Project 52 by Rebecca Humphries

Hi Rebecca. It is somewhat difficult to increase the actual sharpness of an image in post processing but for this image there may be a chance to get a better visual appearance of sharpness.

The tree in the foreground is razor sharp and everything else in the image will be compared to it. One thing you could try is to mask the foreground trunk and deliberately blur it enough to match the trunk on the right of the monkeys. Then, any reasonable sharpening you can do to the rest of the image will have the appearance of making the monkeys sharper than the surroundings and particularly the background. It should then look closer to looking as expected and acceptable.

Also, by lightening the eyes of the adult slightly and adding (or brightening significantly) the catch-light in the adult's eyes will direct the viewer's attention to the monkey's faces and away from the less sharp bodies and trees. You might be able to sharpen the faces just a bit more to enhance the effect. Hope this helps!

Great idea Frank. I noticed that you chose f/5.6, kind of a shallow DOF for a busy image but you do seam to have been limited with available light. I do like this image though. I know I have a lot of fun shooting when the family and I go to the zoo.

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Originally Posted by Rob Douglas

Great idea Frank. I noticed that you chose f/5.6, kind of a shallow DOF for a busy image but you do seam to have been limited with available light. I do like this image though. I know I have a lot of fun shooting when the family and I go to the zoo.

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I'm thinking that it's probably more of a focus issue than DOF. That being said, I think Frank's idea of masking the sharpness of the trunk would help a lot. You might actually want to make the whole image a bit more artistic and throw the whole photo into something that's a bit more soft while playing with the light and colours. It is, after all, a post processing exercise :)

I think you're right Malcolm. After staring at this image a bit it seams the focus point was the tree trunk in the left foreground not the monkeys face. I definitely thinks Franks idea would be the proper solution.

Hi Becky, I agree with your analysis on this shot except for the baby's feet. Unless you think they are an integral part of the picture I would crop just above the feet. That leaves more attention on the faces. Right now those feet just pop out at me.

As far as the parent not being in as sharp a focus, well.... I suppose I would like it better with both of them in focus, but to my eye this does not ruin the shot at all, in fact some might take it that way on purpose in order to draw attention to the little one. It might be a bit of a stretch for many people, but I tend to see this as a symbolic way of representing the parent stepping back and letting the young one shine or take centre stage... sounds silly, but I'm always looking for things like that in a photograph.

Conclusion: I think it's a great shot, but please... those feet :eek:

Wendy

Edit: oops, I posted this and then noticed there were other replies. I'm going to read them now, but apologies if I've repeated anything already said

Thanks very much for all the comments.

Frank thanks for the points, I think will re-open the image in Adobe and have another go, in particular I like the idea of blurring the tree in the foreground and doing a bit of work on the eyes.

Hi Wendy. I will get rid of those feet for you ;) I was a bit worried at first whether I had them in! But I see how they do distract from the rest of the picture.

I will report back shortly with a revised version of the picture.

Many thanks,

Rebecca

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-P...1%252520v2.jpg

An updated attempt taking into account the advice received so many thanks for all your pointers. I am still not entirely happy with the shot but there is always next week :)

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Originally Posted by beckyhumphries

An updated attempt taking into account the advice received so many thanks for all your pointers. I am still not entirely happy with the shot but there is always next week :)

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That's good Rebecca, it still looks natural, yet you addressed the points mentioned so far, the catchlights in Mum's eyes are very good.

If we were to persist with this one, my next suggestion would be look at it and ask yourself "what do my eyes fall to?"

The strong dark trunk & branch lower right
The very bright more distant one behind it
The zig zag branches top right centre
The pinky bit above that

I might also trim 5% off the left edge to get them more 'looking into' the picture, in fact maybe more than 5%, how about the top left corner starts where the near trunk exits frame? That gives a powerful triangle shape.

Cheers,

Ahhhh, much better without the feet. :)

Wendy

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Originally Posted by Dave Humphries

If we were to persist with this one, my next suggestion would be look at it and ask yourself "what do my eyes fall to?"

The strong dark trunk & branch lower right
The very bright more distant one behind it
The zig zag branches top right centre
The pinky bit above that

I might also trim 5% off the left edge to get them more 'looking into' the picture, in fact maybe more than 5%, how about the top left corner starts where the near trunk exits frame? That gives a powerful triangle shape.

Cheers,

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I would never have thought of any of the above, but certainly worth persisting. When I look at this shot, I think all the points mentioned can be addressed, and now that these things have been pointed out, I can imagine the finished shot and I think it's well worth the effort to finish it off

Good teamwork :)

Wendy

Continuing from what Dave said about cropping a little tighter. I think I may try this second image with a different size ratio. A 4 x 5 ratio may be worth a go; although it still leaves that purplish pink patch in the top right corner to be toned down a little.

But, to be honest, we are just talking about a little fine tuning to an excellent shot here.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...1%252520v3.jpg

Dave (or dad :)) I have had another go after you points above thanks.

Geoff thanks for the comments, I have had a go at cropping. Maybe I have cropped a bit much though?

Thank you all for your advice. Even the really nit-picky advice is useful as they are things that I should be considering, and by going back and re-addressing them it should prompt me to think about them on my first attempt next time. It all helps me better understand what is important in image composition and post processing :)

Nice Edit! Looks more like a studio shot now!

This is looking really good Rebecca. Now my eyes go right to the little one. Quite a difference from the original which was good, but all the little changes make this an excellent shot. I found it a very good example of how little things add up to make a big difference. When I first looked at this shot the only thing I would have changed was the feed. I would not even have noticed the other things that were mentioned so I've learned a lot from this one too.

Wendy

This image has come a very long way Rebecca. Very good job on the editing process. This image is quite impressive.

Hi Rebecca (or daughter, or Becky :) )

That's the one; clicking on it and going to Previous a couple of times to the original shows how far it has come, apart from Frank's more fundamental idea to shift focus (literally) from the trunk to the subject, the rest is just ever increasing levels of 'attention to detail' in removing distractions - and as you say, it'll make us all think of them earlier next time.

You've learnt a lot this week, just imagine if we manage to keep it up all through the year!

Cheers,

Exciting news for week 3 - I have a new camera :D Courtesy of my lovely father I have a Panasonic GH2 with 14-140 and 100-300 lenses. I had my first trip out with the camera today on my own, a kind of practice session in a local town, Chester. I am still getting used to the menus and how to use the camera but so far I am very happy with it. I am aware the week 3 deadline is looming so thought I would use some of my 'practice shots' from today so be kind ;)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...6/P1000245.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...2/P1000389.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-n...2/P1000299.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...2/P1000380.jpg

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Originally Posted by beckyhumphries

Exciting news for week 3 - I have a new camera :D Courtesy of my lovely father I

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What a lovely daddy indeed. Could you tell him you have a friend in Scotland who wants a Canon 24-70 f2.8L.

The squirrel in the tree is the 'standout' one of the set, for me. That's super.

It seems that in the other three, you were faced with very harshly lit situations and handling the highlight and shadows was always going to be a challenge. I think this has been done best in the first one. You've managed to hold onto details in that wall of the building that is very heavily in shadow.

Congratulations of your new camera Becky, hope you get alot of enjoyment out of it.
I also like the squirrel, has great focus, very clear,
The arch looks interesting, perhaps a little PP to bring out the colour and texture of the stones, the light on the underside looks good, perhaps a little more of the arch, using the steps as a lead in. keep shooting :)

Continuing the squirrel theme... this greedy chap seemed to have no fear as he came within a couple of meters of the camera. He definitely had his hands full and in the end only managed to carry two of the three bits of bread away with him! My worry is that the picture overall seems a bit one-tone with all the grey.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l...0/P1000611.jpg