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Popular Photography’s January 2010 issue editor Miriam Leuchter writes about “What does it take to win a photo contest?” She mentions:

1. Photo is technically excellent
2. Clearly defines subjects that instantly draw you into the picture
3. Inspire emotional reaction or mood
4. An element of surprise that piques your interest and
5. Convey all of the above in an instant.

Other photographers she asked this question to responded, “The photo jumps off the screen at first viewing”, “First impressions matter” and one responded with “Amaze me!”

Challenging and interesting points to remember. While having a technically correct photo, it is winning over the viewers subjective factor, in this case – a judge. The bottom line is that, it is still a subjective opinion.

I wrote something similar  in a previous article, “What Makes A Good Photo?”

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Linking to an article at Gizmodo’s. “Giz Explains: What Everyone Should Know About Cameras”. Covering information that is straight to the point without being bloated:

• Types of Cameras
• Sensors
• Software
• Storage
• Further Reading for more info

From the web site: Talking to a camera nerd—or even reading about new cameras—can feel like translating from a different language. But it doesn’t need to! Here, in this here post, is everything you need to know about cameras, without the noise. Read more here

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I was fortunate to see the Ivory Gull on two occasions under differing weather conditions. The first day: cold, windy and cloudy with the sun peeking through from time to time. The second day: cold and windy but not as strong as the first but a very bright sunny day.

The Ivory Gull is an extremely white bird. One news article describes the gull as, “…white-white, much brighter than ivory and they appear luminescent in life. Photographs of these birds, even in dim light, appear overexposed.”

As you can see, right from the start a very challenging situation. The first day I shot metered: 0Ev and +1/3Ev. I would check the histogram often wanting the arch of the histogram slightly to the right. This was not always the case, as the metering seem to fluctuate wildly from one scene to the next .

The spot metering produced some good results. But I errored once when I wanted to compensate by +1/3Ev I went the other direction -1/3Ev producing underexposure photos.  I realized my error after a significant number of photos when I checked the histogram (good thing!).  Although I managed to get a few photos I liked, I was not entirely satisfied with my results.

When the second opportunity knocked to see the Ivory Gull again, I set out to visit once more.

Considering the day conditions and the color of the gull. I decided to bracket with matrix metering:  0Ev, +1/3Ev, +2/3Ev  and +1Ev. When the bird landed I blasted off a set of shots – refocused and blasted off another set. In each set I was sure at least one would come out! I was surprised that the +1/3Ev and +2/3Ev produced the best results.

The bird proved very challenging under both weather conditions. It was an enjoyable day, a historical sighting and a learning experience.

Ivory Gull photo archives here.

*Sources: Cape Cod Times

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One day, I found my notebook of various articles on photography. This notebook contains articles from books and magazines that I have cut out and saved over the years. I began flipping through the pages of my notes and came across a series of topics on, “What makes a good picture?” Although, the articles were written when film was king however, the principles remain the same.

While I was reading these articles, it served as a good reminder for me. Each subject of “What makes a good picture?” will have a short statement with an example. I share this information with you realizing that I have not arrived but it is a continuing journey of “making a good picture”.
*Clicking on link executes a pop-up window with example photo.

• What Makes A Good Photo? INTIMACY
• What Makes A Good Photo? HUMAN INTEREST
• What Makes A Good Photo? CAMERA ANGLE
• What Makes A Good Photo? DRAMA
• What Makes A Good Photo? CONTRAST
• What Makes A Good Photo? INNOVATION
• What Makes A Good Photo? REALISM
• What Makes A Good Photo? SPONTANEITY
• What Makes A Good Photo? LUMINOSITY
• What Makes A Good Photo? MOOD
• What Makes A Good Photo? LIGHT & SHADOW
• What Makes A Good Photo? CREATIVITY
• Commentary: The Perfect Picture

—————————-

*Reciprocal Links:

• 5 ways to pick photos that advance your cause
• Pictures – Snapping Or Posing

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Below is a photo in which I like the composition of the Titmouse on a branch. However, the photo is underexposed and I generally disregarded it. Since the birds play fast and loose when they visit. I quickly grab the camera, often times forgetting my last camera settings, as the case in this situation, sometimes resulting in photos that are under or overexposed. Also, the green wire running across the photo did not help. I have since taken it down.

I took this underexposed photo and experimented using the Histogram Adjustments in Paint Shop Pro 9 for correcting contrast and brightness.

Here are the corrective steps I took to try and save the photo.

1. Digital noise remover (slight adjustment)
2. Histogram adjustment for contrast/brightness
3. Saturate color (slight adjustment)
4. Sharpen using Unsharp Mask.
5. Cropped image
6. Resized
7. Final web image
8. POST!

Here is the original photo. The bird is about 20 feet (6 meters) from my position. Again, I like the bird composition but is an underexposed photograph plus obstruction (green wire).

The Process

• Digital noise remover (Slight adjustment)
• Histogram adjustment for contrast/brightness
• Saturate color (Slight adjustment)
• Sharpen using Unsharp Mask.

• Crop to suit personal preferences
• Resize

• Final web image and POST!

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1) MEDIA: Obtain an archival/medical grade CD-R or DVD such as Verbatim, Falcon Media Pro GOLD EP or Taiyo Yuden. It has been argued that CD-R is better since the disk read/burn path is wider than the DVD and less prone to error – (I use both). Sorry, but the specials of one trillion disks for $2 are junk.

2) BURN & VERIFY: Burn the disk and then verify the contents with a disk read verifier to ensure data integrity.

3) LABELING: Never ever use any kind of glue self-adhesive type labeling on the disk! The glues will deteriorate the disk. Although, it has been determined safe to label the disk itself with a “Sharpie” or other oil or water based writing instrument, I prefer not to write on the disk at all. For long-term archives I take no chances.

4) STORAGE: The disk is then stored away from the computer, ideally in another room or in a land far far away.

SUMMARY: Archival grade media, burn & verify, no writing on disk, store in a separate area. Above all, the most important aspect to good archive means is to use archival/medical grade media.

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My current workflow from the camera to the computer.

I download the photos from the camera to the computer and name the files as indicated below.

Photos / Year / Date (YY-MM-DD)_subject / Original file name, which looks like this:
Photos / 2008 / 2008-02-13_Dog / DSC_1352.

This is immediately backed up to a second Hard-drive. When I accumulate about 650mb I burn this on a good quality CDR disk. I use MAM-A gold Falcon Media Pro Gold archive quality.

I usually crop the photo first before I do any editing. This is reflected with a “cr” at the end of the file name, e.g., DSC_1352_cr. When I edit the working copy of the photo (never an original) to my liking, the photo has the “ed” added to the file name indicating an edited final version, e.g., DSC_1352_ed. If I crop the edited version I add the “cr” so it looks like this DSC_1352_ed-cr.

Depending upon the final display outcome. I will add some other identifying tags. If it is for the web I will change the file name to DSC_1352_wb. Posting the photo I will rename the photo to the subject in the photo. So, DSC_1352_wb is then changed to Dog1352wb.

I always keep the original file name number but add some identifying description, such as, Dog1352wb. So, if I look at any of the file names of the photo I know exactly what it is. If I look at Dog1352wb, I know it is a web display, the subject is a dog and if I ever need the prime original, I know it is photo number 1352.

I keep all the photos within the same folder and by looking at any particular photo I know if it has been edited or displayed in any fashion.

*Sidenote. The camera numbers the photos sequentially, they never start from zero with each photo shoot/event. The number sequence always starts from the last time. This avoids the possibility of doubles.

Summary:

All edited files are within same folder and renamed. The final edited version is named accordingly.

2008 / 2008-12-05_Dog / DSC_1352
DSC_1352_cr or DSC_1352_ed
DSC_1352_cr-ed
DogDSC_1352wb