Just learning with DSLR .. open for comments!!
parrankin
Registered Users Posts: 15 Big grins
Just thought I would drop in to seek comments! I have always had an interest in landscapes and after some research invested in my N D90 and loving it.
You must get this all the time! However here goes... I have loaded a few images into a trial SmugMug to seek your comments. Don't be too hard I'm still in auto mode in many shots (still learning) and on a steep learning curve with Elements.
http://skiet.smugmug.com/
I'm also struggling with development of some sort of 'workflow' that will keep things under control.
Skiet
You must get this all the time! However here goes... I have loaded a few images into a trial SmugMug to seek your comments. Don't be too hard I'm still in auto mode in many shots (still learning) and on a steep learning curve with Elements.
http://skiet.smugmug.com/
I'm also struggling with development of some sort of 'workflow' that will keep things under control.
Skiet
0
Comments
It's much easier if the pictures are part of your post here (if you need help on how to get them to show up here, plenty of folks will be happy to help explain…it's pretty easy).
I took a look at your landscape shots. Your Three Mile Dam shot has some cool lighting along the right half of the picture, but the clouds in the upper left are blown out. Did you happen to shoot that spot at any other exposure settings?
I like the lighting on Wollendibbly Inlet. Some of the other shots look like they had harsh lighting. Did you use a polarizer when shooting them? If not, it might help soften the harsh mid-day lighting.
Thanks for the link to your pics.
I'm shooting with a UV filter and keeping to early morning or evenings. The Woolendibby shot was taken at about 6:30am.
I'm also playing around with PhotoShop Elements to see if blow-out areas can be fixed! I have just found the link procedure for dropping the image in messages... will make better use next time!
Thanks for taking the time to review and feedback..
Peter R
http://skiet.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Pars-Landscapes/Three-Mile-Dam-3-copy/723393746_Xxanp-M.jpg
In order to get that to happen, while composing your message, click on the "Insert Image" button above the box that lets you type your message. That button is three places to the right of the one that let you insert the URL for your image.
As for filters, the UV I believe basically just protects against scratches (the D90 has pretty good UV and IR filtering built in).
A circular polarizing filter will let you defeat mid-day glare (or at least a good chunk of it) and will typically drop up to 2 stops off the exposure. They're handy for shooting water (if you want to be able to see under the water...or can be adjusted to catch the reflection on the water instead).
They're not mandatory by any means. It was just something to consider.
You can download a full featured trial version of Capture NX 2 from Nikon. It's mis-named...it's not for capturing the picture but for editing them after they're captured. It's very easy to adjust exposure there (if you're shooting raw…if you're not shooting RAW, that's the first thing to change…much more flexibility in editing if you start with RAW shots).
You can also download a free beta of the upcoming Adobe Lightroom (see Adobe's site for details). Exposure can be tweaked there as well.
I like some of the features of Capture NX 2 (very easy to adjust just one piece of a photo without having to learn how to make masks, etc). I also use Lightroom (but only just started with it so I have a ton to learn there).
Lightroom makes it easy to adjust specific colors throughout your picture (handy when boosting colors in a rainbow for example or trying to darken one color that's a bit over exposed without darkening everything).
I should clarify on this point…once the image has been blown out, it can't be fixed without reshooting. Blown out means details has been lost. Since it's lost, you can't get it back in post-processing (though there are ways to fake it, it won't be the actual lost details).
The D90 has some great built-in tools for detecting blown out (and nearly blown out) photos quickly…so you can tweak the exposure settings and reshoot in hopes of capturing the scene without lost data.
The English version of the D90 manual has the details starting on page 129. You can get a single histogram showing the picture's exposure, or you can get get detailed histograms showing individual color channels (so you can make sure blue/green/red/etc are exposed the way you like).
Also, the "Highlights" page will show you any parts of your picture that are overexposed (so you can tweak settings and reshoot…or so you can determine you're going to have to do an exposure bracket on the scene and piece it together afterwards to get what you want).
If you go to Nikon's site, you can download a PDF version of the D90's user manual. I find it much easier to let my computer search through the PDF version to find answers than to hunt through the printed book on my own.
Every time I take my D90 out, I seem to learn something new (usually something that would've been handy to know on the prior trip… <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/rolleyes1.gif" border="0" alt="" > )
I will look into a polarising filter etc. I will hopefully post some improvements later.
I think I have the image posting sorted (a few security issues!!).
Regards,
Peter R
- Technique (proper exposure, focus, etc.) is probably the easiest thing to get under control fast. Things like bracketing exposures and shooting RAW can help a bit here, but of course those can become crutches to getting it right from the start. You don't need great subjects for this, just go out and shoot around the neighborhood in all sorts of different light until you are comfortable and nailing focus, no motion blur and not blowing out highlights. It is vital to get your technique under control, but the good news is that it is probably the easiest to do.
- Composition is what you can spend a lifetime improving, but you appear to have a great start. Never let obsessing over equipment, technique or post processing get in the way of the most important part of your image - the composition. My standard recommendation for this is Michael Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye". Lots of composition information in digestable chunks, could keep you interested and occupied for years.
- Post processing (Elements) is certainly a vital part of the workflow, but apart from basic color and contrast adjustments is probably what I'd leave to last in developing your skills. On the subject of workflow I'd suggest trying out RAW at one point and using ACR (included with Elements I believe). You can do almost all your processing in ACR in reality. If that feels comfortable then I tend to think Lightroom is just about the most perfect workflow around - you can try LR3 beta for awhile, or you can get a 30-day trial to the current version and give it a whirl.
- Light is definitely the key element to all landscape photos. You can take stunning landscapes in any kind of light, but the reality is that the "low hanging fruit" is always in the so called "golden hours" around sunrise/sunset. In fact, frequently the most stunning light is when the sun is still below the horizon. Learn to shoot in these hours and also learn to visualize what a scene in broad daylight is going to look like in these hours so you can pick locations to come back to.
Again, welcome!
Ken
Great feedback, I will take this all onboard. The Photographer's Eye sounds interesting. Also I have not been using a tri-pod to date, however I have just managed to find one that fit's on my bike so I'm looking forward to giving it a go.
What I'm trying to do is capture the Australian bush colours and keep it as natural looking as possible.
Thanks again for taking the time and supplying feedback.
Peter R
The angle of the light mid-day will still be very different from early/late day so shadows will be different, contrast, etc.
I can't always shoot what and where I want at the magic hours. So, being able to do a less terrible job of capturing the moment outside of those times is useful to me.