[wyerd]

I thought I'd post a few shots I took of a helicopter that was called to the ship we were cruising on around the Baltic a couple of weeks ago. Somebody was winched off for some medical reason, but I was unable to get close enough to see them, but if I had, I'm not sure if it would of been the right thing to take pictures of.

Anyway, here are four of the best - in focus and without half of it missing! the other 46 have been binned. I can now see why Johndm takes so many! All taken with my 350D, 70-200 L lens, and sharpened using PS. One of them I had to use the clone tool, as there was someones head in the way.

I think i need to trade up my L lens to an IS L!

Whats the best way to crop these shots without getting too much background and getting close to the subject?

[john.hem]

Nice photos.

John

[Johndm]

Hey.....Nice Chopper...

I like them all, the best one quality wise No.4..
Helicopters are a right pain to crop...I find you either leave rotors in at the expense of looking off centre, or cut some off as pic below.

A 3/4 shot is easier to centre with helicoptors.

Now...if you want to get REALLY critical in Airliners net standards...I'd guess the following if you submitted all 4....

1. Reject for oversharpened
2. Reject for slightly out of focus. Is this the cloned one at centre bottom? If so reject for bad manipulation too.
3. Reject for out of focus (sea is in focus...should have used centre spot only focus?)
4. Accept this one....

[Mr THX]

Originally Posted by Johndm

Hey.....Nice Chopper...

I like them all, the best one quality wise No.4..
Helicopters are a right pain to crop...I find you either leave rotors in at the expense of looking off centre, or cut some off as pic below.

A 3/4 shot is easier to centre with helicoptors.

Now...if you want to get REALLY critical in Airliners net standards...I'd guess the following if you submitted all 4....

1. Reject for oversharpened
2. Reject for slightly out of focus. Is this the cloned one at centre bottom? If so reject for bad manipulation too.
3. Reject for out of focus (sea is in focus...should have used centre spot only focus?)
4. Accept this one....

John,
Just for a begginer what are the points to look for when you say number one is oversharpened ???

Cheers Fella..........

[Johndm]

Originally Posted by Mr THX

John,
Just for a begginer what are the points to look for when you say number one is oversharpened ???

Cheers Fella..........

All pics need unsharp mask used last, after all other processing. Differant pictures/sizes/composition all require varying amounts to be used.

If you look at the front rotor and door on the side of the fuselage, can you see a slight zig zag pattern? Theses are the dreaded 'jaggies'. The unsharp levels need to be backed off a bit. Another sign of too much.... halos will appear around edges of subject.

Its sometimes tempting to apply too much to correct a very slightly out of focus or blurred pic.

I might just be this pic was processed correctly, then resized last...that screws it all up..

[wyerd]

Originally Posted by Johndm

Hey.....Nice Chopper...

I like them all, the best one quality wise No.4..
Helicopters are a right pain to crop...I find you either leave rotors in at the expense of looking off centre, or cut some off as pic below.

A 3/4 shot is easier to centre with helicoptors.

Now...if you want to get REALLY critical in Airliners net standards...I'd guess the following if you submitted all 4....

1. Reject for oversharpened
2. Reject for slightly out of focus. Is this the cloned one at centre bottom? If so reject for bad manipulation too.
3. Reject for out of focus (sea is in focus...should have used centre spot only focus?)
4. Accept this one....

Thanks for your comments John. 2 was the cloned one and you're right that looking at it carefully, it's out of focus as is 3.

I've submitted 4 to Airliners.net after cropping it as you suggested. Lets see what they say!

Cheers,
Dave.

[Johndm]

Originally Posted by wyerd

Thanks for your comments John. 2 was the cloned one and you're right that looking at it carefully, it's out of focus as is 3.

I've submitted 4 to Airliners.net after cropping it as you suggested. Lets see what they say!

Cheers,
Dave.

I think 4 has a good chance of getting on, that cloning on 2 would have got you a warning about manipulation......tough rules eh?

It just shows how difficult it is to get what looks like an easy subject..

Let us know how your upload gets on..