New to Photography. your thoughts

picman · Mar 8, 2006

Ok i'm completely new to photography and this is the first time I've posted anything.

what do you think? any advice you could give?

Thanks in advance.....also, sorry i couldn't get the second picture smaller.

-m

jocose · Mar 8, 2006

First of all, welcome to Forum, put your feet up, stay awhile.

I REALLY like the first one. I'm going to assume, based on your post, that there was no post processing on this pic.

My first thought was to suggest that you boost the contrast and push the color a little, but after looking at it a few times, I actually like muted like it is...maybe just a touch more contrast and push the green a wee bit...but I really like the hazy look.

The second has nice depth of field on the monkey, but it's too bad that the leaf in the foreground in over his (her?) face.

Overall, these are quite nice pics, and you should post more!

picman · Mar 8, 2006

Hey,
Thanks for the advice. I was also undecided here regarding the first one. Obviously you could tell that it was very misty out which is the reason for the muted picture. it's part of the natural surrounding i was in so i wasn't sure if i should change that.

well i took your advice, pushed the contrast and the yellows/greens/reds and i think it looks great.
a little off from what was natural but photography isn't always about being natural i guess.

thanks, have a look now.

jocose · Mar 8, 2006

I think you still get the mistiness and it definitly brough out the trees on the left as well as the waterfall!

Good job :thumbup:

LaFoto · Mar 8, 2006

Hey, Picman, these are beautiful - where on this big wide earth do you find these locations, with animals such as in the second photo???
If that second photo had been smaller, it would have been a pity, the way it is we can really see the monkey well, and appreciate how well it is in the focus. I like how that branch goes diagonally through the picture. Maybe it is a pity about that leaf in the foreground, but if this was taken out in the wild then... wow.
The tweaks you did to the first photo work absolutely fine with me. I would have suggested you do just this to this very picture myself, too, only did Jocose beat me to it

.

jocose · Mar 8, 2006

LaFoto said:
Hey, Picman, these are beautiful - where on this big wide earth do you find these locations, with animals such as in the second photo???
If that second photo had been smaller, it would have been a pity, the way it is we can really see the monkey well, and appreciate how well it is in the focus. I like how that branch goes diagonally through the picture. Maybe it is a pity about that leaf in the foreground, but if this was taken out in the wild then... wow.
The tweaks you did to the first photo work absolutely fine with me. I would have suggested you do just this to this very picture myself, too, only did Jocose beat me to it .

LaFoto, I'm flattered...to be honest, I wasn't sure if I was giving good advice (although it DID turn out quite well), so I'm glad to hear that you would have said the same

picman · Mar 8, 2006

LaFoto said:
Hey, Picman, these are beautiful - where on this big wide earth do you find these locations, with animals such as in the second photo???
If that second photo had been smaller, it would have been a pity, the way it is we can really see the monkey well, and appreciate how well it is in the focus. I like how that branch goes diagonally through the picture. Maybe it is a pity about that leaf in the foreground, but if this was taken out in the wild then... wow.
The tweaks you did to the first photo work absolutely fine with me. I would have suggested you do just this to this very picture myself, too, only did Jocose beat me to it .

Well, if you really must know where on this big earth these were taken, i'll give you the secret. These are from various places in Costa Rica..... I guess it's really easy to take pictures when you are fortunate to see some of the most beautiful sites in the world.

here's a couple more....pushed the colours very slightly, other than than, no editing.

DestinDave · Mar 8, 2006

Welcome to the Photo Forum. Nice selections for your first post. I'll agree with everyone else about the contrast and color boost in the second post - awesome! I like the misty look to it also but then I've already stated my feelings on fog shots. I like the one of the boat on the beach - did you use fill-flash? Looks like it on the boat but the sand gradually fades away without any shadows. Hard to tell. Nice job.

picman · Mar 8, 2006

DestinDave said:
Welcome to the Photo Forum. Nice selections for your first post. I'll agree with everyone else about the contrast and color boost in the second post - awesome! I like the misty look to it also but then I've already stated my feelings on fog shots. I like the one of the boat on the beach - did you use fill-flash? Looks like it on the boat but the sand gradually fades away without any shadows. Hard to tell. Nice job.

yup, i did use a fill flash here. I think it may be a touch too harsh but i liked how it really brought out the blue of the boat. And i guess it's good that it didn't throw any shadows....just lucky though.

thanks for the comments.

-m