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Sorry for the links, couldnt get the images to work

Nicely overcast day, but very unhappy with some of the enclosure compositions. Fences in the way everywhere, double barricades so you cant get close to mesh. And i am shocking at cutting reflections off glass! Please critique

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eric_r/3873088253/sizes/m/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eric_r/3873867484/sizes/m/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eric_r/3873085157/sizes/m/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eric_r/3873099655/sizes/m/

All taken with my Sony 55-200 kit lens. Not even overly happy with most of these, but they were the pick of the bunch

I like the python Eric, good colour on that one.
It is a pity about the background for the tiger shot, otherwisw it looks good also.

Thanks Colin, the pythons eye was a green colour also, but i wanted it to stand out a bit. Is the tiger backround bad because its just fake rock for their enclosure? I have one of him about two steps forward where he is in front of bamboo, but i thought that too distracting with all the vertical lines. Hmmm

Yes pretty much, it would be interesting to see the other option, they tend to hide in this sort of growth.

example of the img code:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2549/387 ... 11b2b5.jpg
not quite the most correct way but gets them to work in the thread - might get a few more peeps to look at them if them are in the thread, hope you dont mind.

I really like the python shot, in the second image the bird blends into the same coloured background a bit too much.

The tiger is actually quite good, and i say this 'cause I appreciate how hard it is to get 1) a good composition) 2) good exposure thru the glass.

The final bird i think eitehr needs to be zoomed out a bit or cropped tighter, I feel at its current spot its a bit in no-mans land.

Hope this helps.

Nice work there Eric...+1 with Gerry and image code...but I think they are pretty good considering the conditions.

Python works quite well, Tiger is brilliant...the only addition would be some eye contact, and the birds are starting to look a bit grainy else alright

Do have a close look at the birds and the python, they look a bit blue to me, maybe have a play with the WB. But then again it could be the screen on this MSI U100

eric_r wrote:Sorry for the links, couldnt get the images to work

Hi Eric,

One of the key points is to make sure that you are referencing the image FILE on the linked site. The FILE is usually not going to be the page, so you need to go to the page that has the image, and then right click on the actual image itself, and then grab the image's reference directly. As a clue, it generally will end with ".jpg". Take it as read that if your link target doesn't end in this manner, it's probably not quite right.

Nicely overcast day, but very unhappy with some of the enclosure compositions. Fences in the way everywhere, double barricades so you cant get close to mesh. And i am shocking at cutting reflections off glass! Please critique

Fences are difficult to deal with. Glass reflections can usually be dealt with by not shooting directly at the glass, and/or by using a CPL, and/or, if you're up close and personal with the glass, through the use of a rubber lens hood.

All taken with my Sony 55-200 kit lens. Not even overly happy with most of these, but they were the pick of the bunch

I think you should be quite satisfied with these. Good colour and saturation, focus is nailed, composition is good.

Thanks guys, was alot happier with the colours this outing. Worked out what i was doing wrong with the images too sorry, so iv got some more. Thanks for the comments, its nice when you finally start getting more positive comments than criticisms

Gerry your spot on with that compostion of the red parrot, i knew there was something odd about it, im always scared to crop too tight cos of imperfections/ imperfect sharpness etc etc. But im over that fear and ive cropped alot of the empty space out above his head and it looks alot better. Also the other tiger image i mentioned isnt as good as i thought, the background is half bamboo and half fake rocks, and not in focus lol...

What a healthy looking Tiger - great colours

love that python colours!

Second tiger is looking sharp and groomed. nice capture.

Wow I am loving all the positive comments, thanks guys! The python is also my fav.

Cam the blue in the bird photos is I believe from my dismal photoshop skills, I upped the cyan and yellow in colour balance to try bring out the green, must have put more cyan than yellow...

The python on the other hand I didn't do that, and so I'd say ur right about the wb and that its probably from the special light in his enclosure. He also has a few little blue scales on him naturally which wouldn't help I guess.

eric_r wrote: im always scared to crop too tight cos of imperfections/ imperfect sharpness etc etc.

Eric,

Just one question here .... what's the worst that can happen?

eric_r wrote:Wow I am loving all the positive comments, thanks guys! The python is also my fav.

Cam the blue in the bird photos is I believe from my dismal photoshop skills, I upped the cyan and yellow in colour balance to try bring out the green, must have put more cyan than yellow...

The python on the other hand I didn't do that, and so I'd say ur right about the wb and that its probably from the special light in his enclosure. He also has a few little blue scales on him naturally which wouldn't help I guess.

Eric, are you shooting RAW? If so you can non-destructively play with different WB settings. It also helps to have a calibrated monitor to see what your doing (a luxury that I dont have but have been umm-ing and arr-ing about). Adjusting colour balance is generally something I try not to do, I am more likely to to correct WB (or use Capture NX2's white point and black point controls) then play with warmth and saturation.

Gary im also planning to get all my favourites developed in a decent size (8x10+) and keep in an album, and im scared that if i crop too small then the developed ones will look a bit crap, especially since i have a bit of trouble with sharpness sometimes lol... But yeh, since you said that ive gone back and re-cropped a few that i hadnt before just for that reason. They look much better now

Cam yes i shoot in RAW, and thanks for the photoshop tips, will definetly be leaving the colour balance alone from now on