Need you to critique this annual calendar

[rpt]

Hi,

I created an annual calendar with a photo of the Hawk that came visiting on the 16th of December this year. FYI, this is the third version of the calendar and I believe (hope, pray, etc...) that I am done, but I would like you all to give me your thoughts on how the calendar can be improved. I am sure I have missed something... The image is sized to be printed on A3 paper. The noise you see on a 100% view of the image does not show up on the printed copy. An item to note that I have just noticed that the months February and November need to be center alligned and I will do that. Look forward to your inputs.

Thanks in advance.

[DanielG.]

One thing that looks out of place is the "2013" in the middle. The yellow is too bright and the shadow looks out of place.
Why not remove the shadow and italics and make the "2013" the same color as the months' names?

[rpt]

One thing that looks out of place is the "2013" in the middle. The yellow is too bright and the shadow looks out of place.
Why not remove the shadow and italics and make the "2013" the same color as the months' names?

Thanks, I'll try that.

[7enderbender]

I'd try to sharpen the tail and claws of the hawk a bit more and apply a bit more noise reduction to just the background.

Just curious: what did you use to create the actual calendar?

Edit: gave it a quick and dirty try with a selective high pass filter and some brightness. And a bit of NR. Just to give you an idea what I meant. This now blows out the highlights at the neck and would need more work and the file was pretty low res.

[distant.star]

.
Personally, I don't like the green color, at least on screen. Maybe in print it looks okay -- again, just a personal preference.

Anyway, that got me thinking maybe the months could be different colors. January/February maybe a cold bluish shade and green through summer and fall colors for Sept/Oct/Nov -- and maybe holiday colors for Dec. Something like that, or something more appropriate if you're in another hemisphere.

I also thought about playing with the layout, but I don't see any way to really improve it.

Thanks for asking.

[rpt]

I'd try to sharpen the tail and claws of the hawk a bit more and apply a bit more noise reduction to just the background.

Just curious: what did you use to create the actual calendar?

Edit: gave it a quick and dirty try with a selective high pass filter and some brightness. And a bit of NR. Just to give you an idea what I meant. This now blows out the highlights at the neck and would need more work and the file was pretty low res.

Thanks. I used TKexe Kalender that I downloaded from download.com. The URL is:
http://download.cnet.com/TKexe-Kalender/3000-2124_4-10377930.html

[rpt]

.
Personally, I don't like the green color, at least on screen. Maybe in print it looks okay -- again, just a personal preference.

Anyway, that got me thinking maybe the months could be different colors. January/February maybe a cold bluish shade and green through summer and fall colors for Sept/Oct/Nov -- and maybe holiday colors for Dec. Something like that, or something more appropriate if you're in another hemisphere.

I also thought about playing with the layout, but I don't see any way to really improve it.

Thanks for asking.

I like the green and it looks different in print. I'll play with the colors but personally, I think I will settle for a single color that is a bit subdued and contrasts with green. Not many of those

As for the layout, with the subject smack in the middle, there is very little wiggle room as I wanted the whole picture to be seen.

[RustyTheGeek]

IMHO - Lose the 2013 entirely.  Ditto on the color being too yellow, etc.  Enlarge the hawk and raise it up so it fills in where the 2013 was.  Lighten the green background on the months and make them a bit more transparent.  Perhaps put 2013 on each month or something.  I just think it is a big distraction to your image.

[AprilForever]

THis is a case where fill flash would have saved the day, likely implemented with a better beamer. The dappled light and dark is pretty hard to deal with. The 2013 needs to go. Some of the more offending branches need to be cloned out, I think. But, the birdd is sharp, and his eyes are engaging. Good capture. You go to birdsasart-blog.com ever? I learn a lot from Arthur Morris on that site.

[rpt]

THis is a case where fill flash would have saved the day, likely implemented with a better beamer. The dappled light and dark is pretty hard to deal with. The 2013 needs to go. Some of the more offending branches need to be cloned out, I think. But, the birdd is sharp, and his eyes are engaging. Good capture. You go to birdsasart-blog.com ever? I learn a lot from Arthur Morris on that site.

Thanks. No I have not gone to that site ever. Will do that.

[paul13walnut5]

I agree the 2013 looks strange, colour is okay but it looks a bit lost, also the position of the hawkshead makes 2013 look off centre.

Finally, why italic?  Inconsistent with font elsewhere.

I would move 2013 top edge or bottom edge of frame, keep it yellow (nice contrasting) but slightly larger, loose the italic.

Weekend days: red and green should never be seen,  would yellow work here? Pastel green? Mustard at a push?

Great image of the hawk, tricky exposure, maybe lift fill a little in raw if you have the chance (a bit easier than going back to the same spot in the summer and hoping the same beautiful creature makes the same fantastic eye contact, but oh yeah, adding a third of a stop more fill flash, silly!) if not a slight mids lift in levels on the jpeg.

For me the dappled highlight is rightly just on the cusp of burning out, the body of the bird has detail and contrast, there is a catchlight - I really think others are splitting hairs, or feathers, I would be exceptionally chuffed if I'd captured this!

So for me it's just the 2013 position and size and the red weekends.  Even if I like to paint the town red at weekends.

[brad-man]

Since you asked...is there a creative reason why all four borders are different sizes?

[DBCdp]

I have to agree with several of the others points. The borders need to all be the same. There's currently more border at top than bottom. And there's more space between June/August July/Sept than the others. And why 10x14? Move to 11x14 and open up the middle, enlarge the Hawk as has been said.

Put a '13 to the right of each month in the montly headers, leave it out otherwise. Perhaps using the gold in the Hawks eyes to standardize the Month/Day/Yr text. And I also agree that the red for weekends is off, not to mention that weeks are almost always listed with Sunday first, Saturday last. Splitting the weekends like that, the red might still work.

Also agree with the suggestion to mask off the Hawk, apply some noise reduction to the background, then use some sharpening on the Hawk itself...Topaz Detail 3 or even some Viveza 2 strengthening on the bird would go a long way. Print it and enjoy!

[ahab1372]

[...], not to mention that weeks are almost always listed with Sunday first, Saturday last.

Not everywhere. There are a lot of countries where the week starts on Monday, so it might make more sense for the OP to do it this way.

[rpt]

All, thanks for all your posts. In addition toa your comments, I got comments from my younger daughter yesterday. She is studying Graphic Design and has has basically told me that I need to re-think the format. So hopefully in a week I will be able to turn around a new calendar.

Thanks again for the inputs.