay gandhi national park would be a good place for you to find some animals, I wanted to visit there but couldn't due to the lack of time. Powai lake would also be a great place if you are into bird photography


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## snehasmile (Jul 8, 2014)

Raj_55555 said:


> snehasmile said:
> 
> 
> > Hey Raj... I am from Mumbai too ... where do you go to click these animals ??
> ...



ohh Kolkatta..cool .... yes, Sanjay Gandhi national park would be good... we are planning to go there with our photography class so i hope i could shoot some good pictures... 
I work in Powai but its difficult to find any birds around except for the crows ... .. 

nice to meet you...


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 8, 2014)

snehasmile said:


> ohh Kolkatta..cool .... yes, Sanjay Gandhi national park would be good... we are planning to go there with our photography class so i hope i could shoot some good pictures...
> I work in Powai but its difficult to find any birds around except for the crows ... ..
> 
> nice to meet you...


Lol.. I've never understood why non-bengalis call it Kolkatta, and the bengalis call it kolkata.  I've heard of Peregrine falcon sightings near powai lake, may be you should try asking the local birders. The pleasure was all mine Sneha!


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## danielklaer (Jul 11, 2014)

Hi Raj, Just saw this. The parrot is a moustached parakeet _Psittaculu alexandri. _It gets my vote too


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 12, 2014)

danielklaer said:


> Hi Raj, Just saw this. The parrot is a moustached parakeet _Psittaculu alexandri. _It gets my vote too



Well, there's our in-house parrot expert. I was wondering if you'd read this  Thanks Daniel.


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## BillM (Jul 14, 2014)

That's the best Phant shot i've seen in a long time Raj :mrgreen:

And I think that kitty in #1 was in MIB2 if i'm not mistaken


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