Edinburgh Castle

[Mark.]

Some shots from todays trip to the castle, i grew up in Edinburgh but this is my first time going to the castle since i was 8 or 9 years old.

Took a few attempts to get shots with no one in the way, some could have been better but nevermind.
C&C welcome
1

2

3

4

5

 

[weepete]

Not bad, 3 is probably the best but you've clipped the highlights or shadows or both in all of them. 2 looks a bit underexposed and a bit blue and 5 needs straightened.

 

[tirediron]

No one does a line in cold, forboding architecture like the Scots!

 

[Didereaux]

Post processing is so far off that it is hard to judge any other aspect of the photos.

 

[Mark.]

I appreciate the feedback guys,

What would you recommend as far as processing goes? Im not overly confident with the software im using (GIMP) and i do tend to either do way too much or way too little. I find it difficult keeping all the colours natural when adding contrast or playing with the curves tool.

What kind of tools in the photo editor should i look into for best results? i would be happy to upload the raw files of some of the photos for someone to show me how it could look better?

Im aware that GIMP isnt the greatest platform in the world but im not quite ready to pay for lightroom etc as i dont see me using it all the time.

Any tips would help

 

[Mark.]

I quite liked this photo i took on that day albeit its not the castle, i added a decent amount of contrast and took out some of the grey/whitish look from the raw file. Im also getting to grips with using the sharpness tool, i may have over done it a touch..

Thoughts?

 

[tirediron]

...Im aware that GIMP isnt the greatest platform in the world but im not quite ready to pay for lightroom etc as i dont see me using it all the time.

Other than being limited to 8 bit images, GIMP actually works very well, once you get used to the GUI. That said, IMO htis is more a question of getting it right in-camera rather than correcting after the fact. Consider the lighting, the scene, the shadows... think about your metering mode, exposure, etc.

As an example, look at #5: I'm guessing that this was shot using evaluative/wide-area/matrix/whatever-your-camera-calls-it metering mode. The large, bright area of sky "fooled" the meter, resulting in a severely under-exposed subject. Had you opted to use spot metering and exposed for the building/statue, they would both be clearly visible. Of course that would have resulted in totally blown sky, but you could also consider middling the exposure, that is under-exposing the statue slightly and over-exposing the sky slightly to get a mean exposure which renders both acceptably. Alternatively, you could have shot several exposures and blended in post to acheive a high-dynamic-range (HDR) image which shows everything.

 

[Didereaux]

I appreciate the feedback guys,

What would you recommend as far as processing goes? Im not overly confident with the software im using (GIMP) and i do tend to either do way too much or way too little. I find it difficult keeping all the colours natural when adding contrast or playing with the curves tool.

What kind of tools in the photo editor should i look into for best results? i would be happy to upload the raw files of some of the photos for someone to show me how it could look better?

Im aware that GIMP isnt the greatest platform in the world but im not quite ready to pay for lightroom etc as i dont see me using it all the time.

Any tips would help

I have not used GIMP since its very early days so cannot offer specifics concerning it. But I will pass this along, use a light touch in post, always. Unless your intent is to produce some garish attempt at being artful! Pay more attention to getting it right in the camera, composition balance, exposure, focus....the basics. Then you will have little to do in post.

 

[weepete]

I quite liked this photo i took on that day albeit its not the castle, i added a decent amount of contrast and took out some of the grey/whitish look from the raw file. Im also getting to grips with using the sharpness tool, i may have over done it a touch..

Thoughts?

View attachment 118111

I quite like that shot mate, nice contrast beween the signs and graffitti. It desperately needs leveled though (take a look at the walls of the building and the window frames). Colours are pushed too far again, the traffic cones in particular jump out as being neon to my eyes.

As far as editing goes (I'm not familiar with gimp but the principals should be similar) I try to have a light touch as well, and it's very easy to push things too far if you are using curves adjustment. I normally find that setting the white and black point goes a long way to adjusting the final colour, often combined with a white balance adjustment and thats usually my colours sorted. A tiny contrast boost, a bit of sharpening, NR and then a little local dodging and burning if needed is pretty much my workflow.

It can take a wee while to get used to editing, often at first we can push things too far (we've all done it too ) what will really help your editing is doing it on a screen that has been calibrated with a colouromiter

If you want to post up an original I'd be game at having a stab at editing one if you'd like.

 

[Mark.]

Thanks for the input, i should just go out for a day and see how different types of metering and white balance effect the photo, i just had it roughly set up and shot with the same settings for all scenarios.

I would upload the original photo's but the maximum limit for an upload is only 4mb? If i figure out how to get passed that il upload them for people to show me a better example of photo editing

Cheers

 

[weepete]

If you shoot RAW you can just tweek the white balance in post mate, its only if you shoot jpeg you'll want to set it before. I mormally just keep the AWB settings until I get it into post.

I'll pm you my e-mail address, you can send me it that way if you like.

 

[Mark.]

I always shoot RAW, normally with matrix metering, active d lighting (nikon specific) AWB and noise reduction turned on. its only the 3rd or 4th time ive been out with the camera since i got it at christmas so i should make a better effort. Il be getting a new lens in may so hopefully il have improved my skills a bit by then and get better results.