Hmm.. he looks like me

[abhi]

At the zoo. C&C welcome and appreciated.


Canon Digital Rebel, Canon 55-250mm IS@250mm @ f/11 for 1/200s, ISO 800



PS: I will be traveling for the next couple of day. I will respond to any comments on my return Sunday night.

[Geoff F]

To me, Abhi, the background and monkey are too close in colour so I would crop tighter to remove a lot of that distracting background. Maybe try a 5 x 4 ratio. Possibly even a square crop.

And a little bit of background blur might also help.

There is an excellent photo waiting to be produced here. I think it is just a case of getting the monkey to stand out from the background a little more.

[abhi]

To me, Abhi, the background and monkey are too close in colour so I would crop tighter to remove a lot of that distracting background. Maybe try a 5 x 4 ratio. Possibly even a square crop.

And a little bit of background blur might also help.

There is an excellent photo waiting to be produced here. I think it is just a case of getting the monkey to stand out from the background a little more.

Thanks, Geoff. How is this? I've used a square crop, and added a background blur.

[Shambhala]

Gorgeous Abhi, you can see every hair and detail on the monkey.. He looks soooo cute..! makes me want to hug him.. LOVE this picture!

[abhi]

Gorgeous Abhi, you can see every hair and detail on the monkey.. He looks soooo cute..! makes me want to hug him.. LOVE this picture!

Thank you, Shannon.

[Geoff F]

Yes that monkey photo looks excellent now.

[abhi]

Yes that monkey photo looks excellent now.

Thanks, Geoff.

[abhi]

Please click on the image to view the enlarged version.

Comments & Criticism welcome.

Ashish, I guess you wanted to post your photo in a separate thread. Perhaps, one of the mods can help move it for you. You can use the "Post new thread" button, located above and below the table of contents, when you want to start a thread of your own. Hope this helps

[ashish]

Oops! You're right Abhi.... I think i gatecrashed your thread accidentally. Will delete the post and create a new thread. Thanks, Ashish

[jiro]

Abhi, nice work on the crop and the edit. If I may add some extra suggestion, you could try darkening the background so the monkey can stand out better on the image.

A request if you may - "Can I borrow this image so I could use it as my new avatar?" Just kidding. Actually, he looks more like me than you do. hahaha!

[abhi]

Abhi, nice work on the crop and the edit. If I may add some extra suggestion, you could try darkening the background so the monkey can stand out better on the image.

Thank you, Jiro. How is this one? I can only darken the bg so much before my awful selection skills in PS become evident

A request if you may - "Can I borrow this image so I could use it as my new avatar?" Just kidding. Actually, he looks more like me than you do. hahaha!

You can borrow this if you wish But, if I had to choose one of my monkey photos for you it would be



To me, this second one looks much wiser, calm, composed, self-assured and cool Sadly, overall the photo needs a crop, and a fair amount of work in PS.

They need to make the backgrounds at zoos more photographer friendly Though, One good part about the zoo where I took these photos, is that they try to use natural boundaries like moats to confine the animals when they can. So, you get a clear view of the animals and they do not seem to feel as confined.

[jiro]

That monkey was funny, too.

Going back to the first image, I think you can still further darken it using a separate curve adjustment layer then apply the brush tool on the mask layer of the curve. My only concern is that I can't take off the idea that the shot seems to have a semi purple cast into it. I don't know, but that is my impression of the shot.

[ucci]

Hi Abhi
Loved your pic. Can I add my support for Jiro's comment? The back ground and the subject maybe need greater differentiation. I hope you will overlook my presumption in doing a quick manipulation of your work to try and illustrate this point. And could I please make the point that this is only an opinion on my part. Others may totally disagree. But then, that's the name of the game, isn't it?

[abhi]

Going back to the first image, I think you can still further darken it using a separate curve adjustment layer then apply the brush tool on the mask layer of the curve.

I had used a gradient layer in multiply mode so that the front leaves have the same brightness levels as the stone. I will try using a brush tool. I am not very good with it, so no promises

My only concern is that I can't take off the idea that the shot seems to have a semi purple cast into it. I don't know, but that is my impression of the shot.

Hmm. I am not very good at identifying color casts. It may very well be there. Is there any way to verify that?

[abhi]

Going back to the first image, I think you can still further darken it using a separate curve adjustment layer then apply the brush tool on the mask layer of the curve.

Updated with the edited photo

I had used a gradient layer in multiply mode so that the front leaves have the same brightness levels as the stone. I will try using a brush tool. I am not very good with it, so no promises

My only concern is that I can't take off the idea that the shot seems to have a semi purple cast into it. I don't know, but that is my impression of the shot.

Hmm. I am not very good at identifying color casts. It may very well be there. Is there any way to verify that?

PS: Nevermind. A gaussian blur on my original gradient+mask did the trick No brushes