Giants Causway, Northern Ireland taken with Canon 400D & Sigma 70-300mm lens

canon400d

I thought I would show you these photos to see if I can improve in any way. I am learning and I am enjoying every minute of my new hobby. Your comments would be appreciated and I will not be offended with any of your harsh comments.
Bob



















I sincerely apologise if I have bored anyone with these photos but it really is your contructive comments I am after.
Kind Regards
Bob
Dumfries & Galloway
Scotland

Skippy

canon400d wrote:

I thought I would show you these photos to see if I can improve in any way. I am learning and I am enjoying every minute of my new hobby. Your comments would be appreciated and I will not be offended with any of your harsh comments.
Bob

I sincerely apologise if I have bored anyone with these photos but it really is your contructive comments I am after.
Kind Regards
Bob
Dumfries & Galloway
Scotland

Hi there Bob, first thing I would tell you to watch for is keeping the HORIZON Straight

You have a lot of colour in the first shot, but not in the rest of the series.
What MODE are you shooting in Bob ??

You've got some beautiful scenery to shoot, and I believe you can improve greatly by some input by the folks here.

You need to give us a little info about your camera and its settings

Those rock formations are amazing, stacked like coins.

Thanks for sharing Bob, your on the right track mate
Hopefully others will offer you some help, but please don't forget to let us know how your shooting (camera settings) okay

... Skippy
.

Awais Yaqub

May be some contrast in ps
Great pictures of wonderful place never saw it before

schmoo

One of the things I like best about your shots is that you really showed off the size of the things. I have seen many photos of Giant's Causeway in tour books but they are all relatively similar. Your 6th shot in particular proves that they are huge!

I agree with Skippy in the horizon levels. The main thing that grabs me (or doesn't, actually) is how washed out they seem. These could benefit from some color boosts and contrast work in PP. But as you say this is a wonderful place to learn and there are so many great eyes and artists on here.

Look forward to seeing more!

canon400d

Skippy wrote:

Hi there Bob, first thing I would tell you to watch for is keeping the HORIZON Straight

You have a lot of colour in the first shot, but not in the rest of the series.
What MODE are you shooting in Bob ??

You've got some beautiful scenery to shoot, and I believe you can improve greatly by some input by the folks here.

You need to give us a little info about your camera and its settings

Those rock formations are amazing, stacked like coins.

Thanks for sharing Bob, your on the right track mate
Hopefully others will offer you some help, but please don't forget to let us know how your shooting (camera settings) okay

... Skippy
.

Hi Skippy,
Believe it or not I just bought my Canon 400D in July of this year. and after having it for three days shooting madly with it to get used with the controls I took it with me to Ireland. At that time I had two lenses a Canon 18-55mm and a Sigma 70-300mm. You will see I have now in addition a Macro lens a Canon 70-200F/4L and a Bigma. I took these photos with my 70-300mm and at that time I used Auto setting as I didn't know how to use anything else. I now have upgraded myself to Av and I think if I was taking these shots again I would have the ISO at 100 or 200 as it was a sunny day and the Aperture at F11 or F14. Would you agree or not. Please let me know. I am thrilled with your sound advice. I have since tried to straighten the photos up as I am getting more and more used with the camera. I am still working on the best settings of course as I say as I am still a learner.
Thanks ever so much Skippy and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks again
Bob

canon400d

Awais Yaqub wrote:

May be some contrast in ps
Great pictures of wonderful place never saw it before

Thanks Awais. You must visit this place as I am sure you would enjoy what it has to offer.
Cheers
Bob

canon400d

schmooo wrote:

One of the things I like best about your shots is that you really showed off the size of the things. I have seen many photos of Giant's Causeway in tour books but they are all relatively similar. Your 6th shot in particular proves that they are huge!

I agree with Skippy in the horizon levels. The main thing that grabs me (or doesn't, actually) is how washed out they seem. These could benefit from some color boosts and contrast work in PP. But as you say this is a wonderful place to learn and there are so many great eyes and artists on here.

Look forward to seeing more!

Thanks ever so much for your remarks and having examined the pictures I will try and improve on the points you and Skippy have made.
Thanks again
Bob

BBiggs

I really enjoyed these pictures! I find the last couple of pictures very interesting! I like how the rocks are stacked together. I think with a little crop, too get rid of the peoples' heads you could have a very neat looking photo. I would really enjoy going to see these places in person! The colors in some of your landscapes look so beautiful! I really like the browns Nice job! I think what the others have said about your photos are acurate. You just need some touch up work but on a whole the pictures are nice!

canon400d

BBiggs wrote:

I really enjoyed these pictures! I find the last couple of pictures very interesting! I like how the rocks are stacked together. I think with a little crop, too get rid of the peoples' heads you could have a very neat looking photo. I would really enjoy going to see these places in person! The colors in some of your landscapes look so beautiful! I really like the browns Nice job! I think what the others have said about your photos are acurate. You just need some touch up work but on a whole the pictures are nice!

Thanks for your kind comments Brenton, being a learner I have had lady luck on my side. You have made my day you really have.
Bob

photocat

they all seem a bit overexposed to me. The horizon has been mentioned before, if you look at your LCD, your histogram will show the mountain to the right, if you see that, you usually can bet on the photograph being overexposed. If you shoot on AV, leave the settings as they are, just dial the over/under exposure button one down, if you look at your next histogram, it should show the mountain on the LCD having shifted to the left a bit. Go further that way till you have a good histogram. You will get to know your camera after a while, and will know where to under or go over...
If you are not sure, shoot on P. The camera makers have invested a lot of research in the camera's, they know what they are doing most of the time.
If you have shot a bit longer, you can then swop to AV, as by then you will be knowing how to go for it!
Keep shooting...

canon400d

photocat wrote:

they all seem a bit overexposed to me. The horizon has been mentioned before, if you look at your LCD, your histogram will show the mountain to the right, if you see that, you usually can bet on the photograph being overexposed. If you shoot on AV, leave the settings as they are, just dial the over/under exposure button one down, if you look at your next histogram, it should show the mountain on the LCD having shifted to the left a bit. Go further that way till you have a good histogram. You will get to know your camera after a while, and will know where to under or go over...
If you are not sure, shoot on P. The camera makers have invested a lot of research in the camera's, they know what they are doing most of the time.
If you have shot a bit longer, you can then swop to AV, as by then you will be knowing how to go for it!
Keep shooting...

Thanks ever so much I really do appreciate your remarks and advice which I will certainly follow. I did try to read into the Histogram and I must admit I soon got lost and gave up at the end as it was way above me at the moment.
Thanks again
Bob

photocat

keep trying Bob, Rome was not build in one day either... Where do you live? Maybe we can go out and shoot some, I am in North Yorkshire Ripon, UK

hamster

Bob, I know you probably can't do a reshoot of these - I think the time of day worked against you with all the harsh sunlight. Try shooting early morning or evening/twighlight. I think lots of people would agree with me that a book similar to "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson would really help you. I like the composition of your photos, and you've got some great equipment to learn with. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

canon400d

photocat wrote:

keep trying Bob, Rome was not build in one day either... Where do you live? Maybe we can go out and shoot some, I am in North Yorkshire Ripon, UK

I apologise for the delay in replying but I have had serious computer problems and I am still working in that respect. I live in Dumfries & Galloway just over the border with England. My email address is bjskiddaw@aol.com and I would love to meet up and see how we can sort things out. There is a RSPB Nature reserve right next door to me at Caelaverock and the Barnacle geese will be arriving shortly as will the Whooper swans. It is a great Reserve and there are plenty of other species to photo.
Cheers
Bob

canon400d

hamster wrote:

Bob, I know you probably can't do a reshoot of these - I think the time of day worked against you with all the harsh sunlight. Try shooting early morning or evening/twighlight. I think lots of people would agree with me that a book similar to "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson would really help you. I like the composition of your photos, and you've got some great equipment to learn with. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Thanks for your kind remarks. I honestly think it was good luck than anything else as I just started with the camera. The photos were taken on Auto as I only got it a few days before and I was just starting. Albeit I was trying hard when I took the photos and I have moved up to Av now at taking photos but to be honest I still make a lot of mistakes with the Aperture especially with the Bigma.
Cheers
Bob

canon400d

hamster wrote:

Bob, I know you probably can't do a reshoot of these - I think the time of day worked against you with all the harsh sunlight. Try shooting early morning or evening/twighlight. I think lots of people would agree with me that a book similar to "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson would really help you. I like the composition of your photos, and you've got some great equipment to learn with. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Thanks for your kind remarks. I think it was more good luck than good management. However, I only had the camera and lens a few days before andI was trying so hard but I was on Auto when I took the shots. I have since gonme onto 'P' and then I was advised to go onto Av which I am still on. I must be honest some of my shots are terrible on Av especially with the aperture and when I am using the Bigma. I still keep clicking and hoping that thinmgs will get better.
Cheers
Bob

salazar

canon400d wrote:

I have since tried to straighten the photos up
Bob

Do you have software that will let you crop and straighten and adjust contrast easily? An easy to use program for this is Google's Picasa2. And of course as it is from Google, it is completely free.

http://picasa.google.com/