I took my camera for a walk somewhere scenic to try some landscapes.
Please tell me what works and what doesn't.
All with 17-40 f4l on an EOS 10D

No.1

Blasted Tree.

I don't think they are very well processed - they look a little odd. You have also posted in aRGB which will look bad if folks are not using colour managed browsers.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I would like to see more blue sky to complement the imagery.. Seems like a very beautiful place!

i think, composition wise, they are really good knowing that you're a beginner..
you can pump up the colors with photoshop, that will make a lot of difference...

i think #2, #3 would be better with tripod/longer exposure..instead of freezing the grass(if it was a windy day) & water...

nice job though!!

Silver,
Really the composition in 1. I think it needs processing help with considerable highlight recovery and some curves work.Brought in the black point slightly. I also ran a gradient over the sky, ND filter, which I have never used but Scott Stoness can go on about, would have helped over the sky. Adjusted saturation. I probably went a bit too far with the blues in the sky, but you get the sense of where you might want to modify the processing.

Second is also missing something, althought I like many of the compositional elements. I think you need more contrast between the grasses, rocks and other vegetations. There isnt huge color variation, so I also posted a BW. Again, did some curves work, enhanced contrast, brought in the black point, some highlight recovery, a bit of burning selectively..

Third I will leave to others with more experience with HDR and these kinds of complex flowing water scenes to comment on.

Let me know if you want the reworks removed. I think you found others re-works interesting and helpful in the past.

Scott

The reworks do add some pop to the images

I fired up Safari so I could see them color managed before I saw Scott's post. The difference always amazes me. Definitely need to convert to sRGB before posting for C/C from those who use non color managed browsers - aka MS IE.

Thanks folks.

Note to self.

Remember to convert to sRGB. I just learned this recently, i forgot for these shots. D'oh!

@Paulhodson, thanks for the input, but without detail it's not really that helpful. In what way do you find them odd? I appreciate any time you have to spare that will help me create better pictures.

@epuja, noted, but most of the day there was precious little blue sky to be had.

Why, when you get into the car, is it sunny and blue with lovely little aesthetic clouds, yet, when you get out of the car camera in hand, all eager, is it drab and grey?

It is a very beautiful place all the same, and the sun came out for a while.

@dgenx24, thanks, Scott's helping with the colours. I'm far to gentle sometimes, I'm not a fan of supersaturated colours. I back off too far I guess.
I like the idea of the longer exposure, sadly I don't have any ND filters so long exposure on bright days is out for now. (there was no wind so the grass was dead still anyway)

I did the best I could with the waterfall, but HDR was the only way I was going to get close with what I have. At f22-ISO 100 correct exposure for the water was about 1/90 IIRC

Could I have done something differently?

@Scott(sbeme) you're right, I have no problems with reworks! I learn so much better visually.

no.1 my version is flat in comparison to yours. I'd like to lose the flatness without going into unnatural saturation. That'll probably account for half my morning....
Dim question. Where do I find highlight recovery?
I've definitely got a sense of where I want to take this picture now. Thanks.

no.2 I think i've realised what's missing, it's depth. The grass is growing along the bottom of a wiggly dip that goes quite a way back. That doesn't come through in the picture. I've some ideas that may fix that.
It would be nice if I could find something in it more than the compositional exercise I shot it for

@1moreford, Yes I do. Though I believe the issue will become irrelevant with the next round of browser updates though. Hopefully.

silvawispa wrote:
Paulhodson, thanks for the input, but without detail it's not really that helpful. In what way do you find them odd? I appreciate any time you have to spare that will help me create better pictures.


I know! I found it quite hard to explain - or work out what you had done.

PM sent

I hit this one with the ps stick.

Hard.

It's a panorama composite of 6 images, giving a FoV of approx 140 degrees.

Then I played.

Silver,
I agree. Pushed a bit too far on the saturations. Adjust to taste. On my work monitor the saturations are even more intense.
Thanks for letting me "play".

Shadow/highlight in Photoshop, I believe under Adjustments. Take a look at the layer and edit menus. Its in there somewhere.

Scott

A couple of edits (uncropped) from the Raw files

From a single conversion

Great job Paul!

That's how its done.
Scott

Thanks Paul, and for the detailed eamils too.
Turns out you live 20 minutes down the road.

3 is not as good as 1 on composition but okay.

So to your question.

What works in 1 is that you have a strong foreground item, good space to the right and an itneresting picure that leads you into it even though it is simple. It is very good for composition.

On 2 what does not work is no emphasis on 1 item.

On 3 the processing is weak and the compostion while okay would be much better if you blended it with a single image so that you had some better shadows. I think a bit back and getting more in so it feels less forced on compostion would improve. After seeing Paul's rendition, I went from blah to okay it is pretty good. Which tells you that proper processing makes a big difference (blend it with single image).

On the subject of HDR vs NDgrad vs manual blend - look at this link http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/755635

Scott

Thanks for that Scott. That's clarified a few things for me.

On no.2, For some reason I like 'textural' shots that have no specific focus, in time, I hope to make them interesting to others too. I guess I'll have to develop my compositional skills quite a lot further before that happens though.

"I went from blah to okay it is pretty good."

The link is a good read. I'm now going to go and learn about masking, go through Paul's emails and rework these photo's. Time to step my pp up a couple of levels.

Thanks again, Paul.

Nice shots, however, as mentioned more work in post would be beneficial. Also, do you use a polarizer? I think it would help, especially in the first shot.

i like #3 best and then #2

#1 is really low in contrast and weird colors, i think it happend because it was very backlit and it easy, especially if they have lots of grass, to come out like that, very blah and weird colors and contrast without both careful and extreme PP.

numba 3!

great shot, please dont crop it. i would pull back just a tad on the HDR.

I would like to see #3 at sun set with softer natural colors rather than trying to force the colors. I am not an expert either, but everything I've read states there are 2 times landscapes should be ever be shoot. Dawn and Dust. which means low light, slow exposure and tripod
If your able give it a try. Iw would be interested