Beat me up. I know I need it.

[Phot]

I took this picture before even knowing that the term "composition" existed. I read a bunch of articles by DigitalCameraWorld and hopefully next week I'll have something better for you guys to critique. Right now I have an issue with day pictures. I have a point and shoot <---Fujifilm FinePix F850EXR 16MP. When looking at trees and such in the desert, the colors tend to blend all over. I have been playing around with gimp, and was hoping for some advice. I wanted to spruce up the image.

Here all my edits were to draw focus on the tree and the pic in the lower right corner. I used Gaussion Blur to the rest of the phot as everything seemed to really blend together, this blocks those out.
Brightness: -15
Contrast: +25
Color Balance: Midtone: +15 towardgreen Green on whole photo.Color Balance: Midtone: +25 towardgreen Green on the smaller picture lower right.

Edited on top, and original on bottom.




I'd like some help with what I should edit in photos like this.

 

[bianni]

How about something like this. I used CS2

 

[Braineack]

can it be reshot?

 

[Gavjenks]

magical circle of sharpness... no. I don't know gimp though to tell you how to feather selections, but that's what you need for the editing.

For the actual photo, a flash would isolate the bush from the background.

 

[Trever1t]

it's a tree. It holds no interest for me whatsoever. Even if it was a technically perfect image...it's a tree and not a really interesting one. Or...am I missing something?

 

[lambertpix]

I think you've already got a sense that you need to step up composition a bit; as to the colors, it looks like you're fighting awful lighting conditions. I'm seeing some pretty harsh mid-day sun, and while there's plenty you can do to try to "fix" this after-the fact (bianni's edit is a marked improvement), there's really no substitute for shooting in better light. Out of curiosity, what time of day was this taken?

 

[KmH]

Light quality and direction have a huge impact on image quality.

The first goal is to get it as close to right in the camera as possible. Consider the light quality and direction before you release the shutter.

Make sure you have - appropriate exposure triad settings, focus mode, appropriate camera light metering, and the correct white balance setting.

 

[Phot]

View attachment 66468

How about something like this. I used CS2

I like your's better, but the green's are at this point a lie. I stopped short on my colors, because it was just a touch past reality. Real colors were slightly more dull than my top photo, and my bottom photo was obviously more dull than reality.

I am curious about how you did your edit. It looks like colors are edited in 3 sections.... sky is replaced? the background mountains versus the tree I like, background lighter with more yellow, the tree darker and greener. Am I right on that?

magical circle of sharpness... no. I don't know gimp though to tell you how to feather selections, but that's what you need for the editing.

For the actual photo, a flash would isolate the bush from the background.

Yeah, I wasn't entirely for sure on that one. What do you think of Bianni's background blur?

I think you've already got a sense that you need to step up composition a bit; as to the colors, it looks like you're fighting awful lighting conditions. I'm seeing some pretty harsh mid-day sun, and while there's plenty you can do to try to "fix" this after-the fact (bianni's edit is a marked improvement), there's really no substitute for shooting in better light. Out of curiosity, what time of day was this taken?

I think 2:30pm, the entire area was very colorless, even in perfect lighting.

 

[oldhippy]

When you set out to post a picture, ask yourself this question. If someone else posted this, what would my reaction be. We all start out posting a tree, but when that tree makes someone say. Holy ****, now that's a tree. That's what you shoot for. That's the difference. Keep posting, that's part of the learning. And welcome here.
just talking. Ed

 

[robbins.photo]

it's a tree. It holds no interest for me whatsoever. Even if it was a technically perfect image...it's a tree and not a really interesting one. Or...am I missing something?

So what, you think every picture needs a hot chick in her underwear in it?

Hmmm.. yup, can't argue that point with you. Lol

 

[lambertpix]

Yeah, that's a killer. It's dreadfully difficult to compensate for harsh midday lighting conditions. Try again at golden hour, and I'll bet you see markedly better results.

 

[AlanKlein]

Your picture does not work because the lighting is flat shot during the middle of the day and your subject is just a confusing jumble of branches that have no subject - the tree is stuck in the middle and has no interest. The sky is burned out.

Forget about what everyone tells you about great post processing programs that do this and that. That's all a lot of crap. You'll never get good photos by moving sliders around. Shut off your GIMP and all other post processing programs. They are not there to correct mistakes made in the camera. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. You have to make good pictures in the camera. If you do, your camera will give you a photo that is superb. Only then could you improve on them with post processing if even needed.

Now read books and articles on composition and lighting. Set your camera for JPEG. Forget RAW. Shoot in Auto. Shoot again now with an eye on good lighting and composition. Then review the jpeg photos you get out of the camera and see if they're better. Post some for critiques. Good luck. You're in for a great experience and will do terrific.

 

[unpopular]

it's a tree. It holds no interest for me whatsoever. Even if it was a technically perfect image...it's a tree and not a really interesting one. Or...am I missing something?

It is hardly the photographers problem that you don't care for junipers. Obviously the OP saw something here.

---

This is a very difficult subject. This type of scene doesn't photograph very well. I agree with others that light is going to be very important. While the faux bokeh helps, a very shallow DOF would have been better.

But in general, this landscape is very unforgiving photographically speaking, and what looks amazing might have more to do with the solitude and psychology of the high desert than what is objectively present.

 

[unpopular]

Now read books and articles on composition and lighting. Set your camera for JPEG. Forget RAW. Shoot in Auto. Shoot again now with an eye on good lighting and composition. Then review the jpeg photos you get out of the camera and see if they're better. Post some for critiques. Good luck. You're in for a great experience and will do terrific.

A good sentiment, yet truly terrible advise. Photography is a continuum. It takes more than having a good eye.