scenic shots CnC please!

[phototechnics]

~~first post~~
Hi! Names Vincent, just got started with a DSLR Nikon D40 with a 18-200mm VR nikkor lens with an SB-600

I guess I want to capture bad @$$ ness in my photos. i saw the weather a few hours ago and raced outside with a tripod and tried to capture it. After taking about 500 photos in 25 mins i came home and was really rather disappointed. Found a few that ended up being mediocre :'(

Any tips and or comments i would LOVE. i was fiddling with aperture size and exposure time to get the best one, ended up going to AUTO EZMODE and let it do the work for me, wasnt too ecstatic.
1

i tried to capture the sky and the tree lines with the cascading shades of the setting sun
2

i attempted to capture the beautiful scenery but it just doesnt seem..like it was an exact replica (how can i make it look even better with settings on the camera / post editing)
3

same thing as number 2
4

same thing as number 2 and 3
5

relatively the same location, the sun was setting behind the trees and i tried to capture the :hail::hail: but it just doesnt seem like i was "there"
6

probably my best shot out of all of those in my opinion...

is there anyway to get that shot / be nice along with the cars passing by to blur the headlights? i tried i very very very long open shutter time. increasing decreasing the light / dark thing. and either got super super light white, or a black image. my current understanding is to get lights to blur = long exposure time. but long exposure time = more light goes into the hole. more light into the hole = whiter. therefore make the aperture {SP?} smaller. and if you make the hole smaller = less light = back to square 1

the pictures also seem grainey and all BLAH like. anyway to fix this? i have noise reduction enabled on the cam already.
(Sorry for being such a noob D= i picked photography up two weeks ago)
tips and all criticisms! be as harsh as possible ^_^

:heart:

 

[smithphoto]

I was taking a look at the data on your last image. You were shooting with a f stop of f/5, iso of 400, and a shutter speed of 1/100. That works to expose your image, but it dosn't get you that blured image you are looking for. Try setting the iso to 100 (iso=sensitivity of the 'film'/sesnor to light smaller the number the less sesnsitive= longer exposure time) The f/stop (aperature size smaller=more light larger=less light) to about f/13 and then use a shutter speed of maybe 1/2. Just play around with it. And I didn't go through the process to find out those numbers, they were just abstracted from my head. So they are probably off. Give it a shot and see what you think.

Note: on some of these you would have benifited from a uv/haze filter and in the lighter ones a 'sky' filter would have helped out a lot in my opinion. Key to good photography is to play. So get back out there tonight, set up your tripod, and start turning those dials.

 

[phototechnics]

tyvm i used a UV filter from Quantaray? lol i guess its not the same thing V_V but its like this black lens attachment which i use pretty much all the time to protect the lens underneath <--likes to drive and take photos outside of windows and the sunroof>> ill try it though! tyvm!