Originally posted by m8o Jonson, thanx for your post and thoughts. Turns out that Baboon portrait was my only photo accepted into the PPG. Granted, I haven't tried to get many approved, but I was feeling a little to 'bold' when that was my first attempt and it was accepted.
Boy was I brought down to earth however when all of my subsequent photos that had gotten glowing comments on this board were summarily declined ... :ugh:
Well there is a difference between seeing an exciting thread telling about a dream vacation and with good pictures to illustrate; and then gallery material images that needs to stand on their own and be flawless in execution, composition, focus, sharpness, etc.
When using a super tele lens with a TCx2, I think you need to stop down a bit; for optimum IQ, though this is more possible with K20. The user Marc has the FA* 300/2.8, and also uses it with TCx1.4 or TCx2. He felt that he got into trouble, as he wanted to stop down, but couldn’t go much more than Iso 640-800, for optimum IQ on the K10. He is using his work in high profile competitions. Here are some recent samples from him :
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/26923-african-wildlife-a...4x36-hung.html
He is also using the Sigma 500/4.5, and looking forward to a Pentax 400/2.8.
With a 300/2.8 and a 1.4xTC, it should be possible to stop down somewhat. With a 2xTC you would need a lot of light, to stop down, or be using a K20 or upcoming models.
The Pro Andy Biggs is often critical on how the tourists that he guides out in the bush, don’t stop down their fast glass; like they’ve finally bought it and want to use it to full extent.
For some of your scenic overview pictures, you could for sure stop down to f/16 or f/22, since you had along a mono- or tripod.
The user Mousehill was in the BBC Wildlife competition, where he got special mentioning in certain categories. I wrote to him, on some of the tips that Mark Carwardine, Chairman of the judges, gave in their February 2008 issue (p. 57) :
“Then you have to be honest with yourself and edit ruthlessly. It is all too easy to become emotionally attached to certain images and this is when people tend to enter ‘almost’ shots. Resist this temptation. Just because a picture shows an endangered species that was taken on your once-in-a-lifetime holiday to the other side of the world, in the first light at 4am, while you were waist-deep in mud and being bitten my malaria-carrying mosquitoes, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s any good. The fact is mediocre shots won’t win.
Be hard on yourself, is the image pin-sharp or is it slightly soft ? is the light subtle and beautiful or harsh and contrasty ? Have you captured a perfect moment or have you just missed it ? is the background clean and simple or is it spoilt by unwanted branches and other distractions ? is there an interesting symmetry to the picture or does it feel uncomfortable ?
These are some of the probing questions you must ask yourself. Be a tough editor”.
I like this one, I think it has potential to make it into the gallery as well.
If you want hard critique, you can ask at DPr, why a series of images didn’t make it into the PPG.
Not that I’m any particularly good photographer, wildlife photography just interests me a lot, and I’ve seen and read a lot about it.
Looking forward to your pictures of Giraffes fighting, and from the balloon ride at dawn.
Did the lions make it to the top of the rim, so as to exit the crater ?
Do you have other future trips planned ?
Glad to have you on the site, learned a lot from this thread.