Portfolio critique

[Maris_K]

Maris, I hope you realize you've been given some really good advice here by some of the more savvy shooters who post in this forum. I particularly like the quick exposure correction Jason posted of your Acacia trees--it tells the whole story of your main problem at a glance.

 

"Basics" was mentioned. Let me add something to that. A good image has three elements: light, shape (composition), and color. (B&W is another subject.) Now a really good image, what we all should be going for, has four elements: light, shape, color, and action. Jay Maisel liked to use the word "gesture" instead of action . . . but whatever you call it, it is the point of the picture -- it's what going on, be it subtle or dramatic. 

 

I don't normally comment on people's collections. I'm making an exception with you because you have a good eye for photography . . . and you can improve. That is a good basic eye but you don't seem to have an eye for lighting at all; the majority of your images are badly underexposed. Why??? Do you not see this problem? 

 

Passing Alamy Quality Control (QC) is one thing, but the point of being involved with stock shooting is to make sales . . . and for that your images have to look good. 

 

Thanks for that exception! I agree, the comparison of two photos shows a great deal. However quite honestly I have never ever been disturbed by the darkness of my photos, so maybe it's a personal sympathy or really bad screen or whatever . I'm glad it was pointed out though, so I can improve myself . I've already gotten lots of good tips from this thread, so happy I asked for advice!

[Maris_K]

Truly 

 

 

I would say generally your images are too dark and you need to do some work with shadows and highlights.

Definitely agree with this. They are very flat- Need a simple levels adjustment to bring out highlights and contrast. 

 

Here's one picked at random that I think would have potential: A quick 'auto-levels' in Photoshop makes a very big difference. Working from RAW will undoubtedly be better.

 

 

-Jason

 

Truly an eye-opener! Thanks a zillion!

[Maris_K]

Agree with what's said above. Soon as I opened up your photos, I thought, "too dark." A few looked good.

A suggestion. If you know you want to take people shots outdoors, grab that first bright overcast day to do it. I'm not talking dark impending rain. Bright overcast skies act like a big soft box. The shadows on the face will be soft rather than harsh. Failing that kind of day, carefully study and learn to use fill flash dialed down, to illuminate and mitigate harsh facial shadows.

 

Images that include the sky look best with blue skies, or blue with fluffy clouds. Try not to take these in the harsh middle of the day light, but morning and late afternoon.

These are just general guidelines that I, as a photographer am aware of, but admit some of my morning shoots bleed into harsher light. But then my hidden voice starts screaming, "Stop!"

 

Good advice... It might not always be possible to follow though, for when I'm traveling, I might only stay in one place for one day and in this case I'll just have to make do with what I've got weather wise. But I'll definitely take a few practice days based on your suggestions and try to keep these tips in mind!

[Gennadii Rybalov]

Thanks for all the opinions so far! Interestingly enough I would never have suspected darkness as the main issue, so you have already given me a good point to ponder about! BTW, I do post-processing on laptop using LR, but on my screen the end result does actually have rather vibrant colours, so I wouldn't even have thought of lighting them up more... Possibly a screen and angle thing then... Otherwise I've been shooting JPEGs, because I've never thought of actually doing anything serious with my photos until now, so it was just easier. I might start shooting RAW from now on though, I see that would be more reasonable... AND I suppose I should reconsider my laptop option and get myself a proper screen to work with. 

 

As far as the Woman With Two Dogs is concerned, I actually have one where she was looking straight into the camera as well . Not so candid shot . But personally I like this one better, they are so cool, looking at something all together... 

 

Thanks for the tips and input! Really helpful!

I'll try to add your 2 cents-

I think the problem is not really even in the monitor, I too have been working on the laptop and understand what it was about when people talk about sizing-

1-no need to shoot jpeg

2-look at the histogram and can't go wrong

3-handle only in a dark room, in which no daylight!!!!

And it will be all right!

[Maris_K]

 

The shot of the woman with the 2 dogs in Havana is a nice candid shot - Perhaps add hair and rollers to the keywording

Good luck

Agree That's one of the best.

 

Here are a few of my favourites because interesting subjects, good light, vibrant colours:

 

       

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Interesting choice! And good point about "making" the photos, not "taking" them... You're right, of course... Can't wait for the weekend to go practice some more with all the useful tips I've already gotten...

[Matt Ashmore]

I think your pictures are probably ok for the most part in terms of monitor brightness but you may be underexposing certain shots in camera by not metering the subject and allowing the sky to overly influence the reading. This can be counteracted in post-processing by using the grad filter in LR or ACR assuming you are shooting raw, given that the images don’t seem to be massively underexposed.  

 

The shots of the statue in Paris are a good example - the shot of the statue alone is properly exposed but, as soon as you include the sky, you are underexposing for the statue. Assuming this is the case, then you need to meter for your subject - preferably spot metering and manual exposure - or alternatively use exposure compensation with auto (not as accurate). If you want real accuracy, get a grey card and a color checker passport.

 

Similarly the shots of the mounted police are very dark - again I would guess that metering is the problem rather than your monitor.

Thanks for looking.

 

Fair comments.. I often find myself trying to avoid burning out sky's so have a bad habit of under exposing as I try and preserve colour in the sky. I do shoot raw and have just acquired LR so it's something for me to work on both in camara and during post processing. I tend to shoot in aperture priority mode normally but do switch metering modes between spot and matrix modes as I search for the best exposure.

[MDM]

 

I think your pictures are probably ok for the most part in terms of monitor brightness but you may be underexposing certain shots in camera by not metering the subject and allowing the sky to overly influence the reading. This can be counteracted in post-processing by using the grad filter in LR or ACR assuming you are shooting raw, given that the images don’t seem to be massively underexposed.  

 

The shots of the statue in Paris are a good example - the shot of the statue alone is properly exposed but, as soon as you include the sky, you are underexposing for the statue. Assuming this is the case, then you need to meter for your subject - preferably spot metering and manual exposure - or alternatively use exposure compensation with auto (not as accurate). If you want real accuracy, get a grey card and a color checker passport.

 

Similarly the shots of the mounted police are very dark - again I would guess that metering is the problem rather than your monitor.

Thanks for looking.

 

Fair comments.. I often find myself trying to avoid burning out sky's so have a bad habit of under exposing as I try and preserve colour in the sky. I do shoot raw and have just acquired LR so it's something for me to work on both in camara and during post processing. I tend to shoot in aperture priority mode normally but do switch metering modes between spot and matrix modes as I search for the best exposure.

 

 

No probs. As long as you shoot raw, you should be able to bring up the dark areas and recover highlights. I gave up using grad filters on camera years ago although I always have a polariser to hand. I'd be inclined to go more towards over- than underexposing - ETTR and all that - but it's very camera dependent.

[vpics]

 

You work on a laptop? I'm asking because I edit the work of 17 photographers. One works on a laptop and it looks as if his work is done by 10 different people working on 10 different computers. I have the same feeling when I look at your collection. It lacks uniformity. Anyway, for me, post-processing on a laptop is a BIG NO-NO.

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

I haven't used a desktop since 1993. 

[M.Chapman]

 

I think your pictures are probably ok for the most part in terms of monitor brightness but you may be underexposing certain shots in camera by not metering the subject and allowing the sky to overly influence the reading. This can be counteracted in post-processing by using the grad filter in LR or ACR assuming you are shooting raw, given that the images don’t seem to be massively underexposed.  

 

The shots of the statue in Paris are a good example - the shot of the statue alone is properly exposed but, as soon as you include the sky, you are underexposing for the statue. Assuming this is the case, then you need to meter for your subject - preferably spot metering and manual exposure - or alternatively use exposure compensation with auto (not as accurate). If you want real accuracy, get a grey card and a color checker passport.

 

Similarly the shots of the mounted police are very dark - again I would guess that metering is the problem rather than your monitor.

Thanks for looking.

 

Fair comments.. I often find myself trying to avoid burning out sky's so have a bad habit of under exposing as I try and preserve colour in the sky. I do shoot raw and have just acquired LR so it's something for me to work on both in camara and during post processing. I tend to shoot in aperture priority mode normally but do switch metering modes between spot and matrix modes as I search for the best exposure.

 

 

If you've just got LR, have a play with the exposure, contrast, highlights and shadow sliders. The exposure and highlights sliders can help you get the skies you like whilst also ensuring full dynamic range.

[Maris_K]

 

Thanks for all the opinions so far! Interestingly enough I would never have suspected darkness as the main issue, so you have already given me a good point to ponder about! BTW, I do post-processing on laptop using LR, but on my screen the end result does actually have rather vibrant colours, so I wouldn't even have thought of lighting them up more... Possibly a screen and angle thing then... Otherwise I've been shooting JPEGs, because I've never thought of actually doing anything serious with my photos until now, so it was just easier. I might start shooting RAW from now on though, I see that would be more reasonable... AND I suppose I should reconsider my laptop option and get myself a proper screen to work with. 

 

As far as the Woman With Two Dogs is concerned, I actually have one where she was looking straight into the camera as well . Not so candid shot . But personally I like this one better, they are so cool, looking at something all together... 

 

Thanks for the tips and input! Really helpful!

I'll try to add your 2 cents-

I think the problem is not really even in the monitor, I too have been working on the laptop and understand what it was about when people talk about sizing-

1-no need to shoot jpeg

2-look at the histogram and can't go wrong

3-handle only in a dark room, in which no daylight!!!!

And it will be all right!

 

Good point about working in a dark room, now there's a thing I always do wrong . I work everywhere with my laptop, even in places where the reflections make the screen impossibly bright ! And thanks for the encouragement, btw!

[gvallee]

 

I did mainly not edit becauseon my old monitor I could never judge if it looks good or not .

So almost all pictures I have up on alamy are straight out of camera jpg's.

The colorimeter is on its way and the new monitor will get calibrated frequently.

Whether or not I like editing is still to be decided, it takes so much time for me.

 

Philippe, do you want an 18th guy to edit for?

Noooo.....!!!! Now that I also started shooting video, I'm up to my neck in work. My skin is starting to look transparent from sitting months on end in the dark behind my computer and I think soon my legs will drop off because I've hardly moved all winter  B.t.w. is it spring already?

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Philippe,

 

How do you do it? Aren't your eyes hurting? I have just processed 2.2k images in the last 3 months and my eyes are killing me. 

 

Gen

[hdh]

 

I did mainly not edit becauseon my old monitor I could never judge if it looks good or not .

So almost all pictures I have up on alamy are straight out of camera jpg's.

The colorimeter is on its way and the new monitor will get calibrated frequently.

Whether or not I like editing is still to be decided, it takes so much time for me.

 

Philippe, do you want an 18th guy to edit for?

Noooo.....!!!! Now that I also started shooting video, I'm up to my neck in work. My skin is starting to look transparent from sitting months on end in the dark behind my computer and I think soon my legs will drop off because I've hardly moved all winter  B.t.w. is it spring already?

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

 

This is also called the IT-Cellar-Tan that most IT guys like me suffer from .... 

[Davey Towers]

After reading this topic through and all the great advice and tips..................looks like I'm up S!!! creek without a paddle. (AAAAAAARRGGHH)

[gvallee]

 

 

 

I did mainly not edit becauseon my old monitor I could never judge if it looks good or not .

So almost all pictures I have up on alamy are straight out of camera jpg's.

The colorimeter is on its way and the new monitor will get calibrated frequently.

Whether or not I like editing is still to be decided, it takes so much time for me.

 

Philippe, do you want an 18th guy to edit for?

Noooo.....!!!! Now that I also started shooting video, I'm up to my neck in work. My skin is starting to look transparent from sitting months on end in the dark behind my computer and I think soon my legs will drop off because I've hardly moved all winter  B.t.w. is it spring already?

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Philippe,

 

How do you do it? Aren't your eyes hurting? I have just processed 2.2k images in the last 3 months and my eyes are killing me. 

 

Gen

 

 

Well, I take a 2 hour break at noon to see some daylight  I can't work with my varifocal glasses though and have to switch to my old glasses (I'm mainly short-sighted). In the evening, I often force myself to stop editing because it might happen I don't see the colours correctly anymore (especially when dealing with a series of pictures which all have the same main colour like lots of blue sky). 

When I had more time and only edited my own images, I always started the day by quickly checking the images I edited the day before and often had to do some minor colour corrections. Flaws probably caused by tiredness. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

Same for me with the glasses. I had en eye check recently and my reading glasses are adequate.

I start editing at 7:30, have an hour break or so at lunch time, and continue until 6:30.

My right eye hurts so bad, it feels it's going to jump out of its socket.... Not good.

[MDM]

 

 

 

 

I did mainly not edit becauseon my old monitor I could never judge if it looks good or not .

So almost all pictures I have up on alamy are straight out of camera jpg's.

The colorimeter is on its way and the new monitor will get calibrated frequently.

Whether or not I like editing is still to be decided, it takes so much time for me.

 

Philippe, do you want an 18th guy to edit for?

Noooo.....!!!! Now that I also started shooting video, I'm up to my neck in work. My skin is starting to look transparent from sitting months on end in the dark behind my computer and I think soon my legs will drop off because I've hardly moved all winter  B.t.w. is it spring already?

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Philippe,

 

How do you do it? Aren't your eyes hurting? I have just processed 2.2k images in the last 3 months and my eyes are killing me. 

 

Gen

 

 

Well, I take a 2 hour break at noon to see some daylight  I can't work with my varifocal glasses though and have to switch to my old glasses (I'm mainly short-sighted). In the evening, I often force myself to stop editing because it might happen I don't see the colours correctly anymore (especially when dealing with a series of pictures which all have the same main colour like lots of blue sky). 

When I had more time and only edited my own images, I always started the day by quickly checking the images I edited the day before and often had to do some minor colour corrections. Flaws probably caused by tiredness. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

Same for me with the glasses. I had en eye check recently and my reading glasses are adequate.

I start editing at 7:30, have an hour break or so at lunch time, and continue until 6:30.

My right eye hurts so bad, it feels it's going to jump out of its socket.... Not good.

 

 

If that is literally true, then it could be a lot worse than not good. My eyes get very tired by the end of the day so my vision is nowwhere near as good as in the morning but never actually painful. I'm no medic but, if your eyes are paining like that, then you should get checked.

 

I find that eye strain (vision not as good as it should be) is exacerbated greatly using high res screens or any laptop but especially my 13 inch Mac Retina. Also I find that processing close-up images (of flowers in my case) is harder on the eyes than say landscapes because I am having to check extremely carefully for focus - I always overshoot these anyway to make sure I get something in the bag and I end up checking loads of images for focus just to get one or two - tedious.

 

What is more precious to a photographer than his/her eyes? All the more reason to invest in a good monitor for editing (not 4K or greater) that minimises problems and makes one's images look their best.

[Andy Holmes]

 

 

 

 Now there's your problem. Also every time you open your laptop, your screen is most probably at a slightly different angle resulting in a darker or brighter screen. Desktop computers have A) much better video cards B ) you're always looking at the exact same angle of your screen C) you're forced to work in the same location and when you darken the room even in the same lighting conditions. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe 

 

 

 

When I process with my laptop, I have a contrast card bookmarked on my browser and I set the screen angle. As others have said, I also pay great attention to the histogram rather than purely relying on the appearance on the screen. If after processing, the visual image doesn't appear to match the histogram, I'll refer back to the contrast card to check the screen position. 

[Inchiquin]

There's a difference between 'dark' and 'well-saturated'. I like well saturated photos myself, but I pay great attention to the histogram on every shot to ensure I have the full range of tones.

 

Alan

[Inchiquin]

 

B.t.w. is it spring already?

 

A quick look out of my window to see snow falling quite thickly says "No". Not in Yorkshire anyway.

 

Alan

[gvallee]

 

 

 

 

 

I did mainly not edit becauseon my old monitor I could never judge if it looks good or not .

So almost all pictures I have up on alamy are straight out of camera jpg's.

The colorimeter is on its way and the new monitor will get calibrated frequently.

Whether or not I like editing is still to be decided, it takes so much time for me.

 

Philippe, do you want an 18th guy to edit for?

Noooo.....!!!! Now that I also started shooting video, I'm up to my neck in work. My skin is starting to look transparent from sitting months on end in the dark behind my computer and I think soon my legs will drop off because I've hardly moved all winter  B.t.w. is it spring already?

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Philippe,

 

How do you do it? Aren't your eyes hurting? I have just processed 2.2k images in the last 3 months and my eyes are killing me. 

 

Gen

 

 

Well, I take a 2 hour break at noon to see some daylight  I can't work with my varifocal glasses though and have to switch to my old glasses (I'm mainly short-sighted). In the evening, I often force myself to stop editing because it might happen I don't see the colours correctly anymore (especially when dealing with a series of pictures which all have the same main colour like lots of blue sky). 

When I had more time and only edited my own images, I always started the day by quickly checking the images I edited the day before and often had to do some minor colour corrections. Flaws probably caused by tiredness. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

Same for me with the glasses. I had en eye check recently and my reading glasses are adequate.

I start editing at 7:30, have an hour break or so at lunch time, and continue until 6:30.

My right eye hurts so bad, it feels it's going to jump out of its socket.... Not good.

 

 

If that is literally true, then it could be a lot worse than not good. My eyes get very tired by the end of the day so my vision is nowwhere near as good as in the morning but never actually painful. I'm no medic but, if your eyes are paining like that, then you should get checked.

 

I find that eye strain (vision not as good as it should be) is exacerbated greatly using high res screens or any laptop but especially my 13 inch Mac Retina. Also I find that processing close-up images (of flowers in my case) is harder on the eyes than say landscapes because I am having to check extremely carefully for focus - I always overshoot these anyway to make sure I get something in the bag and I end up checking loads of images for focus just to get one or two - tedious.

 

What is more precious to a photographer than his/her eyes? All the more reason to invest in a good monitor for editing (not 4K or greater) that minimises problems and makes one's images look their best.

 

 

I know, I'm worried too. It all started after an intense week of macro photography. I went for an eye check up and they said to rest my eyes for a week.

 

I have a good 2k Dell 24" screen but what caused the problem again while processing are floaters in my eyes. Is it a floater or a dust bunny? 

After 8 months in the Australian Outback, the sensor had gathered quite a bit of dust (if it was only the sensor!!). I really strained my eyes.

 

Plus as you said, I just processed quite a lot of insect close-ups. But you know what, what tires my eyes most is keywording!!

I keyword before uploading but even though, picking up the right word, copying and pasting in the right field in the right order...

 

I guess I'm getting older and should listen to my body. 

[MDM]

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did mainly not edit becauseon my old monitor I could never judge if it looks good or not .

So almost all pictures I have up on alamy are straight out of camera jpg's.

The colorimeter is on its way and the new monitor will get calibrated frequently.

Whether or not I like editing is still to be decided, it takes so much time for me.

 

Philippe, do you want an 18th guy to edit for?

Noooo.....!!!! Now that I also started shooting video, I'm up to my neck in work. My skin is starting to look transparent from sitting months on end in the dark behind my computer and I think soon my legs will drop off because I've hardly moved all winter  B.t.w. is it spring already?

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Philippe,

 

How do you do it? Aren't your eyes hurting? I have just processed 2.2k images in the last 3 months and my eyes are killing me. 

 

Gen

 

 

Well, I take a 2 hour break at noon to see some daylight  I can't work with my varifocal glasses though and have to switch to my old glasses (I'm mainly short-sighted). In the evening, I often force myself to stop editing because it might happen I don't see the colours correctly anymore (especially when dealing with a series of pictures which all have the same main colour like lots of blue sky). 

When I had more time and only edited my own images, I always started the day by quickly checking the images I edited the day before and often had to do some minor colour corrections. Flaws probably caused by tiredness. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

Same for me with the glasses. I had en eye check recently and my reading glasses are adequate.

I start editing at 7:30, have an hour break or so at lunch time, and continue until 6:30.

My right eye hurts so bad, it feels it's going to jump out of its socket.... Not good.

 

 

If that is literally true, then it could be a lot worse than not good. My eyes get very tired by the end of the day so my vision is nowwhere near as good as in the morning but never actually painful. I'm no medic but, if your eyes are paining like that, then you should get checked.

 

I find that eye strain (vision not as good as it should be) is exacerbated greatly using high res screens or any laptop but especially my 13 inch Mac Retina. Also I find that processing close-up images (of flowers in my case) is harder on the eyes than say landscapes because I am having to check extremely carefully for focus - I always overshoot these anyway to make sure I get something in the bag and I end up checking loads of images for focus just to get one or two - tedious.

 

What is more precious to a photographer than his/her eyes? All the more reason to invest in a good monitor for editing (not 4K or greater) that minimises problems and makes one's images look their best.

 

 

I know, I'm worried too. It all started after an intense week of macro photography. I went for an eye check up and they said to rest my eyes for a week.

 

I have a good 2k Dell 24" screen but what caused the problem again while processing are floaters in my eyes. Is it a floater or a dust bunny? 

After 8 months in the Australian Outback, the sensor had gathered quite a bit of dust (if it was only the sensor!!). I really strained my eyes.

 

Plus as you said, I just processed quite a lot of insect close-ups. But you know what, what tires my eyes most is keywording!!

I keyword before uploading but even though, picking up the right word, copying and pasting in the right field in the right order...

 

I guess I'm getting older and should listen to my body. 

 

 

I don't want to be alarmist and, as I said, I'm no medic, but if you are continually getting acute eye pain, then it can indicate a build-up of pressure in the eye which can be extremely serious - it can be indicative of a certain type of glaucoma for example which is easily treated but can have very serious consequences if ignored.  You should definitely listen to this if that is the case.

 

I think close-up or macro photography in the field, never mind on the computer, has us working at the limits of our bodies and our cameras. After 5 weeks out in the field recently, I've developed lower back pain from bending over plants, sore knees from kneeling on stones, aching shoulders, strained eyes trying to manually focus in low light and so on. And it can feel like nature is conspiring against us - it's usually only calm at the extremes of the day so the light level is too low for comfort (I generally use natural light only outdfoors). But it's a lot better now than in the days of film - decent quality at high ISO has certainly made the job easier.

 

OH - I hate keywording - tires the mind more than anything.

[gvallee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did mainly not edit becauseon my old monitor I could never judge if it looks good or not .

So almost all pictures I have up on alamy are straight out of camera jpg's.

The colorimeter is on its way and the new monitor will get calibrated frequently.

Whether or not I like editing is still to be decided, it takes so much time for me.

 

Philippe, do you want an 18th guy to edit for?

Noooo.....!!!! Now that I also started shooting video, I'm up to my neck in work. My skin is starting to look transparent from sitting months on end in the dark behind my computer and I think soon my legs will drop off because I've hardly moved all winter  B.t.w. is it spring already?

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Philippe,

 

How do you do it? Aren't your eyes hurting? I have just processed 2.2k images in the last 3 months and my eyes are killing me. 

 

Gen

 

 

Well, I take a 2 hour break at noon to see some daylight  I can't work with my varifocal glasses though and have to switch to my old glasses (I'm mainly short-sighted). In the evening, I often force myself to stop editing because it might happen I don't see the colours correctly anymore (especially when dealing with a series of pictures which all have the same main colour like lots of blue sky). 

When I had more time and only edited my own images, I always started the day by quickly checking the images I edited the day before and often had to do some minor colour corrections. Flaws probably caused by tiredness. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

Same for me with the glasses. I had en eye check recently and my reading glasses are adequate.

I start editing at 7:30, have an hour break or so at lunch time, and continue until 6:30.

My right eye hurts so bad, it feels it's going to jump out of its socket.... Not good.

 

 

If that is literally true, then it could be a lot worse than not good. My eyes get very tired by the end of the day so my vision is nowwhere near as good as in the morning but never actually painful. I'm no medic but, if your eyes are paining like that, then you should get checked.

 

I find that eye strain (vision not as good as it should be) is exacerbated greatly using high res screens or any laptop but especially my 13 inch Mac Retina. Also I find that processing close-up images (of flowers in my case) is harder on the eyes than say landscapes because I am having to check extremely carefully for focus - I always overshoot these anyway to make sure I get something in the bag and I end up checking loads of images for focus just to get one or two - tedious.

 

What is more precious to a photographer than his/her eyes? All the more reason to invest in a good monitor for editing (not 4K or greater) that minimises problems and makes one's images look their best.

 

 

I know, I'm worried too. It all started after an intense week of macro photography. I went for an eye check up and they said to rest my eyes for a week.

 

I have a good 2k Dell 24" screen but what caused the problem again while processing are floaters in my eyes. Is it a floater or a dust bunny? 

After 8 months in the Australian Outback, the sensor had gathered quite a bit of dust (if it was only the sensor!!). I really strained my eyes.

 

Plus as you said, I just processed quite a lot of insect close-ups. But you know what, what tires my eyes most is keywording!!

I keyword before uploading but even though, picking up the right word, copying and pasting in the right field in the right order...

 

I guess I'm getting older and should listen to my body. 

 

 

I don't want to be alarmist and, as I said, I'm no medic, but if you are continually getting acute eye pain, then it can indicate a build-up of pressure in the eye which can be extremely serious - it can be indicative of a certain type of glaucoma for example which is easily treated but can have very serious consequences if ignored.  You should definitely listen to this if that is the case.

 

I think close-up or macro photography in the field, never mind on the computer, has us working at the limits of our bodies and our cameras. After 5 weeks out in the field recently, I've developed lower back pain from bending over plants, sore knees from kneeling on stones, aching shoulders, strained eyes trying to manually focus in low light and so on. And it can feel like nature is conspiring against us - it's usually only calm at the extremes of the day so the light level is too low for comfort (I generally use natural light only outdfoors). But it's a lot better now than in the days of film - decent quality at high ISO has certainly made the job easier.

 

OH - I hate keywording - tires the mind more than anything.

 

Thank you for your advice MDM. I will probably get another eye test. I feel bad for highjacking the thread. Sorry folks!

[MDM]

Thank you for your advice MDM. I will probably get another eye test. I feel bad for highjacking the thread. Sorry folks

 

The thread got hijacked way back in any case - the fate of many forum threads I fear. But it has remained interesting.

[Maris_K]

OK, great critique! I'll start by not editing photos with a laptop in a train, where tunnels alternate with sunlight etc... Work on monitor, start shooting RAW (from today on!), check all the settings everywhere, brighten up the selection of existing photos I have already chosen for the next upload and keep on practicing to control the light conditions better...

 

Really glad that I started the thread, I've gotten loads of very valuable information and I'm already looking at my photos with a different eye myself . It's terribly kind of you all to take the time! Merci beaucoup!

[Marianne]

I don't have anything to add re: editing your photos - I think the group here has given yo a lot of helpful advice and I agree you have a good eye, so just hone those skills.

 

Re: eyestrain and floaters - since I had cataract surgery some years ago, the floaters I've developed have driven me nuts - glad I have a 27" screen to move the photo around on when Im not sure if it's a floater or a dust bunny. I use my trifocals on my little 13" Macbook Retina where everything looks sharp and the screen is tiny (After surgeries, I'm 20-40 in one eye 20-20 in the other so the reading and mid-distance are really what I need) but for my 27" I got a pair of single vision glasses set for the mid-distance and it makes things much simpler. Otherwise, with varifocal lenses I get terrible neck pain from tilting my head up on that big screen. I learned the hard way not to edit on my laptop unless I'm in the field and have no choice because even checking at 200% I worry about correct sharpness. And like Phillipe I spend too much time editing in a dark room - leading to a vitamin D deficiency LOL. Glad it's spring, so I can take a break and get outside even if I'm just taking a walk and not taking photos. 

[Allan Bell]

I don't know why people are editing in a dark room. I do mine in my office with the curtains open sitting side on to the windows and screen at right angles to the windows too. I can see the images clearly on my 27" iMac screen.

 

When the sun comes round I close the thin blinds which keep me cool but still let the light in.

 

So long as the light is fairly constant there is no problem.

 

Allan