beginner question

[Baaaark]

i've found that cloudy days are actually the best for taking pictures. you dont get those sunny blown out highlights beginners have trouble with.
and i know you didn't ask but instead of centering the kids try placing them to the left or right of the frame. it is more visually pleasing. you could try cropping this photo that way.

Clouds are Nature's softbox.

 

[NikonNewb]

i edited the photo. cropped like i was talking about and adjusted. they looked a little sunburnt on my monitor at least so i took the saturation down, auto contrast.

 

[willma88]

i've found that cloudy days are actually the best for taking pictures. you dont get those sunny blown out highlights beginners have trouble with.
and i know you didn't ask but instead of centering the kids try placing them to the left or right of the frame. it is more visually pleasing. you could try cropping this photo that way.

I agree, however, you must be careful of underexposure and levels on a cloudy day. Also, explore the rule of thirds. It may aid with composition.

Rule of thirds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[brendatn]

Thanks for the reminder about rule of thirds. You are right, it would help this picture. And thanks for writing the steps. I learn more that way than just on my own. These pictures mean alot to me and was dissappoint when I developed a few. I downloaded Lightroom trial last night so I am going to play with it.

 

[willma88]

No worries mate. I can see why these shots mean a lot to you and how you feel a little dissapointed with them.

But i had something a few years ago which was a lot worse!!!

I didnt understand digital photography that much before, and didnt take much notice of image size! I took some really valuble family shots all in VGA because i didnt know it affected the image quality. I was merely going for the numbers. And back then, the largest stick was like 512mb and shooting VGA and 3.2 Megapixs made a lot of difference.

I printed all 200 something photos on medium size..........imagine my surprise! It all came out really pixalated.