Was Reading The Thread About Critques And Well I've Never Had One

WoW! Spectacular! Even the crisp eye detail in the salmon! and that was just the first row:) Love your work!

I got nothing but wow as well....

I can add a WOW as well!

You have some nice stuff. I am going to save the criticism for someone who needs it. ;)

See, this is where positive reinforcement comes in. You got some killer stuff. Keep doing what you're doing for the most part.



You've got some stand up work that I can bearly find anything wrong with!

Thanks everyone, I have had some success selling here but not setting any records, I think its due to my subject matter being wildlife and while everyone enjoys wildlife they don't hang it on their walls and that's OK I just do what I enjoy !

One word, "RESPECT"

Gary,

Great captures, but I think they all need some editing work. All seem pretty flat and lack contrast and maybe even some saturation. Just think about the shots that you see in something like "Outdoor Photographer" and then review your shots. I think YOU should be in that magazine, but your images need to be tweaked to get to that level,

Rich

Thanks Rich, I will look at that, I use a calibrated monitor and they don't look flat on this end, can you tell me a particular image for me to look at ?

Gary,

Most of them, but the bear image is flat and I'm sure it was "flat" where you shot this! Adding some contrast and/or saturation,which adds contrast, would add a "punch" or "pop" to many of your images.

You can send me a couple small files and I'll play with them if you like, just let me know and I'll send you an email with my address..........

Rich

Yeah the bear images were shot in some of the worst light you could ever ask for. Had 24 hours with the Bears forgot to ask for great light

the bears were all shot on a very overcast day with what little light there was behind them and this incredible glare on the water, it was expose for the bears and blow the highlights or go home, iso 800 640th at f4, my email is gll@gllangley.com I'd be interested to see what you can do with them
Thanks

What I looooove about the Bear catching salmon photo is that it even shows the shocked/surprised look in the salmon's eye! Not sure it needs any enhancements, but I'm not the expert there.

"What I looooove about the Bear catching salmon photo is that it even shows the shocked/surprised look in the salmon's eye! "

Yep, I agree with this. Looking back at the bear like, "uh=oh. This is not going to end well." The bear, meanwhile, has a determined look in his eyes as if he thinks he has done a good job. And from his POV, he has. Th salmon was always going to be someone's dinner sometime.

I would like to see more of the scene of where you are when shooting these terrifying beasts. The close ups and full body shots would benefit from some setting the scene shots and/or wide angles on the action. The "sense of place" is missing for me. I just can't imagine what you go through to accomplish this fine work, but keep going!

What sort of critique might you be seeking:

(1) A critique of a specific image?

(2) A critique of your general style, assuming it is recognizable (I have not looked yet)?

Give me a starting place, and I will venture you a few relevant words along the lines you seek, assuming (as we all know) words are mere linear constructions that cannot possibly capture a picture, no matter how good or bad the picture might ultimately FEEL.

Interested in your opinion of my style and my images any pertinent information that might help me improve the quality of the photos or improvements I could make to the the website (FAA) to sell more

I'd like to thank you all for your comments, Special thanks to Rich, I sent him some images and he helped me improve them .
And Sharon if you ever get a chance to photograph wild bears DON't use a wide angle its a tad dangerous ! LOL but your right it would make a great image.

If you would like to see the improved image of the Moose in velvet its the first image on my page, subtle change but I really liked the change.
Thanks !

Well Gary, here is some critique: I looked at your gallery "Texas Panhandle Wildlife" and browsed the images. Most of them has compositions that are good for publishing in Wikipedia and the like... not for hanging at walls in a home (unless you are a fan of collecting animal species).

You can surely improve in more dramatic cropping, I think.

Gary,

Glad to help. Might be easier to see the subtle changes, with both poster here, the before and afters, bear and elk,even the Topaz elk one.

Rich

Rich I haven't figured out how to post an image in this thread if you can do it please do

One thing I noticed going through your portfolio that Lutz may have touched on here? You have a lot of repetitive images, same image with slightly different crop...like you moved a building or a moose over just a bit. That can just crowd up your portfolio, may be good for stock site but not for fine art site and buyers looking for wall art. Pick the best image for each scene.

I would cull out the repetitive images, pick the best and not have so many slightly different poses of moose and elk, unless you are going for stock images instead of fine art.

I agreed with Rich on some subtle changes in your processing, a little boost here and there or desaturation, background blur etc. The bear with the salmon when I looked the other day, appears enlarged to 4800 x 6000, even though you only offer smaller sizes, but looking at it under the hr square it's blurry at that resolution. The bear salmon lll is not enlarged.

Ok I cannot even really see the salmons eyes....is this a real critique? Oh maybe its a politically correct one. Sorry I think there is always room for improvment

Thanks Lutzs and Melissa I will definitely keep your suggestions in mind when I'm cropping in the future, as for the market for my work I already know that it's a fairly limited market of people who enjoy Wildlife

Gary,

You can upload images, the before and afters to your site and then add them here. Here's how you do it


. Go to your Artist page, and then to Galleries and then to the image you want to include in your thread.
2. In the lower right hand corner of your image, that shows how the art can be ordered, framed,canvas,etc, in the bottom is a box, just under the color pallette, click on that box.
3. With the box now highlighted, do a "CTL C"
4. Return to the discussion thread that you want to add the image to and do a "paste" or a "CTL V"
a href='http://fineartamerica.com/featured/ball-of-light-marco-island-beach-rich-franco.html' size='20'>

5. You're almost there! The image will show up after you hit "submit"
6. Extra credit!!! You can change the size of your image by changing the 2 numbers after the "=" sign, width & height, but do so proportionally so you don't distort the image.

Rich

p.s if you have any problems, I can upload them for you..........

Rich I'm not near a pc just my iPhone for a while

Love the photos and your eye for the 'right now'. The only thing I see is that they are cropped a little too tight on some.


This one would look good without a frame however if someone were to frame it it would cover some of the stems and cut into the main subject. But that is just my thoughts.



this one as well. It may or may not be cropped too tight for a frame on the right side.

Gary,

I'll try in about an hour or so, but if you get home, then go ahead.........

Rich

Okay, ... of your twenty-five galleries, I have chosen three, and in each of the three galleries, I have chosen the outstanding shot in that particular gallery.

Moose gallery

BULL MOOSE CALLING is close up, in good focus, but contrasted with a blurred background, which highlights the focus and makes the animal's gesture stand out more prominently. A focused subject against a blurred background always suckers me in as a favorite. By comparison, the other Moose shots look like snapshots. BULL MOOSE looks like a more composed shot. It has good angles, good composition. It might be a strong cover shot, I would say.


Arches National Park Utah gallery

Your gallery icon is the best image here, in my opinion, mainly because of its brightness. The other three images in that group have low lighting issues for my taste.


Grand Tetons gallery

SUNRISE AT OX BOW BEND is the most outstanding image of this bunch (for me) because of its dramatic, unique color of light, ... NOT traditionally warm (orange/yellow), ... NOT traditionally cool, ... but something else unexpected (pink or magenta).


A focused study of all your images could take years, so this is all the time I've got for it now. You take lots more pictures than me, I have no doubt. I am just an arm-chair critic here, you realize. Getting close to those animals must be a real challenge.

Gary, et al,

Here are the originals and the images that I tweaked for Gary, to see the subtle and in the case of Topaz, the not so subtle changes I thought were needed, to make these more "saleable" to the general public.











On the bear having a salmon for dinner shot, I mostly corrected the color, in ACR,which removed the blue-ish caste, added some saturation and contrast and then a few pops to the eye of the bear. Also added a filter to reduce the "noise" a bit from the image, not sure I like it.........

On the elk, mostly the same and then a Topaz Impression effect, 50% overall,

Rich

Gary your captures are fantastic. As mentioned there is room for artistic growth in the editing process. I rarely upload an image without some selective luminosity adjustments and/or color saturation and tone adjustments. I also do other things. I don't use Topaz. I work the image over though.

very cool! Rich - thanks for the examples and letting us know what you did. Good info!
Love your work Gary!

Thank you all very much, Its really been interesting and I have a lot to learn about processing images. but you have given me a good direction, Again Thanks Rich for taking the time and effort to show me how to improves the images.

Your subject matter & the placement of them is great! I agree with adding a little contrast to them...will give them more of bold look. Almost a little 3D idea. Maybe try playing around with a little vignette as well

Gary,

Glad to help. Just watch how you crop pretty tight on some/most of your images. One thing I learned when shooting for magazines, that the photo editors like a little space around the image, so they can crop it the way they see it, not as I saw it.................

Rich