Mr. Pachyderm for my first photo

[supermonkey]

Well, I figured that I should probably share a photo, rather than just comment on everyone else's photos. So, for my first-ever picture here on TalkPhoto, I chose this little guy:

Ok, so he's not so little. We took my nieces to the zoo a couple months back and I managed to get a half-decent shot of this guy. He was pretty far away, and a combination of problems added up to a shot that didn't have the greatest amount of sharpness. Still, after looking at the whole image, I settled on this tight crop. I was drawn in to the way the light plays off of the various textures on the elephant's body, together with the different patterns created by the color of his skin. I printed it 17 inches wide, and if you look at it from at least 4 feet the image actually appears fairly sharp, so overall I'm not too disappointed.

Hope you enjoy and thanks in advance for looking.

-monkey

 

[MattEg]

And what a first image to post, works for me.
Abstract in nature, well composed.
Try adding a little unsharp mask to bring out some of the detail.


For web images, I use: amount: 100, radius: 0.2, threshold: 0, and apply it 5 times in the lightness channel of lab colour mode, i then apply some large radius USM at amount: 20, radius: 30, threshold: 0, in srgb mode, this helps make the image pop.

HTH

 

[Venomator]

As Matt says that is a really good one to start your postings with SM ... interested to see how it looks after you give the 'M' treatment ...

Good start ... !

Matt ... thanks for the USM tip I will give that a try too but ... assume you are in PS/CS2 ... If I use Elements and USM even the auto results are sometimes too much and don't read as high as your numbers ... :shrug:

Not meaning to hi-jak your thread of course SM ...

 

[supermonkey]

Thanks for the USM tip, Matt; I'll have to give it a try. I used a fair amount of USM on the big print, with some slight local sharpening to help save some of the areas.

I really just need a decent long, prime lens. Too bad I'd have to take out a second mortgage on the house.

-monkey