Our Imaging Expert No one can take a picture that everyone likes. But, almost every picture can have scope of improvement. Often, we are not our best critics, while others can immediately point out the faults. In If I were you, our expert comments on how your pictures could be taken to another level.
E-mail your images at sp@nextgenpublishing.ne
Rohinton Mehta,
Technical Editor, Smart Photography
Wren Warbler
Smart Photography reader Nilesh Charde has sent us this photo of a Wren Warbler for my comments.
The cross lighting is superb. The catchlight in the eye and the tonality is perfect. The composition is very good too. The backdrop is completely non-disturbing, as it should be. So how could this picture be improved?
If you have the answer, please let me know. I don’t think that I can improve this beautiful picture.
Good going, Nilesh!
Temple Structure
This photo, taken somewhere in Chennai, is sent to us by Narayan A. M. via email. He wants to know if and how it could be improved.
The picture is a bit too light in tone, indicating overexposure. If I were you, I would have checked the image as well as the histogram on the camera’s LCD and taken corrective measures (that is, I would have taken an extra shot or two with reduced exposure). I also note that the structure is leaning slightly to the right, indicating that the camera was tilted during the exposure.
In Photoshop, I corrected the Black Point and the White Point and then corrected for the slight tilt to the right.
Landscape
This very nice landscape image has been sent to us by Smart Photography reader Dhananjay Ingle via email. It is a beautiful low-angle shot of some exotic paradise on earth (wish I were there!). The rocks capture the viewer’s attention and leads the eye into the frame. The overcast lighting has preserved details in the highlights as well as the shadows.
So can this picture be improved? I shall try, though I am not sure if the subtle differences will be noticed in a magazine printing. In the edited image, I have slightly toned down the foreground rocks and opened up the shadows (slightly) in the dark trees at the left.
I think both the images (the edited as well as the original) look very nice. |SP
