My First Landscape Pictures!

[JoshC.]

Hello all!
I've been roaming these forums for about a month since i began taking a black and white film photography course at my high school. I've really loved it so far. I've always been interested in the art and I'm glad I finally have the opportunity to pursue it.
My parents bought me a D3100 for Christmas this year and I'm super thrilled. I absolutely love it.
Here are my first couple of photos that came out well. Keep in mind I did not edit these at all, so I'd love to see what ya'll can do with them. Both were taken at my local park. C&C is much appreciated

1.

2.

A few urgent questions: if the front of the lens has a small amount of dust on it, how should I clean it? And if the lens gets foggy after bringing it in from the cold, is it ok? Should I just leave it to clear on its own?

Thank you all so much! I'm glad to be a part of the awesome internet community

 

[JoshC.]

Can anybody help me??

 

[yepp]

Hey, I'm def a newb but for the front of the lens just get a lens cleaning kit, i think the manual would have cleaning advice for that. as for the fogging i would assume it's fine to just let it dry/air out on it's own.

as for the pics, they look good. I haven't played around enough on my camera yet to really give advice for setting and stuff but if you go back and take the same pic, i'd probably drop closer to the ground and have the dropped tree more towards the top of the pic, close enough to barely have the snow on the tree showing and get more of the background

 

[Marc-Etienne]

Your first picture doesn't interested me much. The fact that you froze the action makes it less appealing to my eye. Your second one is more interesting by suggesting movement in water making a more appealing subject than a frozen subject. It's pretty good for a new user! Keep them coming, you learn tons on this forum!!

For fog, I personally always carry a freezer Zip-lock bag and I put my camera in just before getting inside. Try to minimize the volume of air in the bag and let it warm up slowly. This way you avoid fogging completely. I don't know how harmful it can be, but I don't like the idea of moisture in and on my camera gear!

 

[JoshC.]

Hey, I'm def a newb but for the front of the lens just get a lens cleaning kit, i think the manual would have cleaning advice for that. as for the fogging i would assume it's fine to just let it dry/air out on it's own.

as for the pics, they look good. I haven't played around enough on my camera yet to really give advice for setting and stuff but if you go back and take the same pic, i'd probably drop closer to the ground and have the dropped tree more towards the top of the pic, close enough to barely have the snow on the tree showing and get more of the background

Thank you! I'll check out the cleaning kit!

I might have to try shooting that again, with your advice. Where I set up the tripod for the shot wasnt optimal, i on the edge of the frozen stream and wasnt sure what was ice and what was solid ground! I'll check it out again today. Thank you

 

[tirediron]

-Lens dust: Buy a blower-bulb such as the Giottos Rocket NOT one of those cheap Wal-mart ones with a brush on the end. Yes, it is worth it to pay $10 - 20 for this. Get either a micro-fibre cloth or lens tissue (Note: If you go the cloth route, DO NOT wash and reuse them. Use them for a while and throw them out). Those two things and a huff of breath are all you will need. In 25+ years of photography, I have never used anything like the so-called lens-cleaning solutions a lot of places sell.

-Acclimating your camera: Just let it warm up/cool down on it's own. Always try and do it gradually and gently (eg leaving it for an hour in your camera bag is better than just sticking it outside. Your camera may develop some minor problems if the moisture build-up is excessive, but these will go away when it warms up and dries out.

Your pictures are nice; good choice of composition having the river flow toward the viewer, but I would prefer a wider perspective so I could see more. Landscape images are usually best shot at wider focal lengths.

 

[JoshC.]

Your first picture doesn't interested me much. The fact that you froze the action makes it less appealing to my eye. Your second one is more interesting by suggesting movement in water making a more appealing subject than a frozen subject. It's pretty good for a new user! Keep them coming, you learn tons on this forum!!

For fog, I personally always carry a freezer Zip-lock bag and I put my camera in just before getting inside. Try to minimize the volume of air in the bag and let it warm up slowly. This way you avoid fogging completely. I don't know how harmful it can be, but I don't like the idea of moisture in and on my camera gear!

Thank you for the comments! I also like the second shot better Gotta work on it some more!


What can I do to edit these and make them look better?

 

[Restomage]

I don't think a matter of editing these would make them look better. I gave a photo presentation to a few high school classes recently and I told them what I always tell everyone, you should only edit and use photoshop to make a great picture even better, never with the intent to make a crappy photo look good. In your case you need to just think of better ways to compose your photo.

 

[JoshC.]

-Lens dust: Buy a blower-bulb such as the Giottos Rocket NOT one of those cheap Wal-mart ones with a brush on the end. Yes, it is worth it to pay $10 - 20 for this. Get either a micro-fibre cloth or lens tissue (Note: If you go the cloth route, DO NOT wash and reuse them. Use them for a while and throw them out). Those two things and a huff of breath are all you will need. In 25+ years of photography, I have never used anything like the so-called lens-cleaning solutions a lot of places sell.

-Acclimating your camera: Just let it warm up/cool down on it's own. Always try and do it gradually and gently (eg leaving it for an hour in your camera bag is better than just sticking it outside. Your camera may develop some minor problems if the moisture build-up is excessive, but these will go away when it warms up and dries out.

Your pictures are nice; good choice of composition having the river flow toward the viewer, but I would prefer a wider perspective so I could see more. Landscape images are usually best shot at wider focal lengths.

Awesome! Great advice I appreciate it.
As for a wider focal length, I have a very noob question. Is the 55-200 mm lens the type of wider lens you are referring too? Thanks

 

[mwcfarms]

-Lens dust: Buy a blower-bulb such as the Giottos Rocket NOT one of those cheap Wal-mart ones with a brush on the end. Yes, it is worth it to pay $10 - 20 for this. Get either a micro-fibre cloth or lens tissue (Note: If you go the cloth route, DO NOT wash and reuse them. Use them for a while and throw them out). Those two things and a huff of breath are all you will need. In 25+ years of photography, I have never used anything like the so-called lens-cleaning solutions a lot of places sell.

-Acclimating your camera: Just let it warm up/cool down on it's own. Always try and do it gradually and gently (eg leaving it for an hour in your camera bag is better than just sticking it outside. Your camera may develop some minor problems if the moisture build-up is excessive, but these will go away when it warms up and dries out.

Your pictures are nice; good choice of composition having the river flow toward the viewer, but I would prefer a wider perspective so I could see more. Landscape images are usually best shot at wider focal lengths.

Awesome! Great advice I appreciate it.
As for a wider focal length, I have a very noob question. Is the 55-200 mm lens the type of wider lens you are referring too? Thanks

No you wants something like an 18 - 55 or 18- 105mm. Or even smaller. 18 mm is a wider focal length than what you shot at.

 

[HikinMike]

I'll second on buying the 'Rocket Blower'. I use it to clean my sensor too.

It looks like the lighting was good, but composition-wise, I think it lacks a purpose. I can see what you're going with this, but for me, it's just not interesting. Looks like you have a nice location, so I'd go back and see what you can come up with....without getting wet!

 

[JoshC.]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I really appreciate it.
Any more?

 

[dandaluzphotography]

I saturated the colors a bit, added a bit more contrast, cropped bit, lowered the brightness of some of the snow and sharpened.

Danny

 

[JoshC.]

Very cool dandul! What editing program did you use? I experimented with GIMP a little but didnt accomplish anything, yet.
Thank you!

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Thanks!

I used CS5.

Danny