You got my attention........

[cgipson1]

Elizabeth, look at the bright side, all the help these people are giving you is making the rest of us make better photos. I don't mean this as a slight to you but when people post photos that need work, all the info that comes out helps us all become better photographers.

That means you won't be posting anymore shot at F1.8 or F2.2 for a while, right? LOL!

 

[Elizabeth30]

I think I should just note that my goal is Not to become the typical photographer; posing, studio, ect..... I am working toward only doing natural light photography, and getting those candid natural every day moments. candid shots are my FAVORITE!! This can be tough with children though as they are constantly moving but I know It's something I can work on. And as for my lens, yea the 50mm 1.8 was given to me, no way can I afford anything else. My husband and I have 5 children and he is currently laid off but my dream lense is the 85mm 1.2 I have been drooling over this lens for some time now!! I would also like to eventually get the Canon 5D Mark II but considering my financial situation by the time I can afford it there be a better one out there!

 

[TMBPhotography]

gonna try my darndest. Was suppose to have a photo shoot today but something came up. Next week hopefully. I am excited to get out there and try all this new info I have learned. Then have you all tear me down for missing something else I haven't studied yet.

 

[MLeeK]

Wow, my monitor must be WAY off then because when you say that you can barley see the second child in photo #4, on my monitor you can make her out fine, some shadows on her maybe and not sure about this "orange glow" you keep talking about so yea, I will look into that.
As for photo #1 so it looks fake because of the lighting? I deleted the RAW format of this photo but I have the original in JPG, so her it is...... and I liked the street sign and stop sign in it.... I thought it gave the photo a bit of character.....
This family is a close friend of mine and this photo shoot I did for her was by far the best I've done. Considering my little knowledge and not so great equipment. but I LOVED the scenery here and got sooooo many goood shots! When I say good I know you're thinking, bad but in terms of artistic they are great to me! oh and BTW I'm going to change my settings so you can edit this if you like......

You are starting out with some great basic images!!! You editing and your monitor are killing you.
I'll run just a quick edit of this and post back.

 

[TMBPhotography]

I tried editing this for funzees and it wouldn't let me upload it back into photo bucket. I cropped the heck out of it and thought it came out decent.

 

[MLeeK]

Just a very quick edit. I tried to stick to the style that you lean towards with the very saturated, rich dark colors and heavy contrast.
Your full image:

I cropped it to an 8x10 and straightened the crooked horizon. I'd edit out the signs, they are really distractions, but you said you liked them, so they're here. But trust me, they really are distractions:

the problem with the edit is I am positive that you are not seeing the same thing we are because your monitor is not calibrated. So... it's going to look like doo doo to you.
Try printing a small version of your image out next to the version I have edited and see what you see. Assuming your printer is fair, you should see the differences.

 

[Tee]

Have you tried #1 in a simple B&W conversion? I know you want to be a natural light photographer but I urge you to consider learning when to add flash when you're on location. Baby steps. You'll be amazed at how much you can do with flash on location.

 

[cgipson1]

I think I should just note that my goal is Not to become the typical photographer; posing, studio, ect..... I am working toward only doing natural light photography, and getting those candid natural every day moments. candid shots are my FAVORITE!! This can be tough with children though as they are constantly moving but I know It's something I can work on. And as for my lens, yea the 50mm 1.8 was given to me, no way can I afford anything else. My husband and I have 5 children and he is currently laid off but my dream lense is the 85mm 1.2 I have been drooling over this lens for some time now!! I would also like to eventually get the Canon 5D Mark II but considering my financial situation by the time I can afford it there be a better one out there!

Would you like to know what we call photographers who say they are "natural light photographers"? We call them photographers who don't know how to use flash!

If you really want to be a pro.. what are you going to tell a client, that wants photos on a dreary day, subject in the shade at twilight? Oh, sorry. there isn't enough light? Boom.. one customer gone! lol! You need to be able to shoot anytime, anywhere.. or you are not going to be shooting much.

 

[Elizabeth30]

Just a very quick edit. I tried to stick to the style that you lean towards with the very saturated, rich dark colors and heavy contrast.
Your full image:

I cropped it to an 8x10 and straightened the crooked horizon. I'd edit out the signs, they are really distractions, but you said you liked them, so they're here. But trust me, they really are distractions:

the problem with the edit is I am positive that you are not seeing the same thing we are because your monitor is not calibrated. So... it's going to look like doo doo to you.
Try printing a small version of your image out next to the version I have edited and see what you see. Assuming your printer is fair, you should see the differences.

Ok first off I did a "windows" calibration for now and there was in fact a bluish cast to my monitor. If I'm being honest (as you all have been to me ) I really do not like this edit! What's with all the noise in the background now? It had a nice soft haze to it and now I'm seeing double :/ I do think the crop to it is really nice but now that I've bumped my monitor color it looks to saturated lol I'm sure that's my own fault now I'm going to have to go through and see what my photos REALLY look like. uhg!
Here's my re-edited version after my monitor color fix.

 

[LuckySe7en]

I really like these photos. Minor things to fix like your fill and your post processing. If you don't have a flash right now, go get a large reflector.

 

[Elizabeth30]

Would you like to know what we call photographers who say they are "natural light photographers"? We call them photographers who don't know how to use flash!

If you really want to be a pro.. what are you going to tell a client, that wants photos on a dreary day, subject in the shade at twilight? Oh, sorry. there isn't enough light? Boom.. one customer gone! lol! You need to be able to shoot anytime, anywhere.. or you are not going to be shooting much.

Good point but I never said I didn't want to use a flash, by saying natural light, I mean that I want to do out door photos without props (well maybe props like a blanket basket ect...) in natural daylight! Not posed in a studio. Not that there is anything wrong with that type of photography..... that doesn't mean I won't change my mind years down the road but for now I want to be in this beautiful world taking photos with natural beauty all around me and my subjects! Flash included!! HEHEHE! I did try using my flash outdoors... once.

 

[paigew]

If I'm being honest (as you all have been to me ) I really do not like this edit! What's with all the noise in the background now? It had a nice soft haze to it and now I'm seeing double :/ I do think the crop to it is really nice but now that I've bumped my monitor color it looks to saturated lol I'm sure that's my own fault now I'm going to have to go through and see what my photos REALLY look like. uhg!
Here's my re-edited version after my monitor color fix.

I too prefer this look. The less-saturated, hazy look But I do think the signs should go!

 

[GeorgieGirl]

...is anyone sure that this is not a recovery attempt?

 

[MLeeK]

Just a very quick edit. I tried to stick to the style that you lean towards with the very saturated, rich dark colors and heavy contrast.
Your full image:

I cropped it to an 8x10 and straightened the crooked horizon. I'd edit out the signs, they are really distractions, but you said you liked them, so they're here. But trust me, they really are distractions:

the problem with the edit is I am positive that you are not seeing the same thing we are because your monitor is not calibrated. So... it's going to look like doo doo to you.
Try printing a small version of your image out next to the version I have edited and see what you see. Assuming your printer is fair, you should see the differences.

Ok first off I did a "windows" calibration for now and there was in fact a bluish cast to my monitor. If I'm being honest (as you all have been to me ) I really do not like this edit! What's with all the noise in the background now? It had a nice soft haze to it and now I'm seeing double :/ I do think the crop to it is really nice but now that I've bumped my monitor color it looks to saturated lol I'm sure that's my own fault now I'm going to have to go through and see what my photos REALLY look like. uhg!
Here's my re-edited version after my monitor color fix.

You are absolutely right about the noise in the background. It comes from editing such a small image. I am just not going to go into extreme detail on a small image for a quick edit. Kinda a waste of time.

Your new edit has taken all of the contrast out of the image and the black level is such that it's now very washed out looking. Your blacks are starting to become gray.

 

[MLeeK]

Are you trying to create a very saturated, contrasty look to your images when you usually edit? What kind of look are you going for?