Discussion
I can often be found taking pictures of military vehicles but usually just close up detailed shots that do not benefit from having people around.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to take more pictures but in an effort to try and improve my photography skills thought that this time I would concentrate on the people with the vehicles as a backdrop.
This is the first time I have ever taken "people" shots so your thoughts and notes on how to improve would be appreciated. I know some shots would benefit from a bit of cropping but I'll show them as taken for now.
Cheers
Paul
edited to add - can someone stick a dial-up warning on the title please? Ta
>> Edited by gopher on Sunday 3rd July 11:21
Yesterday I had the opportunity to take more pictures but in an effort to try and improve my photography skills thought that this time I would concentrate on the people with the vehicles as a backdrop.
This is the first time I have ever taken "people" shots so your thoughts and notes on how to improve would be appreciated. I know some shots would benefit from a bit of cropping but I'll show them as taken for now.
Cheers
Paul
edited to add - can someone stick a dial-up warning on the title please? Ta
>> Edited by gopher on Sunday 3rd July 11:21
Some good, natural poses and expressions in there. A bit of judicious cropping to eliminate the bits of people on the edges of the frames would be a good idea. Though the plonker looking down the barrel of the machine gun will probably eliminate himself it you wait a bit !
As your subjects are often above you and have sky behind them the images are a bit under exposed. It's a bit of a challenge keeping a good exposure the subject while making sure the sky isn't burnt out. Some exposure compensation in-camera and/or some Photoshopping may be necessary.
As your subjects are often above you and have sky behind them the images are a bit under exposed. It's a bit of a challenge keeping a good exposure the subject while making sure the sky isn't burnt out. Some exposure compensation in-camera and/or some Photoshopping may be necessary.
te51cle said:
As your subjects are often above you and have sky behind them the images are a bit under exposed. It's a bit of a challenge keeping a good exposure the subject while making sure the sky isn't burnt out. Some exposure compensation in-camera and/or some Photoshopping may be necessary.
Thanks, I think I know what you mean - If the sky had been less overcast and the sun brighter do you think this would have been an issue, or is it nothing to do with this?
Cheers
Paul
V6GTO said:
My son is waiting to go into the Tank Regiment at the moment, so these are very topical for me.
Apart from needing a bit of cropping and a little sharpen they're great.
Martin.
Good luck to your son, I think he could have a very good time!
The sharpen bit, is that an option in something like PS or is that something I could do better with the actual shot? I have not RTFM as of yet!
Cheers
Paul
V6GTO said:
Photoshop....Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. Start at about 125/2.5/0 and experiment from there. HTH
Martin.
thought I'd give that a bash, what do you think?
this is the original
I upped the brightness by 20% and contrast by 10% - then did what you sggested with the sharpen. I do think the shot improves.
Thanks for the help, much appreciated
gopher said:
If the sky had been less overcast and the sun brighter do you think this would have been an issue, or is it nothing to do with this?
If the sky had been clearer and the sun had been brighter then you'd have been in danger of getting even more contrasty results. You wouldn't have had the same flexibility in being able to move around your subject, as when the sun is out you'd be best off keeping it somewhere behind you. If your subjects then look at you, they'll be blinded by the sun and start squinting. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times for photography outdoors when the sun is less bright and it starts bringing out interesting details in your subjects.
You've got a good set of photos to start with there. Once you've got the hang of the brightness and contrast controls try using Levels. Try moving the middle (grey triangle) slider a little and see if that improves things. Then once you've got the hang of that try your hand at cutting out/masking and feathering so that you can apply different levels of each tool to different areas of the image. Plenty to keep you amused for an evening or two !
Here's a sample. I've adjusted the levels separately for the sky, the two soldiers' faces and the tank. Then upped the saturation a bit and sharpened. With a bit of practice you should be able to do better than this 5-minute job. (which for some reason won't show up as an image right now so here's the link
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/te51cle/TankTop.jpg
>> Edited by te51cle on Monday 4th July 18:31
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