Pictures from today...still learning, C&C please

[timfrommass]

Here are a few I took today.

1.

2.

3.

-tim

 

[RancerDS]

Very nice shots.... especially the first two. Cold, crisp day judging by them. The clouds made for an ill-defined effect with the shadows.

 

[timfrommass]

Thanks. It was kind of mild for this time of the year (low 40s) but snow was on the way. Fun day for a walk and taking some pictures

 

[comasgirl]

I love 1 and 2...the long line the path creates is very interesting. I like the concept 3 is going for, but the lady walking is kinda distacting...dang people getting in the way :lmao:

 

[creisinger]

I can see strong color banding in the sky of #1 and #2 possibly in #3 as well but I didn't bother importing that into Photoshop to verify.

Which software did you use for post processing if you did any?

It appears you edited those in 8-bit mode. If you shot in RAW always process your photos in 16-bit - it greatly enhances your editing experience and avoids such banding issues as well.

 

[GFreg]

1. The direct shot of the sun draws my eye every time I begin to look around. The sky, clouds and where the sun is reflecting off the water appears blown out to me. It looks like it could be an HDR candidate.

2. Again, shooting directly towards the sun is distracting me from the rest of the picture. I do like the composition of this shot a lot more than the first. Perhaps if you waited a little longer for the sun to go behind those clouds.

I am trying to imagine where the sun would be rising from in the morning and thinking that both these could be nice sunrise shots.

3. I like the DOF on this photo. Try to be a little more careful when you are setting up though. What is causing that shadow to left of the bench? The woman walking by is a little distracting. Next time ask her if she wouldn't mind taking a seat and snapping one of her . I like the angle and height that you shot from but you might want to try to keep the legs of the bench in frame. It is like a portrait photo of a person, you wouldn't want to cut off their feet.

Keep shooting! Overall, nice shots. I hope you can take something from my C&C but keep in mind that I am a noob so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[timfrommass]

Thanks for the feedback. I also liked the first one, because of the line the road creates.

As far as PP I used CS4 which I just got. I haven't used PS since HS so I'm still trying to become familiar with it all over again, and the new features. What I did was VERY minimal. I am not shooting in RAW yet, still scared of it, and I was editing in 8bit.

As far as the sky being blown out...I am not an expert yet but I was shooting directly into the sun. The only part that looses detail is the sun, if you look at the clouds all around it you can see their edges and definition very clearly I think. Again I may be wrong, but if I tried anything further as far as increasing shutter speed or closing the aperture I would have lost the highlights anywhere else. I used a polarizing filter, but if I had one, I probably would have gotten better results using an ND filter.

With the bench shots, you guys don't like the woman in the back ground? I have several shots I took, and I decided I liked it better with her in it. My whole thought with that photo was that there was a fairly interesting back ground and a person in the photo, but I focused on what seemed least significant... the empty bench. That was my thought process, I can show another shot almost exactly the same with the woman not in the scene, or one that was shot in a portrait ratio with more of the sky and the feet kept in the shot. I tried to get the feet of the bench in the shot there, but I'm shooting without a tripod and I was back on the ground in crunch position trying to get the look I wanted. I was beginning to shake, apparently I need to do more ab work at the gym

-tim

 

[GFreg]

I feel a little stupid now. I completely forgot how crappy the monitor I have on my work computer displays everything. I looked at these pictures again and I like them a lot better. I guess I am going to have to convince my boss to let me get a nice big LCD so I can view "CAD drawings" better .

Personally, I still think that shooting into the sun was a bit distracting. I also realized that the shadow is actually from the bench itself. The woman walking through the third shot is just a little distracting to my eye. She doesn't ruin the shot or anything but it is just a personal thing. I know what you mean about shooting without a tripod. I had to go far too long without one.

Oh yeah! Don't fear RAW! Embrace the RAW!

 

[timfrommass]

THanks again for the feedback. I kinda like sun shots, but maybe it's just me. Everyone see's things differently so it's good to get other's opinions. Hopefully I'm getting a tripod for Christmas

BTW 170 views and only 7 replies, does that mean that the pictures are not bad, but not good? Haha I guess that's not a bad place to be, but it looks like I need to take some more interesting shots...

-tim