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First Photos for C&C. No need to be nice, just honest.

I watch out for those lost highlights. I don't know if this is a common canon thing, but when I review a shot on the camera, it flashes black in spots where highlights were lost. I just adjust my settings and retake the shot until the flashing black spots are minimal. I just assumed thats what the feature was for, and thus was the smart thing to do.
 
I watch out for those lost highlights. I don't know if this is a common canon thing, but when I review a shot on the camera, it flashes black in spots where highlights were lost. I just adjust my settings and retake the shot until the flashing black spots are minimal. I just assumed thats what the feature was for, and thus was the smart thing to do.


Yeah, pretty much.
 
+ 1 for bread baking. A nice almond cranberry is lovely this time of year.
 
O very nice. A photo upon completion?
 
I thought the spike photo was the best. I did think it was that over exposed.
The flowers aren't the main subject anyway from my interpretation.

The window one could have been cropped even more IMO.
 
I had to break to make another pot of coffee. I couldn't find the thread, but here are the examples. Keep in mind that I consider myself a PP idiot. With a few exceptions, most of my editing is global in nature. I really don't like spending time right now in the edit process, so as subscuck mentioned, it's better to get it right in camera than to depend on salavage techniques.

So I had to go on a construction site visit and I take photos for evidence that I was there as well as documenting the installation of our equipment. I didn't bother looking at the viewfinder readings and just snapped a shot. I chimped the shot and saw that mostly the entire exposure was off the charts. This would nornally be a throw away, but I kept it only to play with.

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I don't remember exactly, but I think most all of the major adjustments were done in Lightroom. Some tweaking could have been done in ACR and also CS5.
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Since then, I have learned a few more tricks and I think more enhancements can be made, but at the end of the day, I saved this shot from the recycle bin.​
 
I won't spend too long on the exposure since that's been the focus of the thread so far. I will add that, except for the blown highlights on the petals in #3, the exposure doesn't seem egregiously high to me (at least on this monitor). They may be a bit bright, but unless you're losing detail, slight over/underexposure can be a stylistic decision. That doesn't mean you blindly expose to the right, but it doesn't mean you can never go a bit bright or dark.

Now, on to individual C&C...

1) I like the subject in that there's character and texture to the window and walls. As has been mentioned, you get a slap on the wrist for cutting off the bottom of the window. I appreciate that you used portrait orientation for the tall skinny window. In this instance I personally think that landscape orientation would have worked better, to get more of the wall into the shot. That would put the window in context - for example, why is the wall different on one side of the window than the other? Landscape also would have given you space to move the window off center, I think following the rule of thirds would have helped here.

2) My favorite shot of the set. Interesting subject - great texture, and nice juxtaposition of the man-made screw standing alone in the dirt. Great DoF and composition. The lighting is a bit flat - I'm sure that's a function of the overcast day, but I'd suggest revisiting this location and trying this shot again with various light situations (clear morning, sunset, etc).

3) I like the subject - interesting buds, great color. I would crop in from the left to remove the two buds not facing the camera as they are a downer compared to the two buds facing the camera. Also, the way the two main buds overlap has them competing for attention. I would either shift my position slightly or (if they are on different stalks) move one of them. Nothing says nature photos can't be staged.

4) In my opinion the weakest of the set. This perspective seems to be trying to emphasize the height of the tree - in that case portrait orientation is called for. If there were a more interesting pattern to the limbs, increase your DoF to include them - then keeping it in landscape orientation is fine. As it is, the tree just isn't that interesting, and the section of the bark that is in focus doesn't do anything for me.

5) Probably my second favorite of this set. I like the angle from which you shot the statue and the composition of your frame. Good use of DoF to blur an otherwise busy background. It's still a bit distracting, but sometimes you just have to deal with what you have to work with. I think this subject calls for, if anything, a bit of underexposure. The character of a sculpture like this is enhanced by the shadows created by its texture, so embellish rather than minimize the shadows. (Looking more closely, it looks like your focus may be a bit too close to the camera. Ideally, just like a human portrait, the sharpest focus would be on the eyes. In that case you would likely have had a bit less of the dish and a bit more of the hair in focus. You didn't miss by much - if you did in fact miss at all - but I see so much of the dish in focus that it almost draws my eye away from the face.)

I seem to recall another of our threads questioning your eye (or training your eye to see potential shots). From these I'd say you have a good start and are doing a good job experimenting with what's available.
 
I watch out for those lost highlights. I don't know if this is a common canon thing, but when I review a shot on the camera, it flashes black in spots where highlights were lost. I just adjust my settings and retake the shot until the flashing black spots are minimal. I just assumed thats what the feature was for, and thus was the smart thing to do.
The black flashes (blinkies) show where in the photograph the highlights are being 'clipped'. Clipped also means blown out. You also need to understand what 'specular highlights' are, because they are usually going to be clipped if the rest of the photo is properly exposed. Often for the photograph to look right, you do want the specular highlights clipped.

Detail is lost when all 3 color channels (RGB) are clipped. When that happens there is no detail that can be recovered. If only one or 2 of the color channels are clipped, detail can usually be recovered in that part of the photo.

Understanding Digital Camera Histograms: Tones and Contrast

Lightroom's edit rendering engine and tools are ACR - Adobe Camera Raw, also just know as Camera Raw.

Scott Kelby's book is essentially a collection of tutorials describing common tasks. If you want to have a more rounded understanding of how to use LR3 get: Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS5

If you have LR2 get the version of the book for CS4: Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS4
 
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@Studio7Four - thanks a lot for the right up. Lots of helpful pointers. These were all taken in my backyard in Lowell, so I can retake/experiment with any of them.

@kmh - Thanks for the lesson. I think I know what you mean by specular highlights. Sort of how you can't have the best of both worlds. If there is a blinding white wall behind some dimly lit flowers, I can bring down the exposure to a point where the wall isn't crazy, but not to an extent where I start to lose detail on my subject, the flowers. Its like a give and take, find the sweet spot sort of thing, right?
 
Specular highlights are things like glare on a window/windshield, chrome car bumper etc. As Keith said, even with proper exposure, they will always be clipped, and that's OK.
 
Okay, that makes sense. Things that even our eyes would 'clip', natural glare and what not.
 
Gotta love pulp fiction quotes :)
 

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