New amateur member - C&C please!

[djbenny1]

Hi guys, I'm a new member and my intro thread is here:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...edback-learn-also-get-advice.html#post2972010

I'm pretty much a complete novice, started taking "serious" photos (ie. not with a smartphone) around April 2012 and I use solely a Fuji HS20 bridge to shoot primarily landscapes and sights when I'm out and about.

I'm looking for some C&C on some of my shots; I've not chosen what I feel are my best photos, rather what I feel could have been some of my best if I had been able to avoid some problems I often run into so that I may avoid them in future and hopefully make the most of what equipment I do have before deciding whether or not to upgrade.


1. Recent trip to Slieve Binnian here in NI. The colours are pretty much exactly as I saw them on the day (it was really a beautiful day), but there's just a real lack of detail in the grass and background for me it has all blurred together.

2. Again in the Mournes in NI, this time Slieve Donard in a quarry in Winter. Lack of detail again is what I think ruins this photo.

3. Same occasion as number 2, but near the top looking down into the valley. The dynamic range is something I ALWAYS struggle with - and I know this isn't a good photo at all, but I would like to know how to shoot darker areas like the valley when the sky is bright but overcast as it is extremely noisy.

4. The view up the tower in a beautiful cathedral in Gent, Belgium. There was good light in the building but again I feel a lot of noise / lack of detail.

Looking forward to your opinions and tips! Also, how much of this is down to me, and how much down to hardware? Thoughts from those who have used bridge camera like mine before would be especially interesting!

Thanks!

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Try uploading by attachment from your computer? I don't see anything and I doubt most people are going to spend the time to go and look at images on another site.

 

[tirediron]

Right-click, open functionality is not working. Please review the "How to post images" in the Beginner's Gallery and check Flickr's guide and edit your post to display the images.

Thanks!

 

[djbenny1]

Right-click, open functionality is not working. Please review the "How to post images" in the Beginner's Gallery and check Flickr's guide and edit your post to display the images.

Thanks!

Sorry guys I will try uploading from computer, I'm no stranger to embedding photos but I'm not sure if it's maybe the new Flickr layout that is preventing it from working?

Uploading now, thanks for bearing with me!

EDIT. Done - I'll use Photobucket in future! They're not full size though I'll try reuploading. Done - should be bigger now!

 

[rokstomper]

I like #1 but it does appear to be lacking a little detail and a differant angle might have made it a little better.
For #3 you could have did HDR or stacked differant exposures.
I don"t know what to suggest for 2 or 4.

 

[Ysarex]

Welcome to the forum.

Nice photo of the ice on the rocks. The first photo has potential but the foreground is too dark and those aren't the colors you saw that day. it looked more like this:



The light is off to your left side and starting to shine toward you. You got a good exposure for the sky and clouds which was the right thing to do, but given the slight backlight your foreground is then necessarily depressed. The color was way too blue -- camera was set to auto white balance. So I adjusted the white balance and altered the tone response to bring out the foreground -- nice shot.

Joe

 

[BlackSheep]

I quite like photo #2, it's well done!

It looks like you are shooting in jpeg. Try switching to raw, you will find that the level of detail is much better.

 

[sleist]

2 and 4 are my faves of the set.
Composition is fine. I might tone down the "vividness" a touch, but that's a subjective thing - mostly.

 

[djbenny1]

thanks a lot for the comments guys! appreciate them very much!