Before and After - How Bad Am I??!

[SYZahran]

Hello All,

its my second day around this forum, and i think i have found my new addiction. you have a great forum here!

let me start by a little intro before i get to the subject i hope you can help me with,

i started taking pictures a while back, and i really enjoyed it. used to take my Cam every time i went out for a walk and took lots of pictures and i was thrilled when ever i got a pic i thought was great.

till i started wondering around the net and saw REAL Photography - to say the least i got embarrassed and locked my cam away for a while - thought i didn't have what it takes.

A while later i realized there is something called retouching, and saw people discussing it on the forums and i went - EUREKA!!! THATS what i have missed!! Some retouching Can make my Great photos - amazing!!! tried it...barely got to Nice....

further reading got me to exposures, lenses, lighting, depth of field and apertures...a whole new science to me ..tried working those (the ones i could modify) with my P&S Cam - and some retouching afterwards but yet..nothing WOW!

after all this blabber, here is my request -

Can You experienced photographers show us Noobs some of your photos before and after Retouching? so we can decide if we are lousy Photoshoper's or if we just don't have the eye for Photography? :blushing:

i'll upload some photos later on this week and i would love to hear what you have to say about them - i'm planning to upgrade to a decent Cam in a month or so, and i want to make sure i have some decent future with photography before i do so. :blushing:

Thank You For Your Time
SYZahran

PS. excuse me for any miss- Spellings..

 

[JayCanon]

I'd like to see some of your work. I'd also like to know what it is you expect from Photoshop. Yes, you can make very drastic alterations to an image with Photoshop, but it's mainly a tool to tweak images. It's not a miracle cure that can fix poor composition, focus, etc. A good image is a good image, with or without Photoshop.

And "locking your cam away" is never going to benefit you! You must keep shooting! And post some images to get some feedback.

 

[bigtwinky]

Photoshop, Lightroom, Gimp... all these softwares are there to mostly enhance a good image. They aren't miracle workers.

A great piece of photography always starts with a great image. Rarely do you find a crap image being totally redone to be amazing. Happens, but its not the norm.

 

[Rekd]

I'd start by dropping the bolded text. There's no reason for an entire post to be in bold.

 

[NateWagner]

I'd start by dropping the bolded text. There's no reason for an entire post to be in bold.

+1

btw, if you want to put an image up that you have taken and ask for people to edit it, many times you will see a variety of ways people take things, sometimes it improves the shot, sometimes not... but it's a way of seeing what can be done with an image. Just make sure to let us know we can edit the photos.

 

[Moodyville-ain]

As a complete amateur myself, I can say I shared/share your fear. It's intimidating posting your pictures when a good percentage of posters are professional photographers, who get paid for their work.

All i can say is that you just have to bite the bullet and post. Sure might not get glowing reviews at first or maybe even for a while. But negative feedback, can still create positive results in the long run. You will never know what your doing wrong unless someone with experience tells you what, and how to fix it. The pros aren't out to hurt your feelings, they are trying to help you.

My pictures still aren't that good, but I think at least I'm improving. But I have had my SLR for 3 weeks and have taken just over a 1000 pictures. It's the great thing about digital. You can make mistakes and not break the bank (after the initial investment that is ) Experiment! play with your settings. Take tons of photos, if you need to, buy more memory. The only person who need to see your (obvious) mistakes is you. Its the pros who need to see your subtle mistakes.

Yes photoshop is our friend, even the professionals use it. My advice is to resist the urge to delete pics from the memory card, wait until you get home. I have thought "oh this pic sucks, I should delete it" but I didn't brought it home and a few have become my favorite pics. One thing that photoshop can't fix is blurry, so you can safely delete those. However it can fix slight underexposure/overexposure, slight contrast problems, poor white balance and a few other problems.


In conclusion; Take TONS of pics, and post the top percent, and don't be afraid of feedback. Don't delete, attempt to fix them first. Lastly if you make mistakes, who cares it's supposed to be enjoyable!

 

[SYZahran]

Thanks every body for your answers. here are some replies..

I'd like to see some of your work. I'd also like to know what it is you expect from Photoshop. Yes, you can make very drastic alterations to an image with Photoshop, but it's mainly a tool to tweak images. It's not a miracle cure that can fix poor composition, focus, etc. A good image is a good image, with or without Photoshop.

And "locking your cam away" is never going to benefit you! You must keep shooting! And post some images to get some feedback.

i don't have much on my laptop, but i'll upload the couple i have.

i have no idea what i want from Photoshop, thats the all purpose of this thread, i want to see with my own eyes what are the alternation done to a photo around here, what is the Original photo looks like before being retouched, so when i get a photo thats in High standards i know i got one!

Photoshop, Lightroom, Gimp... all these softwares are there to mostly enhance a good image. They aren't miracle workers.

A great piece of photography always starts with a great image. Rarely do you find a crap image being totally redone to be amazing. Happens, but its not the norm.

i know the 1st rule in photography, its not the programs or the equipment that make a photo a good one, its the photographer. again, i get over whelmed from the photos posted in here, and i don't what was the original product before editing...so i have no idea if my own photos are worth anything.

I'd start by dropping the bolded text. There's no reason for an entire post to be in bold.

sorry, i just find bolded text much easier to read. problem fixed.

I'd start by dropping the bolded text. There's no reason for an entire post to be in bold.

+1

btw, if you want to put an image up that you have taken and ask for people to edit it, many times you will see a variety of ways people take things, sometimes it improves the shot, sometimes not... but it's a way of seeing what can be done with an image. Just make sure to let us know we can edit the photos.

some are on the way, take it easy one me.

As a complete amateur myself, I can say I shared/share your fear. It's intimidating posting your pictures when a good percentage of posters are professional photographers, who get paid for their work.

All i can say is that you just have to bite the bullet and post. Sure might not get glowing reviews at first or maybe even for a while. But negative feedback, can still create positive results in the long run. You will never know what your doing wrong unless someone with experience tells you what, and how to fix it. The pros aren't out to hurt your feelings, they are trying to help you.

My pictures still aren't that good, but I think at least I'm improving. But I have had my SLR for 3 weeks and have taken just over a 1000 pictures. It's the great thing about digital. You can make mistakes and not break the bank (after the initial investment that is ) Experiment! play with your settings. Take tons of photos, if you need to, buy more memory. The only person who need to see your (obvious) mistakes is you. Its the pros who need to see your subtle mistakes.

Yes photoshop is our friend, even the professionals use it. My advice is to resist the urge to delete pics from the memory card, wait until you get home. I have thought "oh this pic sucks, I should delete it" but I didn't brought it home and a few have become my favorite pics. One thing that photoshop can't fix is blurry, so you can safely delete those. However it can fix slight underexposure/overexposure, slight contrast problems, poor white balance and a few other problems.


In conclusion; Take TONS of pics, and post the top percent, and don't be afraid of feedback. Don't delete, attempt to fix them first. Lastly if you make mistakes, who cares it's supposed to be enjoyable!

i hope the Pros let us see some of their un-touched works, i'm sure this will help us know how bad we are doing.

i never delete pictures - only if its COMPLETELY out of focus - i have all my good and bad Photos saved, i don't have much knowledge in photo-retouching so i don't know which one might be saved, i hope i'll get a grip of that two and see whats there to be done.

i really enjoy photos, and with time i have started looking for the unique ones, if i'm traveling out side the country i always try looking for the places tourist missed and try building a good composition... still have to work on that.


i still would love to see some of your original work, i'll be uploading one or two photos shortly.