Photo Critique #145
tuts workshop

Photo Critique #145

on Jul 13th 2012 with 16 comments

Friday Photo Critique is our weekly community project, where we publish a photograph submitted by one of our wonderful readers, then ask you all to offer constructive feedback on the image. It’s a great way to learn more about photography, express your viewpoint, and have your own image critiqued!

Quick Ground Rules

  1. Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  2. Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
  3. You can also link to photographs that you feel offer a great example of this type of image shot exceptionally well.

Without further ado, here is this week’s candidate for Friday Photo Critique!

The Photograph

Photo Details & Inspiration

  • Canon 5DmkII
  • 400mm
  • f/6.3
  • 1/160
  • ISO 800

The subject was in a very shady area hence the high ISO and no real time to frame a better shot, as getting out of the vehicle was a no go! Just a very lucky shot while driving on a farm in Namibia.

Photographer: Alan Hendry

Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached the scene or taken the photo differently? A massive thank you to everyone who commented last week.

The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site. Interested in submitting your own photo? You can do so here!

 
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Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

I was raised in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. After high school, I left for Western Kentucky University where I obtained degrees in photojournalism and cultural anthropology. I am currently employed by CityBeat, an arts and entertainment weekly in Cincinnati. The work I am doing here is very rewarding and I suspect it will continue to be. I am available for freelance work in all areas of photography.  

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  • http://cameraguyzack.blogspot.com Zack Jones

    Those eyes! WOW they immediately grab your attention. For a quick on the go shot you took a winner!

  • http://billoutdoors.com Bill

    Great shot, Alan. The eyes are mesmerizing. I wish the small bush or clump of grass wasn’t there in the front but we all have to deal with things like that and because the eyes draw you in, you don’t really notice the grass until later. A really beautiful animal. Have you considered a square crop of just the head?

    • http://Www.iMediaNamibia.com Alan

      Hi thanks for the interest, I looked at a tight crop of the head but you loose the tension the body of the cat give to the overall image.
      Thanks again
      Alan

  • Lindsay

    I LOVE the color, composition and subject of this photo. However, I think the eyes are TOO bright and “fake” looking. The photo has enough saturation already where I think if the eyes were the same amount and not over saturated as they are now, that they would stand out just as much (if not more). Other then that, a great photo!!

  • Owain

    Wow Awesome shot!

    If i was going to be critical I would say the grass in the foreground is distracting but given the situation…
    maybe a slightly tighter crop? The left side feels a little empty in comparison to the rest of the image.

    Great stuff though

  • Thinkeye

    Wonderful image. You’ve mastered both the focusing and the exposure. If you don’t mind cropping, try to do it a “portrait style”: Let the ears define left and top side of the image. Leave some more place on the right and bottom. Just crop away everything what is not the lion and try to keep the height of the eyes somewhere around the golden ratio.

  • http://ckpj.com Cameron Knight
    Author

    I like the shot. I think it’s a bit dark and flat and desaturated. If you bumped up the contrast and exposure, and added a bit of saturation, I think you’d be a look shape.

  • Joe P

    This is an amazing shot. The animal is beautiful and the eyes are awesome. If you post process your photos, I would suggest darkening down the white areas in the background, especially on the top of the photograph. Those bright areas are a bit distracting. With a wonderful subject such as this, you want the viewer to maintain focus on the face of the lion. Darkening those bright white spots will keep your eye on the subject. Adding a very slight vignette might also be good.

  • wayne wilkins

    I, see nothing wrong with it! As some best shots are those that aren’t staged and not expected. When you get what you get with what you have and do the best you can with all that…
    It’s a very clear and sharp in the face and really shows the expression on it’s face. Save that image and crop all but the face.
    Wish I were there with ya…

  • Brnie

    Great shot, great position of the subject in the frame. My eye however, is drawn to the light colored rock in front of the paw. It’s a minor thing but consider darkening it via Photoshop.
    Wish I had taken this. You done good Alan

  • Byrle Moore

    I agree with only about one of the comments made in this instance and that would be with Wayne, above. If you want perfectly staged shots like are mentioned then go to a zoo, or a museum for that matter. Take all of your lighting and assistants and take about three or four hours to set up the shot. Believe me the lady in Namibia will laugh all the way to her next meal.

    What you have here is a very well seen and composed image. Time constraints and your being unable to speak lionese, to ask her to move a paw or tilt her head would have been wasted. There is very little change that needs to occur on order to make this an NG entry and or a seller.

    I would purchase it.

    “B”

  • david mayne

    A realy good photo looking straight onto the animal. however I think that the hind legs tend to make the head smaller. May be a photo slightly to one side to make the hind legs a little smaller might have been better, you could crop the photo just for the animals face but overall a good photo.

  • MichaelPro

    great job there Alan. I love this photo. these are a few points that i would like to point out:

    - the tuft of grass in the foreground adds to the originality of the shot although it does make the left paw a bit blurry.

    - the eyes are hypnotically brilliant, a mixed show of pride and dignity, very carefully caught on camera.

    - i think that the cropping is adequate. a tighter cropping would affect the feel of the shot.

    - the meticulous focusing and the DOF is just perfect, even its whiskers are so prominent.
    keep it up!

  • http://www.thebloard.com Face First Creative

    Great shot! The depth of field really works well. It looks like the lion is undisturbed in it’s habitat. The colors look a little cold to me… which makes the eyes stand out even more. Could still work warmer.

  • http://www.josepholesh.com Joseph Olesh

    I love the photo.

    I wouldn’t touch that crop either, though letting the focal point of your image breath a bit more wouldn’t hurt. The placement of the lion’s legs and slight lean of his/her body makes for a great dynamic.

    Per the grass is the foreground… I love it! If you have more at the bottom of the frame that you’ve cut, I’d open it up a bit. That’d also place the lion’s eye’s on the top-third of the image.

    I do think a bit more light–fill/exposure–would bring out detail in the lion’s coat and help the image become a bit less flat.

    And, overall, I think your color balance is a bit too blue. Just a few clicks of tungsten might do wonders.

    Excellent shot, Alan!

  • http://www.wix.com/simonabarbu1/simonabarbuphotography Simona Dumitru

    it is a great picture. no critique.