Editing can be tedious!!

[Diver_matt]

Some photos I took before I got a DSLR. Figured why not practice some basic editing skills? I am using a trial version of lightroom 3. So far, it's not bad. Not terribly difficult but there are also things I'm not seeing (or it doesn't have). In the mean time, what obvious edits would y'all make here:

1.

2.

The first is a work photo (yes, I had PA permission). The 2nd was taken years ago in NZ with a cybershot (5mp I think). I have just learned the bare basics how so I've removed the dark marks on the asphalt.

 

[MrsLittle]

I like your 2nd photo. The dreary look works here, but I think the clouds can use more contrast.

 

[Judobreaker]

1st one is underexposed and the white balance is off, I'd try fixing that.

 

[KenC]

The problem with your second image is too much contrast, not too little. There are black areas with little or no detail (none I can see on this crappy work monitor) and near white areas also with little detail. The clouds have a kind of harsh artificial look. That being said, I don't know that it is that interesting an image. The composition is OK - road coming out of the corner into the image, horizon not centered, etc., but if you want to portray emptiness, it might have been better to show more empty ground and road and less sky, or perhaps do it as a vertical to include more ground.

The first, on the other hand, is low in contrast, with no real highlights.

 

[MrsLittle]

The problem with your second image is too much contrast, not too little. There are black areas with little or no detail (none I can see on this crappy work monitor) and near white areas also with little detail. The clouds have a kind of harsh artificial look. That being said, I don't know that it is that interesting an image. The composition is OK - road coming out of the corner into the image, horizon not centered, etc., but if you want to portray emptiness, it might have been better to show more empty ground and road and less sky, or perhaps do it as a vertical to include more ground.

The first, on the other hand, is low in contrast, with no real highlights.

I can see enough contrast on the ground, but when comparing, the clouds are lacking the contrast to match.

 

[Joel_W]

1st picture is just that, a snapshot of a cargo plane, which is under exposed, but easy enough to fix in PP.

Picture 2 is pretty good, but for me, I would have centered myself directly over the white line on the side of the road, used a lower angle. This would have removed just a little of the brush on the left side. That band of black just jumps right out at me. A little detail there wouldn't hurt. Again some PP would help with that issue.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

#1 WB- try tweaking the LR white balance slider

#2 Contrasty- Lightroom has several pre-canned "templates" on the left that you may find work better for your B & W conversion

 

[KmH]

what obvious edits would y'all make here:

1.

 

[bianni]

i'd crop the foreground a bit and clean up a little and correct the color balance

 

[Diver_matt]

Bianni, nice work!! Be careful....you might get drafted. Thanks guys. I now have another goal. Improve photo skills AND pp skills. I'll let ya know how it goes, probably around 2014.

 

[KmH]

I didn't change the color balance because of the shadows making it look like nice warm dawn or dusk side light.

When the Sun is low in the sky more of the blue light is filtered out by the much thicker amount of atmosphere the light has to go through.