First photos with new camera - CC welcome

[cepwin]

I decided to take my new nikon out for a spin. Here are two images, one of my dog (one of my favorite subjects) and another of a field by my house. I ran both of them though photoshop.



editedited by cepwin, on Flickr



field by cepwin, on Flickr

 

[cyngus]

very cool .. dig the last shot.. 1st the dog is adorable but the angle of the shot isnt very exciting.

did you shoot these a RAWs?

 

[cepwin]

Thanks for the feedback! Yes they were taken in raw

 

[COLTSFANATIC1]

NICE

 

[cepwin]

Thank you !!

 

[reissigree]

The sky in the last one is blown out. Other than that I like it a lot. Consider getting a GND (Graduated neutral density)Filter. It will separate the skies exposure from the ground exposure.

 

[cepwin]

Thanks reissigree...yes that's definitely the case..I noticed it too. I'll have to look into the filter. I have UV filters but not GND.

 

[reissigree]

Same with me! I want to buy a good one when I do but they're like 80 bucks.

 

[KmH]

Many photographers have 2, 3, or 4 filter sets of both ND and GND filters (4, 6, or 8 filters. 8 filters being about $650 worth of ND/GND filters).

Consider a .3, .6, and .9 set of ND or GND filters can be combined to also provide 1.2, 1.5, and 1.8.

Add a 1.2 to the .3, .6, .9 set and there are more permutations of combinations, adding 2.1, 2.4, 2.7, and 3.0

Or you can just make 2 exposures, one for the sky, the second for the land, and combine the 2 using an image editing application like Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, that costs about $70.

 

[lawrencebrussel]

Hi cepwin
Welcome to you this forum .This is nice piture ,great starting ,nice work.

 

[cyngus]

GND's work great..but always hate putting them on. i usually expose the sky seperate and stitch it in later in post ... photoshop is my GND.. wide landscape shots are hard to expose in 1 shot.. need to take a few of them and make it work, basic HDR technique without the whole "oh thats a nice HDR shot" effect.. subtle = win

 

[bazooka]

I think #2 would be greatly improved by a sky with some interesting clouds and closer to sunrise/sunset (or before sunrise/after sunset). I like the strong feeling of depth coming from the repeating patterns of the two 'hills'.

#1 is too busy in my opinion. It also appears to have been shot straight down. Eye-level is usually more effective. The light coming in the upper right of the frame is a good quality light... I wonder what it would look like if you get get his face in that light?

 

[cepwin]

Thank you all for the feedback. Yeah, it's kind of a cool "feature" by my house. I believe it's actually a natural gas easement but it has a nice effect...it does look even better at sundown/sunrise (I did try capturing it at that time w/my cybershot but it was incredibly grainy.) Wow...you can really spend a lot on filters...I did recently pick up photoshop elements for $50 on an Amazon sale and am learning to use it Yes, I should experiment with a combined image and see what I come up with. Yes, Edie is a "busy" subject so I see where she'd be better on a plain dark background...basically I went up and found her sleeping and took a picture...then played with it in elements a little. It could be interesting to see if I could take her and combine her with a simple background (either photoshop or catching her with a simple background) and see what that produces. I want to get a shot of my bird (pionus parrot) with the new camera but I have to set it up as I can't hold him and the camera at the same time.
Thanks again!

 

[Sammie_Lou]

One thing I'm not crazy about in #1 - I'm feeling claustrophobic just looking at it. There's zero room in front of the dog's face. Might just be me, but I'd like to see more background. Very cute dog, though!