My first couple uploads

[CmazzJK]

Some pictures I took on my first hike with my new camera just before sunset a couple weeks ago. Both edited because I find snowless winter days in Ohio as dull and dreary as they come, so let me know if its too much. They were shot with a Canon T3/18-55mm kit lens.

sunset at base of cracked tree | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
This was shot 1/80 sec at F/8, 18mm, ISO 100
Sunset on radio tower | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
This was shot 1/200 sec at F/13, 27mm, ISO 100

I increased saturation on the first picture because it was so gray and dead I couldn't stand to look at it, and the second one I increased the shadow to black out some houses that were an eye sore to me in the tree line, and define the clouds more. I think I edited a little heavy personally but I couldn't get past the "dead" look of everything. However I do enjoy the editing process as much as I enjoy taking the pictures.

 

[weags77]

Sorry but these do nothing for me. Unfortunately you cannot always make a poor picture interesting through editing. Colors appear way off on both of them. And not a fan of the compositions. There is just nothing really interesting about these. I think honestly that the two other photos in your photo stream are better.

I would read about composition and exposure as well as study some of the great photographers work. But don't get discouraged by what I say and keep learning and putting what you learn to use.

 

[CmazzJK]

Hey, honesty is always accepted. I wasn't exactly thrilled about any of the photos I took that day besides that B/W, I deleted about 95% of them for focus issues. These were the best clarity wise, but still boring none the less. I promise you I'm a better hiker than a photographer...

 

[weags77]

Hey, honesty is always accepted. I wasn't exactly thrilled about any of the photos I took that day besides that B/W, I deleted about 95% of them for focus issues. These were the best clarity wise, but still boring none the less. I promise you I'm a better hiker than a photographer...

Haha. It's part of the fun of it. At one point I was a terrible photographer and a good hiker as well. Now I'm terrible at both. But I still try haha.

And its good that you are critical of your own photos now. No one takes good photos at first. Not so much technically bad photos, just uninteresting. It's part of the process. The ones who cannot see the faults in a photo will never learn how to improve them. .

Have you read any books on photography at all ? I've found them very helpful. There's just so much to learn, from seeing a photo, to taking a photo then processing it. Books sort of streamline my learning process making it easier for me to gradually get better. It can be overwhelming trying to learn everything at once. Keep with it, much like hiking, it's well worth the effort.

 

[psran]

I like the Colors of the First one but it doesn't point towards anything but Its Good anyways

 

[KmH]

The tree shot would look a lot better if that part of the tree facing the camera wasn't under exposed.

You could have made 2 photos, the one you posted, and the second having the tree correctly exposed but with the background over exposed.
Then you combine just the tree from the second photo with the nice background in the first photo.

 

[CmazzJK]

That makes sense about the "interesting factor". I feel like since I'm new everything sounds like a good idea but after I take the picture it doesn't seem as intriguing as originally thought. Yes, I'm currently reading "The Digital Photography Book" by Scott Kelby and trying to apply some of his advice, alot of it is over my head right now though.

 

[CmazzJK]

Agreed. I thought it looked cool with the sun setting at the time but it turned out dead...

 

[CmazzJK]

I will try to mess around with it and see if I can apply something like that. Its all new to me though so I'm kind of slow at catching up on the technique.