New to this/2 pics........

Fishboy · Jan 2, 2009

Hi, i've just got myself a D80 and am hugely in awe of it's capabilities. Here's 2 pics taken in the past couple of days. Feel free to offer advice, i know i need it

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1.

2.

Both pics taken with the 18-200 VR(the only lens i own)

Thanks for looking,

Fishboy

LaFoto · Jan 2, 2009

Heya. Welcome to ThePhotoForum.
And congrats on the new "toy"!

Both are nice photos. The first is not ideally composed. I'd much rather have little Robin look INTO the frame, i.e. into some room in front of it, than towards the frame itself.

And the blue bridge is quite surprising, and makes me wonder if along with your camera you also got yourself some nice new post processing software that you played with?

I am always surprised to see how newcomers to the hobby start out doing night photography right away - it took me ages to venture into that area, and I never went there while I still exclusively used film. Never. Only with the first digital camera in hands (still only a borrowed one at the time) did I dare try out to photograph at night...!

Clancyz · Jan 2, 2009

Love the second, what did you do to make the purple so vibrant?

Atlas77 · Jan 2, 2009

I love the second! the first i dont know but the second is great!

OldClicker · Jan 2, 2009

I've never seen a Euro-robin (I think that's what it is), but they aren't blue, are they? - TF

Fishboy · Jan 2, 2009

LaFoto said:
Both are nice photos. The first is not ideally composed. I'd much rather have little Robin look INTO the frame, i.e. into some room in front of it, than towards the frame itself.

And the blue bridge is quite surprising, and makes me wonder if along with your camera you also got yourself some nice new post processing software that you played with?

LaFoto: the problem with the robin was he WAS looking at me, but facing to his right

But yeah i know just what you mean. As for the bridge pic i just played around on an old version of photoshop i found laying around, it was boxing day and there was no traffic around so i went for the blue thing.

Thanks for the comments people,

Fishboy

Fishboy · Jan 2, 2009

OldClicker said:
I've never seen a Euro-robin (I think that's what it is), but they aren't blue, are they? - TF

OC: It's more grey than blue, i haven't changed anything on the robin other than cropping. Another pic with the flash might help with the colouring?

Thanks,

Fishboy

LaFoto · Jan 2, 2009

The robin pic with flash separates him nicely from the background. Looks good to me.
And which bridge is this one, if I may ask?
And hey, "old versions of Photoshop" which are only just "lying around" can be quite helpful ... that thing has become my own "Photoshop forever" version (and it is a 6.0 - antediluvian, but... THERE!)

ShutterSpeed · Jan 2, 2009

I would have saturated the bird picture a little more. It's a beautiful bird that could be even more beautiful if the colors were a little more vibrant.

Fishboy · Jan 2, 2009

LaFoto, it's the severn bridge(spanning the bristol channel). And i have Photoshop 2.0, i'm still getting into the whole "tweaking" stage but it's a fun journey to be on

Shutterspeed, i agree the bird could be a little more vibrant but at this stage i'm not sure i could seperate it from the background well enough to do a good enough job of it:blushing:

Cheers,

Fishboy

ShutterSpeed · Jan 2, 2009

Fishboy said:
LaFoto, it's the severn bridge(spanning the bristol channel). And i have Photoshop 2.0, i'm still getting into the whole "tweaking" stage but it's a fun journey to be on

Shutterspeed, i agree the bird could be a little more vibrant but at this stage i'm not sure i could seperate it from the background well enough to do a good enough job of it:blushing:

Cheers,

Fishboy

In Photoshop 5.0, you have a brush saturation tool (it looks like a sponge), where you can saturate areas that you want without saturating areas that you dont.

You can also 'desaturate' with the same sponge. I use this a lot to help me distinguish between foreground and background in some shots. Usually when i photograph my daughter in the house, i will slightly saturate her, and slightly desaturate the rest of the room. Really makes her stand out. Some people might not like that technique, but hey, beauty if in the eye of the beholder right?

LaFoto · Jan 2, 2009

Ha. Makes me feel good that I already THOUGHT it was the Severn Bridge

. Thanks for the clarification and corroboration.

Oh well, and against your 2.0-version, mine's among the most modern ones. And here I thought mine was old!?!?!?

Fishboy · Jan 2, 2009

Thanks for the info guys, looks like i may have to make a purchse!

How "new" is needed with pp software, within reason?

Cheers,

Fishboy

Samanax · Jan 2, 2009

Fishboy said:
Thanks for the info guys, looks like i may have to make a purchse!

How "new" is needed with pp software, within reason?

You can download the latest version of GIMP for free. Then check out Grokking the GIMP for help with learning and using GIMP.

ShutterSpeed · Jan 2, 2009

PP software age?

don't they update themselves every year or two?

I have Adobe 5.0 which has technically been outdated by more recent replacements. It still works fine for me.