Image doctor: The critiques!

“On a recent trip around Perth I was challenged with the bell tower which is a great feature in Barrack St. The photo was taken hand held with my OM1 camera using the Pro 12-40mm lens. It is the best photo I have taken of this feature.”

Thanks for sending through this image Graham - it is rather striking! (Groan!).

As you look at the image there is a lot to enjoy about it, including the rich detail, the repetitions and your great use of contrast in the scene.

One thing lets this image down though – If you look long enough you’ll notice your eyes go from the left to the right via the sky, (the bright path of least resistance), which means your eyes are not really giving the structure the attention it deserves. The simplest way to improve this image is to do a hard crop down to the top of the structure, or even further down if you dare. Alternatively, you can add a dark sky to the image. Either option will improve this image.

Anthony’s Tip: Stare at an image long enough to understand where your eyes are drifting within the frame. If your eyes are not working the main subject, revise how you have processed the image.

“My son was attempting to feed his daughter at lunch time, so of course Grandad (me) had the camera out taking photos. After many shots of blurred arms, feet, legs and face something suddenly grabbed her attention (I think it was the big wave surfing on the TV behind me) and she stopped moving, long enough for me to take this one photo which was the best one of the day, even with the yogurt on the top lip.”

Hi Leon, technically this photo is very good, but my hunch is you missed a few other great images on this occasion because you had the ISO set rather low.

Rather than working at ISO 160, I would be working at ISO 1600 in these situations, with the higher ISO letting me increase the shutter speed from 1/20th to 1/250th of a second.

Yes, you do risk incurring more noise or “grain” from the sensor when working at high ISO settings, but you also give yourself a significantly improved chance of capturing the moments and emotions in situations like this, and believe me in years to come, when your granddaughter sees an amazing photo of her self that might have been shot at a high ISO setting, I doubt she will quibble about the grain!

Anthony’s Tip: Most modern DSLR and Mirrorless cameras now perform exceptionally well at high ISO settings, including 1600, 3200 and even 6400. Don’t be scared to go there!

“My mate and I hiked up Bluff knoll with a tent so we could watch the sunrise the next morning.

The only spot we could find to set up was right next to the precipice with a wind blowing straight off the edge, hence the large rock on the tent. I am really happy with this shot of the glowing tent and my mate sitting on the rock but I realised in post processing that the sky was overexposed and had no details. I think it looks quite cool, but do you think there is a better way of dealing with the light?”

Hey Finn, well done, I rather like this image and the mood it conveys. Capturing the full tonal range within sunrise and sunset photos is a tough challenge but it is a manageable.

One of the simplest techniques is to work at a low ISO setting, shoot in RAW and expose for the highlights; then in Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW (or similar software) adjust the global settings to get the sky looking good and then use the brush tools to brighten the foreground.

Alternatively, you can put the camera on a tripod and then “bracket” several exposures of the sky and foreground, and then blend those images together in Photoshop. Either technique works - the challenge as always though, is just making your editing work look seamless and convincing.

Anthony’s Tip: Working at low ISOs and shooting in RAW Mode are the best ways to handle situations like this, and don’t forget to expose for the highlights!

“I’ve always wanted to get a moody shot at Mahon Pool, near Maroubra Beach, so when humid and stormy conditions hit Sydney, I raced there after work. I used the pool fence and rock shelf as diagonal leading lines, and set a six second shutter to smooth the waves while keeping the shape and texture of the imposing clouds. A gap in the clouds behind me let the setting sun through for a few minutes, helping to light the foreground.

I felt the colour was too distracting so I changed it to monochrome, and made minor changes to blacks and highlights via a linear gradient to emphasise the dark sky. I brush-masked the waves to increase the whites.”

Hey Chantelle, thanks for sending in this image. Many years ago a wise man said to me “less is more”, and like any young man it took me a while to figure out what they were saying. Within photography though, it can mean we are trying to fit too much into a photograph, and I think this the problem we have here.

As you look at the foreground your eyes cannot help but get bogged in the detail down there. If you crop 15-percent from the bottom of the image though, and then balance that crop by cropping 10-percent from the top and right of the image, the photograph suddenly looks a lot stronger. 

Anthony’s Tip: Many photographers are reluctant to crop images (and yes, it is better to crop “in camera”), but cropping can also be one of your best ways to improve an image. Always explore the option.