Rabbit River Trestle - Newb - C&C please

[twohearted]

First post, new to everything--forum, camera, photography--so C&C would be most helpful. This is a lovely old wooden RR trestle over the Rabbit River in Hamilton, MI. Shot just after sunrise, but didn't get the skies (colorsI was hoping for. Also, I know I need to get a polarizing filter, it is next up on the purchase list.

 

[DLeeT]

Nice lighting! I'm not sure these belong here or the general forum but enjoyable to view.

Welcome to the forum. I'm a new guy too. Lee

P. S. Won't be long and you'll be up to your ears in tulips.

 

[The_Traveler]

These are pretty nice pictures, well framed and decently exposed.

The noticeable perspective distortion (the slanting of the piers) really takes away from the enjoyment and should possibly be corrected.
Note that the snow looks bluish and dull because it's in the shadows while the trestle is quite beautifully lit. I suggest you correct the white balance and brightness of the snow so it isn't discordant with teh color above.
The image is only 900 pixels wide and yet the file is ~750 kb. That's because you saved it at a relatively low amount of compression. All that does is make transmission longer without improving the image significantly. I suggest you use higher compression and post larger pictures - as much as 1200 pixels wide.

 

[twohearted]

Thanks DLeeT - I wasn't quite sure which forum these should be posted in either; I chose this one because the caption on the main page said it was for all outdoor pictures, but perhaps the general forum is more appropriate.

Tulips are coming

 

[twohearted]

Traveler, thanks for your feedback. That is the kind of advice I was looking for. I don't know yet how to correct things like white balance in just a specific area of an image--I'm using Canon's Digital Photo Professional software and I need to sit down and read and seriously learn how it works. Right now I just sort of tweak things until the photo looks better to my eye.

I will look at correcting the perspective distortion, too--I was so concerned with light and color when I was editing these that I didn't look at composition as much.

I also need to learn about saving digital files, compression etc. I know next to nothing about how that works. I had major fits just trying to upload these two last night. The original files were too large and the forum wouldn't let me upload them (I was uploading directly from my computer), so I went into DPP and found where I could resize a file. The 900x600 size was trial-and-error - I wanted them to be big enough that people could see them, which they are, but the image quality seemed to suffer compared to the originals. I clearly have a lot to learn in this area, but that's why I'm here.

Thanks again for the feedback, it is helpful.

Bryon

 

[The_Traveler]

There is an enormous amount of 'stuff' to get to know in photography; don't be overwhelmed, just ask if you get in a bind.
DPP may save and ask for dimenions so you can choose max 1200 on width and 800 on height.
If there is an option for quality, save so that the file size is about 350-400 kb max for that size above and you will be fine.

L

 

[twohearted]

There is an enormous amount of 'stuff' to get to know in photography; don't be overwhelmed, just ask if you get in a bind.
DPP may save and ask for dimenions so you can choose max 1200 on width and 800 on height.
If there is an option for quality, save so that the file size is about 350-400 kb max for that size above and you will be fine.

L

Excellent, Thanks! I will try that next time.

 

[b_twill]

Hi Neighbor!

Nice shots! I think I may have something similar to your second one! :lmao: I mostly lurk around here, but welcome anyway!

 

[twohearted]

Thanks b_twill -- sorry I didn't reply sooner, I didn't think this thread was going to get any more replies so I stopped checking it...
I mostly lurk myself, and admire some of the amazing work that is posted on here. Glad to meet someone on here that is geographically close by...maybe we'll meet in person some time. I come to Grandville a LOT since the Cabelas went in.