Troubled_Waters

[The_Caper]

Hi all:

This is a shot I got at a falls near where we live of a man who was up there doing his own scetchings of the falls and surroundings.

I am beginning to see lot's of softness in all my shots. Is it possibly the 28-135 IS lens quality? Please C&C this shot for composition and DOF.

 

[sayambhu]

the surroundings are very natural - there are many many elements in the photograph.

1. I feel the picture is overexposed and too bright. the natural skin tone is somewhat lost. If your photos were "OK to edit" I would have posted a slightly modified version of the image that I made for myself...

2. the rule of thirds application has been quite perfect here.

I'm not sure if the softness as you said comes from the lens that you're using... I yearn for that effect in my photographs but unfortunately never see it.

very well shot - keep it up and do share more photographs with us !

 

[The_Caper]

Thank you Sayambhu:

I have now made my photos available for all to edit. If you could show me your edited version that would be great and also let me know what software you are using to make the edits and what editing you made to the photo.

I am considering purchasing some image editing software like Photoshop CS
so if you can post the edit info you did on my shot that would help alot.

Thanks again.


Paul.

 

[sayambhu]

yes I definitely will. please give me a few hours time, I have to re-do it. ( I deleted the last one )

 

[sayambhu]

dear caper,

let me know if this looks better.

I am working hard to be a professional photographer. me and my dad's association reaches upto National Geographic, Time Magazine, Magnum etc. whatever work I have to do has always got to be of pro standards.

honestly speaking, there are too many softwares me and dad are using all the time, because in course of time we found the strength and weaknesses of each.

we use Adobe PS CS3, Adobe Lightroom, Nero PhotoSnap to name a few for Windows OS while there are others for Macintosh like Aperture, Adobe Bridge (comes with PS though) etc.

I propose you get yourself Adobe Lightroom. Its nothing but a simpler form of Adobe PS and trust me : its very, very effective.

Although you'll miss out on several PS features, PS is complicated enough for beginners, needs a good understanding of the job you'll do, and plenty of time and patience with it.

You need to have professional guidelines and someone experienced to really teach you PS thoroughly before you can do professional work on it, else there's gonna be many features you'll pay for but will never use. If you can manage this and are interested to pursue editing work in PS, you can most obviously go for it !

Suggest you download a 30-day trial version of Adobe LR and try it out. You'll love it - I promise !

take care,
greetings,
sayambhu

 

[The_Caper]

Hi again Sayambhu:
The shot looks fantastic. Much better than the original, good work!
So I gather from what you are saying I should take a formal course in PS or HDR even? Im not sure?

I have heard of other programs available like Photomatix and GIMP, GIMP being a free software program. Can anyone tell me how difficult these two programs are to learn.

Thanks all, and thank you very much Sayambhu again fro showing me your work.

Paul.

 

[NJMAN]

One thing that I want to point out is that your 28-135mm lens is very good quality. It is not too soft. There are just things that you need to be careful of when taking photos. The biggest issue I see with your original photo here is that it was shot in mid day sun. The hard shadows are noticable on the face, and the whites on his shirt are blown out. Also, whatever you decide to use for post processing software, there is going to be some kind of investment of time, money, or both. Practice with post processing, and keep at it. There are lots of things to learn. Take your time and sort it all out. But also, watch for all the right things to do while you are taking pictures, so that you dont have to spend an eternity enhancing or fixing photos. Your post processing software should only be used to bring out potential in your photos. Good luck.

NJ

 

[sayambhu]

dear caper, much thanks for the kind words. however, more importantly, do read carefully what NJ wrote to you in the last post - you'll hardly find a veteran sharing valuable knowledge as this with you !

regarding the softwares, I want to tell you something I once got to see written on the walls of a travel agent office, in interior Indonesia on one of my photographic expeditions : "Good things are not free/cheap, free/cheap things are not good" !

If you want to seriously pursue digital editing work, settle for the best there is. thats from Adobe. Just forget everything else.. that's my advice to you. (By the way, I cant recall what HDR is...).

Just try out Lightroom and tell me if you're okay with it. Nearly everything's automated, takes almost nothing to learn there - just needs a month's time till you become the pilot ! If not, I shall definitely make a review of other possibilities and let you know.

all the best and keep shooting !
sayambhu