Hi all!

IrishCameraGirl · Jul 20, 2007

Hi there! My name is Autumn and I'm new to the forum. I've just recently gotten into photography as a hobby when my husband bought me a Pentax *istD last year for my birthday. It seems I take about a million pictures before I stumble upon a good one, but I'm definitely working on it. I'm looking forward to learning more as photography is something I enjoy immensely. I mostly do scenic pictures, with a few thrown in of my son who was born this last May.

I haven't started editing or anything yet, but I'm sure that will be the next step. I'm looking for ways to make my pictures more artistic and "professional" looking. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I'll post a couple of images that I've taken...

WDodd · Jul 20, 2007

Welcome to the forum Autumn!

Your pictures look good IMO. Next time I would post them a little bigger, most people do 800 pixels on the largest side.

Big Mike · Jul 20, 2007

Welcome aboard

IrishCameraGirl · Jul 20, 2007

Thanks for the welcomes! I never know how big to post pictures in a new forum because a lot of people can get catty about download speed and picture size. I'll definitely post bigger next time.

sabbath999 · Jul 20, 2007

Most people round here accept up to 800 on the longest side... I generally do mine in that range (ish).

Welcome.

ryyback · Jul 20, 2007

Hi there,

The pictures you have up are great. Is that the Pacific Ocean?

Peniole · Jul 20, 2007

Welcome to the forum, you have some very nice shots there, but I agree a little larger next time. Here's a simple edit on your cute baby just to bring out the skin tone and colour.

IrishCameraGirl · Jul 20, 2007

Thanks Peniole! That looks great! How do you go about doing that or is just a simple levelling out of contrast and whatnot?

And yup, it IS the Pacific Ocean. I live in Oregon, so we often get to run out that way for relaxation and good picture taking opportunities.

ryyback · Jul 20, 2007

IrishCameraGirl said:
Thanks Peniole! That looks great! How do you go about doing that or is just a simple levelling out of contrast and whatnot?

And yup, it IS the Pacific Ocean. I live in Oregon, so we often get to run out that way for relaxation and good picture taking opportunities.

Adobe Photoshop is a great program-

Cheap too

Peniole · Jul 20, 2007

It just depends on the picture, this one felt like it needed more saturation but not by bumping up the master, I instead used the channel mixer. I increased each channel independantly while decreasing the others by the same percent (you'll understand when you use it). I think it's a simpler version of the velvia action. I didn't do anything with the contrast, I liked the midtones of the image and didn't want to compress them any.

Peniole · Jul 20, 2007

ryyback said:
Adobe Photoshop is a great program- Cheap too

Yup mine was free PS5.5 though

ryyback · Jul 20, 2007

Peniole said:
Yup mine was free PS5.5 though

Free ryhmes me-

I have Photoshop 4, 5 and CS2-:mrgreen:

IrishCameraGirl · Jul 20, 2007

And where can I find it for free? Because I've been looking around and really don't want to spend $600 on it...lol

Peniole · Jul 20, 2007

Well for me it's an old lab copy no-one was using so I am. I don't know it it's old enough to be out of copywrite. I'm just happy it works on vista being as old as it is.

BTW if you know any students, university bookstores have PS for much cheaper for their students. I think more than 1/2 off. I think the CS2 pro suite goes for $199 right now at our bookstore.

PS CS3 for $192
CS3 design standard suite for $224
CS3 design premium suite for $332

ryyback · Jul 20, 2007

Peniole said:
Well for me it's an old lab copy no-one was using so I am. I don't know it it's old enough to be out of copywrite. I'm just happy it works on vista being as old as it is.

BTW if you know any students, university bookstores have PS for much cheaper for their students. I think more than 1/2 off. I think the CS2 pro suite goes for $199 right now at our bookstore.

Ebay was good for me-