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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 45: Creative Wide Angle (hosted by Gayle Knowles) >> Eligible > Home on the Range *
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01-JUL-2005 Jeannie M. Burleson

Home on the Range *

My son just completed a week of horsemanship camp. While I was waiting for him to finish his duties, I went over to some wary horses, got as close as I dared (so they wouldn't go away), & started shooting some pictures.

My kit lens is the widest lens I have. Unfortunately, I don't have a fish-eye or wide angle lens. Don't know if this meets the intent of the challenge since there isn't much in the way of distortion. I got as close as I could to the horse & shot at 18mm.

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
1/1000s f/6.3 at 18.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Guest 11-Jul-2005 01:26
Sharpening should always be performed as the last step - at least that is what is most often said and written.

As I thought more about this image and about my comments on it, I realized one thing I could have added. Good lighting is paramount to a successful photograph. Shooting outdoors in the summer, most of the day, the lighting is not particularly good... Mornings and evenings are the best times for shooting outdoors - at least when it is sunny.
Canon DSLR Challenge10-Jul-2005 04:28
Olaf,

Excellent input!! I used levels with your settings to bring out the colors -- this is what you see here. I do have the full version of PS, but haven't played with curves enough to be completely comfortable. I did use curves & really got the deep blue sky to pop out, but I think that it overexposed the white horse in the background too much.

I was surprised that you had mentioned sharpening, because when I open my original (full res) version, it is so sharp you can see the individual hairs. But therein lies my mistake -- I sharpened at full res not after resizing. When I applied USM to my resized image I was amazed at how soft it had been. Thank you, sharpening AFTER resizing is something I will definitely remember in the future!!

Thanks!! -- Jeannie (jburly)
Guest 10-Jul-2005 02:49
Since you so specifically asked for some constructive criticism, here's an attempt from me: looks slightly overexposed on my (calibrated) monitor. I'd prefer using "Curves" to fix, but if you don't have the full version of Photoshop you could use "Levels" instead. For example, setting the input levels = (15, 1.00, 240) on the RGB-channels will increase contrast and saturation some - giving the image more "pop". A little sharpening would help too, for example "Unsharp Mask" settings of 200%, 0.25 pixels and 2 levels.

Compositionally the fence poses a problem: the eye is led away from your main subject and the horses in the background are not strong enough compositionally to stop the eye from leaving the frame entirely.

BTW, your 18-55mm lens IS a wide angle lens at settings of 18 to abt. 22mm! This shot also clearly shows wide-angle qualities. The secret to successful wide angle photography is getting real close to your foreground subject(s), which you did. Well done! As you went so close to the horse, the perspective is exaggerated, making far away subjects look even further away - giving the shot that wide angle characteristic.
Mikel Featherston06-Jul-2005 23:27
Jeannie,

I think you did a wonderful job with this photo. Wide angle isn't just about distortion of lines... It can also be about distortion of perspective, which you nailed.
Gayle Knowles02-Jul-2005 01:20
Jeannie, it sure does meet the challenge topic! You did a portrait of a horse with a wide angle lens....that is not a "usual" thing to do, most people would use a telephoto and stand back. And you did a fine job, excellent composition and lovely colours.