First time out with the new camera...

[mattslyk]

Well, my first SLR is a 30D. Wayyyy nicer camera than I need (had planned on getting an XTi), but at $525 for the kit (new) I couldn't pass it up.

Anyway, I have SO much to learn, but really enjoy this new hobby. These were taken in the evening, but the sun was still up and bright so there were a lot of hard shadows on stuff...

Also, I put them into Adobe LR...but don't really know what to do to PP them. I played around with some stuff for a good long while...but didn't end up changing much.

So, suggest away...composition, pp, anything.

1)

2)

 

[penfold1]

you have sun flares in your pictures

 

[mattslyk]

See, I already learned something...sun flares are bad

 

[penfold1]

Also, a photograph usually has a subject, whether it be a person, the landscape, or an object. In your first photo, the helicopter is the subject.
In your second photo I can not find the subject.

I am not sure how much you know about photography and I do not ant to offend you. It seems like you know the basics.
-Rule of thirds
-shooting at eye level gets boring
-harsh shadows have their place and time, but often not good
-ect

To help with composition, it may seem silly, but I find that walking around with a piece of cardboard with a 4:6 cut in it up to my eye helps me find interesting compositions.
And that is most people's goal, to take pictures that are interesting and others would want to look at.