How do you rate the Quality of this shot?

[DaveWilky]

this shot was taken with my Sony A550, minolta 50mm f1.7 prime lens and a kenko x2 teleconverter.



any comments welcome..

[jiro]

I would probably rate it as "6", Dave. It definitely has to be more than 5 because you've done a good job on the exposure and the subject is a good one. I could have given it a higher rating if you have done some PP work on it. Here's my subjective comment about the shot.

1. The building is definitely the main subject here based on how you framed the shot. The slight problem is... it's almost too centered making the shot look static. Also, the white walls of the house in front of it is competing for attention.

2. I already know that you vantage point is high based on the house roofing so the big tile roof on the foreground does not help much. I am really inclined to recommend a tighter crop and crop it out.

3. Since the building is the main subject I would brighten it, give it some more contrast, and sharpen it to make the viewer's eye concentrate on it more.

Here's my idea of one possible edit using only LR if you may:


I hope I did not offend you on the edit. I can still tweak it inside Photoshop but I think the edit in LR is sufficient enough. Any particular name on that building?

[DaveWilky]

thank you jiro

I just posted as shot to show that using a x2 teleconverter does not degrade image quality that much.
the tweaks you have done are very close to the way i would have done it myself, Thanks for your input...

[jiro]

Looking at the image' exif data I think you nailed the settings right. That Sony DSLR performs really good with that lens and teleconverter you have. Congrats.

[DaveWilky]

Thanks jiro I done the test shot in full manual,
Not bad for a beginner then....

[jiro]

Thanks jiro I done the test shot in full manual,

Good for you, mate. I was thinking of recommending an F/11 for that shot but considering the equivalent focal length of that lens with the teleconverter then you have to boost the ISO to make the shutter speed go higher than 1/125 to stay sharp.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Dave,

If we are to judge sharpness, etc., as you have been able to (with access to the fullsize image 4592 x 3056), we would need to see a couple of cropped area 100% images. For example a 700 x 700 section (from the 4592 x 3056) of church tower and sky, plus a similar 700 x 700 section from the left hand edge of frame, ideally at the same focused distance, but here we'll have to use what's there.

That said (and my apologies if it sounds like a "moan"), your original certainly doesn't look bad as you say, although I am fearful that a down sizing from 4592 to 1024 and probably some sharpening may have hidden some issues from us.

So, entirely optionally, if you create a couple more images (as above) from your full size (RAW?) master which are 700 x 700 crops, so they don't require any downsizing, and post those, we'll really be able to advise. if you can't get the crop exact, err slightly under 700, not over because it will avoid display issues.

I peronally would be interested to see, as a third party converter like that is one option I might consider.

I don't think I recall having conversed with you before, so; welcome to the CiC forum from ...

[SDChester]

I think you tweeked it to much, lost some def. in the clouds

[DaveWilky]

Cheers Dave for your detailed input, i`ve just looked for the RAW file so as I can do the crops like you asked. It looks like i have deleted the files of the card. So i will recreate the same shot with the same setup, then I can also do the crops you require.

The main reason for the shot in the 1st place was to see the detail in the pic with using the x2 converter-

new image and crops to follow.

PS your right, this is the 1st time we have conversed on here and thank you for the welcome.

Dave Wilky

[DaveWilky]

So, entirely optionally, if you create a couple more images (as above) from your full size (RAW?) master which are 700 x 700 crops, so they don't require any downsizing, and post those, we'll really be able to advise. if you can't get the crop exact, err slightly under 700, not over because it will avoid display issues.
New Shot..

Crop 1

crop 2

[DaveWilky]

Hi Dave , I hope i have done everything right. i`m new to all this and its been a longtime since i`ve taken part in forum chats..

[Dave Humphries]

Yup, I think that's all fine ... and so is the lens and converter combo. from the look of these

I'd be pleased with that result, although I detect some sharpening has been applied - was the original jpg or RAW?

and there's no sign of CA (unless that also got corrected in PP)

Thanks for taking the time to show these,

[DaveWilky]

Hi Dave, there as been no sharpening done its more or less as shot, i did reduce the exposure a tad in lightroom but other than that nothing else as been done to the image, Yes the image was shot in RAW then the crops saved as jpegs for the upload to the forum.

Its a shame e cant upload the RAW image in its full scale, but i guess thats down to the space and time it would require.

Thanks again for your input, its always nice to have other peoples views and opinions that can only help in getting better at what is only a hobby to me. Cheers Dave..