Constructive criticism please -- drama production photos

[hark]

These are a few of the theater photos I took during the past week. They are edited in PSE10. Lightroom 4 won't read D610 NEF files without converting to DNG so it was a time constraint to get these edited quickly for display in the lobby. Someone was going to print these as either 4x6 or 5x7. Please keep in mind that I am up high shooting from a balcony so the photos aren't crooked--it is the perspective I get from standing in this location (I am not able to shoot from anywhere else).

What constructive criticism can you offer? Thanks!


The students are standing on an elevated platform. The right edge is slightly visible. Should I have used the healing brush to fill in the edge?

The photo below was cropped this way so the girl underneath the steps is visible.

Smellovision!

Another shot below of the elevated platform that isn't all too wide. The front of the platform as well as its right edge are visible. Should I have used the healing brush to fill in those areas so the edges aren't visible?

I should have used a faster shutter speed for the photo below.

 

[FastGlass]

Nice shots. Looks like you captured the "moment" in all the images. The only thing I see is that the WB isn't consistent. What was your setting? If your setting was auto, that would make sense. The overhead lights may differ from the spot light. And depending on the ratio between the two on any given moment it will change how the camera reads the scene. I never get consistent results which is why I always choose to do a custom WB. I realize you had no choice where you shot from. To bad, would have come out better from a more centered position.

 

[hark]

Nice shots. Looks like you captured the "moment" in all the images. The only thing I see is that the WB isn't consistent. What was your setting? If your setting was auto, that would make sense. The overhead lights may differ from the spot light. And depending on the ratio between the two on any given moment it will change how the camera reads the scene. I never get consistent results which is why I always choose to do a custom WB. I realize you had no choice where you shot from. To bad, would have come out better from a more centered position.

Yes, it was set for auto WB. They used 4 spotlights which appeared to be varying strengths but no overhead lights or stage lights at all that I'm aware of. I believe 3 of the lights were stationary with one being panned from time to time. Thanks for your comments, FastGlass!

 

[Horoscope Fish]

I like your shots. You have strong, clear subjects and the exposure and focus is spot-on. If I had to come up with some suggestions I would point out that shots 1 and 4 have some junk in the lower right corner.

The other thing, and it may have been out of your control at the time, is that your backgrounds are busy/awkward in most of the shots, shot 4 being a notable exception. Clean up the corner in 4 and you've got a really good clean shot there.

...

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

I agree with the comments on 1 and 4... you can either clean or adjust crop but that edge is better NOT seen...

Nice Job!

Pat in NH

 

[hark]

I like your shots. You have strong, clear subjects and the exposure and focus is spot-on. If I had to come up with some suggestions I would point out that shots 1 and 4 have some junk in the lower right corner.

The other thing, and it may have been out of your control at the time, is that your backgrounds are busy/awkward in most of the shots, shot 4 being a notable exception. Clean up the corner in 4 and you've got a really good clean shot there.

...

Thanks, Horoscope Fish! Those two corners that need to be cleaned up are the edges of the elevated platform on which they were standing. I might use the healing brush to hide them. As for the backgrounds, that is part of their set. Quite often I am shooting with a somewhat shallow depth of field with wider apertures, but because I am @65' away, I can't do much more to control the effect. In post I can blur the backgrounds, but with 400+ photos, I'll be selective on how many I do that way.

I rented a Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VRii--what a dream lens! It beats my Sigma hands down!

 

[Fred Kingston_RIP]

You would do well to upgrade the LR to the $10/month plan... The lens perspective correction for the over-head shots feature alone would be worth the price of admission...

 

[hark]

I agree with the comments on 1 and 4... you can either clean or adjust crop but that edge is better NOT seen...

Nice Job!

Pat in NH

Thanks, Pat! I agree and will edit those edges--fortunately they weren't up on that platform the entire time!

 

[hark]

You would do well to upgrade the LR to the $10/month plan... The lens perspective correction for the over-head shots feature alone would be worth the price of admission...

I am signed up for the CC but this computer isn't compatible with LR5. I may give the perspective correction a try for a few photos (there is something in LR4 like that) , but with 400+ photos, I want to limit how much I edit. Since I've never tried using the perspective correction with their drama photos, I just might give it a try for a few to see how it looks. Good suggestion, Fred! Thanks!

 

[Horoscope Fish]

I am signed up for the CC but this computer isn't compatible with LR5. I may give the perspective correction a try for a few photos (there is something in LR4 like that) , but with 400+ photos, I want to limit how much I edit. Since I've never tried using the perspective correction with their drama photos, I just might give it a try for a few to see how it looks. Good suggestion, Fred! Thanks!

Does the $10 a month CC Photographers package include Adobe Camera RAW? Because ACR will do lens correction automatically if that helps. It's not always 100% spot on but if it can identify the lens (and it recognizes not only my Nikon lenses but my Sigma and Tokina lenses as well) the auto-correct is surprisingly accurate. It will also remove most chromatic aberration as well if you tell it to, again, based on a profile but also scary accurate in my experience. The more I use ACR, the more I love it.

...

 

[hark]

Does the $10 a month CC Photographers package include Adobe Camera RAW? Because ACR will do lens correction automatically if that helps. It's not always 100% spot on but if it can identify the lens (and it recognizes not only my Nikon lenses but my Sigma and Tokina lenses as well) the auto-correct is surprisingly accurate. It will also remove most chromatic aberration as well if you tell it to, again, based on a profile but also scary accurate in my experience. The more I use ACR, the more I love it.

...

I want to use the CC on my laptop but don't yet have it installed. Back in September, I sent my laptop to the manufacturer for a warranty repair. Unfortunately I didn't get the laptop out until last week. Now I get a prompt that I don't have a verified version of Windows and need to pay for it. It's my own fault--not passing the blame--but what a royal pain in the arse!

HF, you mentioned the lens correction is automatic. Is there a setting to enable the lens correction?

 

[Fred Kingston_RIP]

Does the $10 a month CC Photographers package include Adobe Camera RAW? Because ACR will do lens correction automatically if that helps. It's not always 100% spot on but if it can identify the lens (and it recognizes not only my Nikon lenses but my Sigma and Tokina lenses as well) the auto-correct is surprisingly accurate. It will also remove most chromatic aberration as well if you tell it to, again, based on a profile but also scary accurate in my experience. The more I use ACR, the more I love it.

...

The Adobe Photo package comes with Bridge, which includes Camera RAW

 

[Horoscope Fish]

I want to use the CC on my laptop but don't yet have it installed. Back in September, I sent my laptop to the manufacturer for a warranty repair. Unfortunately I didn't get the laptop out until last week. Now I get a prompt that I don't have a verified version of Windows and need to pay for it. It's my own fault--not passing the blame--but what a royal pain in the arse!

HF, you mentioned the lens correction is automatic. Is there a setting to enable the lens correction?

There is... It's just a box you need to check "ON".

Open a shot in ACR and, on the far right panel, you have the tool bar that is a row of small icons. One of those icons is labeld "Lens Corrections". Under this icon you can enable automatic lens correction based on it's profile. You will also have three tabs under this icon, one being "Color". Under this tab you can also click "ON" the little box for "Remove Chromatic Aberration". Then you need to save these settings as your new default so they occur every time. You do that by clicking on the itty-bitty little drop down menu at the far-right of the title bar. That's best I can explain that icon... You'll get a drop-down menu with the option to save your new settings as the default.

...

 

[hark]

There is... It's just a box you need to check "ON".

Open a shot in ACR and, on the far right panel, you have the tool bar that is a row of small icons. One of those icons is labeld "Lens Corrections". Under this icon you can enable automatic lens correction based on it's profile. You will also have three tabs under this icon, one being "Color". Under this tab you can also click "ON" the little box for "Remove Chromatic Aberration". Then you need to save these settings as your new default so they occur every time. You do that by clicking on the itty-bitty little drop down menu at the far-right of the title bar. That's best I can explain that icon... You'll get a drop-down menu with the option to save your new settings as the default.

...

Thanks for the explanation, HF! It's very much appreciated!