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.net
The Squirrel
This picture of a squirrel comes to us from Soyeb Alam, a physiotherapist by profession. Soyeb seems disappointed since he does not have a D-SLR. He has taken this photo using a Nikon Coolpix camera.
No need to be disappointed, Soyeb. You have taken a good photo. Like any picture, this too can be improved. In the edited photo, I selected the base area and toned it down to give greater prominence to the squirrel. I then toned down the fur and added a slight touch of brightness to the highlights in the squirrel’s right eye. Also toned down the highlights in the background, because the bright spots were claiming for attention.
Cannonball Flower
SP reader Deeksha Ram from Bangalore has sent us this photo of a Cannonball flower for critique. Quick, without reading the camera data, can you guess the camera that recorded this picture? The picture looks better than most Cannonball flower images I have seen, including my own! The backdrop, though not natural, suits the subject well. It is difficult to improve this image, though I shall try.
Using Photoshop, I have slightly increased the overall contrast (duplicated the Background and used Soft Light blending mode). Then I slightly deepened the shadow cast by the flower and sharpened the image to my taste. Finally, I cropped a bit of the backdrop from the top.
The Bridge
This picture of a bridge comes to us from Guruprasad R. from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Guruprasad has edited his picture but wants to know if there can be further improvements.
Guruprasad, tonalitywise, your edited picture is definitely better than the original but the picture has a red-ish cast. I have re-worked on your original picture so that you can see the differences. I have toned down the water and increased the contrast in the water. I also added some tonality to the sky. |SP
— By Rohinton Mehta,
Technical Editor, Smart Photography
