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08/22/2004 12:46:36 PM · #1 |
I am still a beginner in photography trying to learn things, with mixed results. I went on a daily trip to Killarney Park yesterday and took a few landscape shots. To my dissappointemnt, I do not think that the results are great. Am I doing something wrong ? Probably a lot. Or perhaps I should really learn how to work with digital darkroom...any tips/advice/criticism ?
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08/22/2004 12:58:51 PM · #2 |
Those shots looks pretty good, especially the first one. If you don't mind, I quickly (very quickly) fixed it up in Photoshop.
I did Levels on the whole image. Then selected the sky and did levels on that. Then I burnt and dodge the clouds. Then selected the trees and ran them through levels. And finally I bumped the whole image's saturation up. Hope this helps.
Lee
Edit: the sky looks a bit over saturated in my edit so you could always leave that the way it is. :)
Message edited by author 2004-08-22 13:01:31.
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08/22/2004 01:00:28 PM · #3 |
looks like you slightly under exposed them.
not that bad really - i kind of like the results.
the 1st more so than the 2nd.
i'll usually spot meter on both the darker, and lighter areas to get an idea of the range of light ( how many stops of difference there is ). then meter on a grey part of the clouds, and use that exposure +/- 2/3 stop. with landscapes is pretty easy to shoot - check histogram, and reshoot if needed. the subject isn't really going anywhere...
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08/22/2004 01:04:52 PM · #4 |
others may say to tripod a couple shots -one exposed for the sky, and the other for the shadows.
layers those via masking to get correct exposure overall - but i tend to prefer to let nature do the work. and rarely haul my tripod around when hiking.
EDIT - if your camera allows, and there is sufficient light - a polarizer filter will help with foliage, and add drama to an otherwise drab sky.
Message edited by author 2004-08-22 13:06:22.
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08/22/2004 01:05:22 PM · #5 |
I've tried some simple cropping - see what you think.
Ian
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08/22/2004 01:12:44 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by AndrewTO:
Am I doing something wrong ? Probably a lot. Or perhaps I should really learn how to work with digital darkroom...any tips/advice/criticism ?
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Hi Andrew,
First and foremost - keep going out. And shoot, shoot, shoot. The most important thing I'd suggest is to start noticing, watching, and studying the light. Someone once said - "wait for the light, then when it happens, find something exciting to put in it." (Or something to that effect.)
Both of your images are really nice - but lack what most tend to call here "the wow factor." If you could be in the exact same spot with really dramtic lighting (storm, sunset, etc) - they would be much improved.
Photo editing, the digital darkroom, can do some incredible things - but do not believe you can take a "bad" image and turn it into a masterpiece in the digital darkroom. (You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.) That is a generality - but I really believe it. You can take an excellent image and make it even better. But, not done correctly, you can also run an excellent image.
Just food for thought.
-Tom-
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08/22/2004 01:21:18 PM · #7 |
I think with landscape photography, you want to share the attraction you have with the scene to the viewer. A lot of times, you will need to assess what's in the viewfinder, decide what should stay and what should go. Once you've made your selections, make sure that you have a good framing of your scene. Do you have branches coming in from the side that shouldn't be there, is a rock cut off weird? If so, move/remove them if possible, or move the camera to get a better composition. Once you're happy with your compisition and framing, start worrying about your light. In your case here, you shot in bright daylight. To help counter this, you will want to invest in some graduated neutral density filters. These will help bring the sky levels down a couple stops, or more if you stack them. Once you can control the amount of dynamic range in your scene, you will be able to expose properly for your forground elements and sky so that you don't have blown out sky and dark foreground. It is preferred to shoot most landscapes at dawn or dusk... this is where the 'magic' light is. You get nice warm light from the sun, and long shadows that can add to the interest of your shot. Another way to add interest to a landscape shot is by layering your scene. Have a near object that you can almost touch, a middle object that will help lead the eye to the far subject. When you can add layers to your scene, you will get a lot of people who will go 'wow, nice photo' when they look at it. The reason is they can see depth and interaction between the layers.
Hope this was helpful,
-danny |
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08/22/2004 04:54:01 PM · #8 |
| How can one just select the sky or the trees in photoshop without manually selecting around the shapes? |
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08/22/2004 05:28:54 PM · #9 |
To Daniel, Tom, Ian, Tim and Lee...thanks for your comments. They are very helpful, each in its own way, each motivating me to keep on learning.
I like what you did with the picture Lee and started experimenting with Photoshop Elements, getting similar results.
I have edited most of the pictures from my yesterday's trip and got some interesting results.
The pictures can be viewed on:
//photobucket.com/albums/v376/andrew_louk/Killarney/
the password is: readonly
Comments/critisms are welcome.
Message edited by author 2004-08-23 01:00:21. |
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08/23/2004 12:58:24 AM · #10 |
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