Cat Pic

[407370]

OK The last time I posted in this thread I got a lot of flak for not following guidelines.

I tried my best this time to read the references and followed them to the best of my understanding. So here goes....

My cat Sandy using High Speed Sync with a Godox V1 Flash:

What would have to be improved to get a high score on a photo competition??

CHEERS
JBO

 

[smoke665]

I love the detail that HSS sync can bring. However this shot could be improved, it's slightly underexposed, needs the white/black points set, a mild S curve for contrast, saturation/vibrance adjustments, a little burning and cropped differently to make the face higher in the frame and more prominent. As presented the head is to low in the frame and feels awkward. Heres's an example of a few of the adjustments mentioned.

A question for you, what was the creative thought process in this?? Did you think the shot through before you took it, did you have a specific goal for the shot, and if so, do you think it met those goals?

 

[407370]

A question for you, what was the creative thought process in this?? Did you think the shot through before you took it, did you have a specific goal for the shot, and if so, do you think it met those goals?

Thanks for taking the time to critique.

There was very little creative thought process. I was engaged in photographing a wet pig and saw my cat lying in the sun. I removed the camera from the tripod and pointed at the cat. I made sure to get the cat in the centre of the frame as above and below there was an ugly wall. My intention was to get the whole cat in the pic and use only enough DOF to get the whole head in focus. I knew I only had a few seconds to get the pic so acted accordingly.

I see the point of the centralisation of the head. I wanted to avoid the need for any localised processing (Burning) by not making the exposure too bright.

There was a very bright sun on the cats body which was being balanced by the flash on his head. You can see from the following histogram of the original pic, its very close to clipping so I did not push it any further:

I knew that flash was going to geta a reaction from him. 10 seconds after the pic was taken he was gone.

Thanks for making the effort. You brought up some interesting points.

CHEERS
JBO

 

[smoke665]

I see the point of the centralisation of the head. I wanted to avoid the need for any localised processing (Burning) by not making the exposure too bright.

I follow a former countryman of yours, John Hedgecoe (a prolific photographer/author). He said to decide on your focal point let everything else in the frame support it. The focal point doesn't necessarily need to be central, but the viewer's eye should automatically be drawn to it. Composition rules are not hard fast, but are based on logical arrangement of the elements in a frame.

Burning/dodging isn't changing the overall exposure, it's selectively increasing or decreasing parts of the frame.

Setting the white point/black point is not the same as WB and is an important part in post. As your camera meter will expose for 18% gray giving your whites and blacks a grayish look.

 

[Thomas V]

That captures the qualities I love about cats.

 

[Thiophilos]

... needs the white/black points set...

I'm curious how you set the white and black points. Do you mean stretching the histogram so it touches black on one side and white on the other? Would a contrast adjustment accomplish the same?

I'm self-taught in Lightroom and don't usually think in terms of white and black points... always interested in learning new tricks.

 

[Thiophilos]

To JBO: It is a nice sharp pic of your cat, but for a photo competition, it is pretty common subject matter, presented in a pretty ordinary way. For most viewers it doesn't have much impact. The pose is OK but the direction of the lighting is not ideal. We could diddle with the cropping and do some dodging/burning and so on and that might improve it, but after all that effort, it is still a pretty ordinary photo.

Maybe the wet pig would be better.

 

[smoke665]

I'm curious how you set the white and black points. Do you mean stretching the histogram so it touches black on one side and white on the other? Would a contrast adjustment accomplish the same?

I'm self-taught in Lightroom and don't usually think in terms of white and black points... always interested in learning new tricks.

In essence but more accurately it's increasing the tonal range by extracting all the dynamic range from the image without clipping. In PS it's done in Levels and Curves, but I find it easier to do basic editing functions in LR.

My workflow in LR is to first make any required exposure adjustment, then set the WB, then adjust my contrast slightly. Next I adjust the White Point and Black Point. There's three ways to do it:

A. Manually adjust the White or Black slider L/R and watch your histogram (not the best)
B. Hold down the Shift Key and double click on White or Black, and LR will set it automatically (better)
C. Hold down the Alt key on a PC Command on Mac, click and hold on the White slider, screen will turn black, move the slider right until you
just start to see white break through. Now do the same with Black, the screen will turn white, move the slider left until the black starts to
just show through. (this is the best method)

Once the white/black points have been set adjust your shadows and highlights, then your exposure if necessary. One of the advantages of the last method is I can push it to the point that the Histogram is just starting to clip, then use curves to clip the extreme ends, which gives me maximum tonal range in between.

 

[Thiophilos]

In essence but more accurately it's increasing the tonal range by extracting all the dynamic range from the image without clipping. In PS it's done in Levels and Curves, but I find it easier to do basic editing functions in LR.

My workflow in LR is to first make any required exposure adjustment, then set the WB, then adjust my contrast slightly. Next I adjust the White Point and Black Point. There's three ways to do it:

A. Manually adjust the White or Black slider L/R and watch your histogram (not the best)
B. Hold down the Shift Key and double click on White or Black, and LR will set it automatically (better)
C. Hold down the Alt key on a PC Command on Mac, click and hold on the White slider, screen will turn black, move the slider right until you
just start to see white break through. Now do the same with Black, the screen will turn white, move the slider left until the black starts to
just show through. (this is the best method)

Once the white/black points have been set adjust your shadows and highlights, then your exposure if necessary. One of the advantages of the last method is I can push it to the point that the Histogram is just starting to clip, then use curves to clip the extreme ends, which gives me maximum tonal range in between.

Thanks - I just tried those things in LR and they work. Clicking on Auto also seems to set the white and black points.

 

[smoke665]

Thanks - I just tried those things in LR and they work. Clicking on Auto also seems to set the white and black points.

clicking on Auto sets everything in the basic panel down to curves except WB. It can sometimes give you an "idea" on the image, but in most cases it's not the "ideal" edit. Think about it like setting your camera on full Auto, the algorithms are designed to produce an image, but it's not necessarily the vision you have for the image, nor is it going to intentionally push the limits left or right, or take into consideration any curves adjustments to choke the Whites or Blacks.

Forgot to mention that holding the Alt/Command key down while moving the slider works on the sliders for shadows and highlights also. It gives you a visual representation.

 

[Thiophilos]

clicking on Auto sets everything in the basic panel down to curves except WB. It can sometimes give you an "idea" on the image, but in most cases it's not the "ideal" edit. Think about it like setting your camera on full Auto, the algorithms are designed to produce an image, but it's not necessarily the vision you have for the image, nor is it going to intentionally push the limits left or right, or take into consideration any curves adjustments to choke the Whites or Blacks.

Sure, agreed, but by the same token, I'm not sure I always want to stretch my white and black points to their extremes.

Up till now I never use auto or routinely set white/black points. I go by how the image looks. If the dark areas look smoky, then I give it more black.... and then usually lift the shadows a bit. And so on, going visually. But we get set in our ways, and maybe there are better ways.

 

[407370]

I dont use lightroom or photoshop. My workflow is to fiddle with an image until I like it. I always have a final outcome in my head before I start editing and when I get there I stop editing.

I am interested in exploring the differences between what I like and what a competition judge will like. It appears there is a Grand Canyon sized gap between me and a judge. One main difference is backgrounds are viewed as distracting by judges. I fundamentally disagree with this. Everything needs context. A rose in a bunch of flowers will never win a competition but a rose with a solid black / white background might win.

I view competitions as a new set of skills, whether I agree with the philosophy or not.

Wet pig came fourth in a competition because the pic was misunderstood to be a real pig photo being taken through a car window.

CHEERS
JBO

 

[smoke665]

I am interested in exploring the differences between what I like and what a competition judge will like. It appears there is a Grand Canyon sized gap between me and a judge. One main difference is backgrounds are viewed as distracting by judges. I fundamentally disagree with this. Everything needs context. A rose in a bunch of flowers will never win a competition but a rose with a solid black / white background might win.

Once you get psst the technical parts of an image the rest becomes opinion. This is why I lost interest in photo competition in clubs, as the opinions were very narrow in scope and mostly prejudicial. To me, altering my vision so some pompous judge in a little completion "likes" my image is no different than changing my style so I can garner "likes" on social media. It wasn't worth the short term boost of dopamine, but judging by the number of users on FB, Instagram, etc., I may be in the minority.

 

[407370]

Once you get psst the technical parts of an image the rest becomes opinion. This is why I lost interest in photo competition in clubs, as the opinions were very narrow in scope and mostly prejudicial. To me, altering my vision so some pompous judge in a little completion "likes" my image is no different than changing my style so I can garner "likes" on social media. It wasn't worth the short term boost of dopamine, but judging by the number of users on FB, Instagram, etc., I may be in the minority.

I would not even include "Technical Aspects" in a judgement of whether I like a pic or not. The pic will make me feel something and basically my internal point scoring system is proportional to how much I feel from the photo.

There was a BW pic of a childs grave on the forum some time ago. The first edit was ruined by over processing. The second edit (SOOC) brought a tear to my eye. The lighting was not great, the composition could have been better and not the sharpest but 10 / 10.

That being said I still have a yearning to do well / win in a competition.

CHEERS
JBO

 

[smoke665]

@407370 people enjoy different aspects of photography with no right or wrong. The great thing about photography is that it lends itself to that difference. Even technical deviations can be used creatively. The main thing is just enjoy what makes you happy!