For the FW Zoo contest? (please critique)

[boxofrocks]

Not to get into the pos and negs of the FW Zoo contest, but I'm thinking of submitting some. I went yesterday with the wife and squid (very hard to shoot with either of them around), and got a couple that may be keepers. The last one was just for fun.

What do you guys think? I'm always trying to improve, so C/C requested and welcome.

Thanks!

[babybluetx23]

Wow! I LIKE those! They are really good!
The one of the Dinosaur was that taken with a lensbaby? Or was that PS'ed?

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by babybluetx23

Wow! I LIKE those! They are really good!
The one of the Dinosaur was that taken with a lensbaby? Or was that PS'ed?

Thanks a lot. I wish I could post higher res--the sharpness takes a pounding at 72 dpi.

The dinosaur was a lensbaby type PS action.

[mivy00]

Why do pictures of the gorilla habitat always look to bright ..... I have 2 or 3 i took the other day and i thought they looked bright too ...

That being said I like the first one alot .... maybe I will post a few I took at the zoo tomorrow..

however i dont think any of them turned out this good

[brad]

For a contest, I'd lean toward the elephant for two reasons.. its the nicest crop of all of them and its not an animal that is typically submitted to contests.. and you want to stand out in a contest. Everyone shoots gorillas and lions and tigers...

[Roy]

I agree with Brad. The deer would of been good too if not for the protective fence on the left and if it was a little sharper. You know there will be many gorillas, lions and tigers entered. But you could have the one that strikes the fancy of the judge. Ya never know.

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by mivy00

Why do pictures of the gorilla habitat always look to bright ..... I have 2 or 3 i took the other day and i thought they looked bright too ...

That's my fault. The flash was too hot (I had it boosted on manual to try and get some good fill).

How's this?

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by Roy

I agree with Brad. The deer would of been good too if not for the protective fence on the left and if it was a little sharper. You know there will be many gorillas, lions and tigers entered. But you could have the one that strikes the fancy of the judge. Ya never know.

I agree with the fence issue.

The original is actually sharper--here's detail from it. It wasn't the sharpest of the bunch, however--maybe still not sharp enough:



I have a hard time keeping the sharpness looking good in web resolution. What do you guys do? I see some here that are unbelievably sharp at 72 dpi.

[mivy00]

Yeah i like that alot better ....here are some of the ones I got .....not nearly as good but I was there with the kids not trying to shoot

My Gorilla picture that is way to hot


My deer picture .....I had a couple of the baby in the backgound must have been no older than a week


I like this one the best ...its called "mmmmmm a snack"


turtle turtle


My bird shot

[brad]

Originally Posted by mivy00

I like this one the best ...its called "mmmmmm a snack"

Oh, my goodness those lion cubs are BIG now.

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by mivy00

...I was there with the kids not trying to shoot

Man, I know what you mean. I was getting looks from the wife if I spent more than a 30 seconds with the camera in front of my face.

I wanna go back one day early when the animals are more active.

[ScoobyRoo20]

I love them all!!! I odn't have a place to critique cause I'm in the same boat you are. =)Great job!!

[Wes]

Looking at image #3 makes me wonder when the zoo started housing Velociraptors.

They all look awesome! Now I can save the time of sending in any entries 'cause I'd probably lose.

[TJPhotoGuy]

I vote for 4

[JPalmer]

They all look a bit flat to me (on a calibrated monitor). Perhaps increasing the tonal range would really give them some pop.