How To Take Better Photos Of Your Chickens

[jolenesdad]

Thank you for the information. Do you have a trick to keep the chickens from moving? Lol. Most of my pictures are a blurry image.

Ugh I can’t believe I forgot that. Yes. Noise.

when I take photos of animals I usually have a various set of noise making options, and of course my voice. When I’m taking picture of a dog, I meow or bark (yes I know I look crazy....), or I use a duck call around my neck that you can get for a few bucks at the sporting good store. That duck call works for any animal. One time I was at the biggest photo shoot of my life, a really big celebrity at their home to take photos for a magazine. They’re on the couch with their dogs and assistants are all over and I started barking at their dog and everyone in the room absolutely lost it. They were trying not to laugh and it all fell into a fit of laughter. It really broke the ice, AND I got a great shot.

squeaky toys and balls, etc. with chickens, I’ll crow or make their favorite sound I use for treats or a brand new sound they’ve never heard.

with chickens who sometimes just don’t give a %^#! What you’re doing you have to get really creative. I’ll make strange sounds, low growl type things, high yips, or clicks and clucks or kissing noises with my mouth. If you can raise them up on a fence or picnic table or box or whatever, these sounds will usually work to get an inquisitive expression on their face.

 

[jolenesdad]

I did load URL from the internet, is that okay?View attachment 2347474

If you’re searching through and using Pixlr I imagine you are finding royalty free images....

pixlr is a free web based site that is a photoshop alternative, anyone wanting to make more edits than that can on their phone may want to check it out. It’s ever so slightly cumbersome, but it’s nice to use for practice and learning!!

 

[ChickForLife]

Start at the beginning again and first see if you have a slider adjuster for saturation. Pull that out a bit until it has a more muted tone. Then, add just a little bit of contrast, not so much this time. Then, you could use warmth or tone to add more pink and orange tones to the photo. Keep the adjustments less this time and play with those specifically, maybe you’ll get something more to your liking!

when you’re playing with adjustments that are beyond the normal, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad. But, it’s nice to make sure you take a step back and see the whole picture. Sometimes while adjusting for one specific thing you like, you really alter another part of the photo beyond where you may want it.

for example in your adjusted photo, you were probably liking the tone on a specific part of the photo but the heavier adjustments muddy up other parts. I think personally the red birds in the adjusted photo are a bit dark and you don’t have any chance at catching detail on them.


To anyone else following along remember rules are also.... made to be broken. Sometimes THATS part of the intrigue. It’s all in what you want to put across.

Okay, how about this?

 

[jolenesdad]

Okay, how about this?View attachment 2347478
View attachment 2347479

Look at that!

I like this one better, do you?

you can see how neither of the lighting options (from the original to your edit) look unnatural but can COMPLETELY change the tone and feeling of the photo!

things like how bright your whites get in a photo are completely up to you, and a part of a style. I always, personally, take my photos on the brighter side than the darker side. It’s definitely part of my signature look that I use.

But for discussion purposes...you can see on your adjusted photo how the whitest areas of the photo are losing detail? That’s called a “blown out” highlight. If you DIDNT want it that contrasty, after your saturation adjustment I would minimize or not use the contrast adjustment at all, and would instead work amongst brightness, shadows and highlights.

using the shadows and highlights adjustments can work an image to add or remove details and contrast to either the light or dark areas of an image independent of one another. This way, you could darken the image up a little once you desaturate it without sacrificing any details in the white areas.

 

[ChickForLife]

Great info! Thank you so much! I tried once more...

 

[jolenesdad]

Great info! Thank you so much! I tried once more...
View attachment 2347492View attachment 2347494

Fabulous! You’ve got relatively minor edits that are creating a specific style for you, I like it!!!

 

[ChickForLife]

Just had a photo shoot with MY chickens but they take time to upload so it will be a little bit before I can edit and post.

 

[ChickForLife]

Here is the first one, I think it turned out pretty good! Maybe a little to bright.

 

[ChickForLife]

#2

 

[Sadness Child]

I would like to add for people who do not want to edit light into their pictures. I find that the best time to get good lighting is around dusk and dawn when there are bright shafts of light, but you always want to make sure your back is to the light. That is what I did for this picture. And I did nothing to the lighting in photoshop.