Critique Going in the right direction?

C

Creo

Guest
Hello,
I am enthusiastic but somewhat of a novice as I have only been taking landscape photos since May. I started a little webpage for me and the missus to show our efforts to our friends, but haven't really had the courage to go out and share any photos elsewhere, so this is my first venture into the real world!
I feel I am at that stage where I feel I have made some progress but some constructive critique would be very welcome from those who have trodden the ground before. These are what I perceive as the half a dozen nicer images that I have shot, and I have kept them smallish so to try and not waste anyone's bandwidth. If you have any positives or negatives I would be delighted to know so I can learn and hopefully improve.
Many thanks,
Joe

meonphotography-langstone.jpg
Portsmouth Harbour from Langstone


meonphotography-mistyboat.jpg
Misty boat at dawn


meonphotography-bosham.jpg
Bosham at sunset


meonphotography-porthnanven.jpg
Porth Nanven

meonphotography-reflections.jpg
Autumn reflections in pool at Waggoners Wells


meonphotography-stormcloud.jpg
Storm cloud over Butser Hill
 
I'll second Andy's comment ,some good shots there mate good colour and tones .well done
 
If you're only been shooting landscapes since May you should be really happy with the progress that you've made, because these show real promise. You've got a great selection of different photographs which I believe is half the battle; beginners tend to find a style of photo that works and then stick with that without trying other things.

My pick of the lot are Porth Naven and Storm Cloud over Buster Hill, which both work really well with the aspect ratio that you've chosen.

Nice work, I look forward to seeing more of your work on the forum :)
 
Hi Creo, certainly is a striking set, #1 does not sit right with me I just feel given the position of the Sun the detail in the foreground and detail in those posts are far over PP and you have brought out the shadows to much, as the sun is still above horizon? I think you should try working with the natural light given to you instaed of relying on PP software etc, thank you for sharing.
Kevin
 
you've certainly got an eye, but go steady on the PP be careful with your white balance and too much Magenta! Keep it up. ;)
 
Many, many thanks for your critique, and encouraging comments.

I heartily take the point regarding the PP of #1.
I tried bracketing and using Photomatix to bring out some texture in the posts, but it doesnt look natural. This was a last resort after photographing this spot half a dozen times and ending up with silhouettes. Its not far from me, so will try again.

Regarding Magenta, I will focus my attentions on colour casts as this is definitely a weakness as I have adopted a complacency of just using auto WB and leaving it as is.

Thanks again.
 
I'm rubbish at colour with Lightroom. My eyes need checking. Deffo magenta on the last one. I get that sometimes with skin on runners and bikers.
 
As has been said, be gentle with the processing.
1 has good colour, textures in the sky, reflections and composition, but the sun does look odd.The colour could be natural as the sun was low and about to slip behind a layer of murk, but it still looks a bit odd.
I like the idea of 2 but the boat is very central. If it was possible I'd have gone for the boat to the right and empty space in front of it, giving an emptier feel. However that might not have been possible.
3 has some good colour in the sky but personally I don't like the composition. Too much town and not enough water, but that could be just because I hate towns..........
Most people would probably have taken 4 at sunset with strong colour but for me the softer look suits the image, and the rocks in the foreground and midground all lead the eye to the rocks on the horizon.
Good strong colours in 5.
6 looks over processed to me. The clouds would have created some slightly surreal colours but I'm looking at the white at the top of the cu-nim. It looks like it's been pushed a bit too far for dramatic effect.
As Kevin said, let what nature gives you speak for itself.
But if I'd only been into landscapes since May I'd be pleased with those.

Several posts in the time it took me to write this so it doesn't read quite right now. Sorry.............
 
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This is the out of camera image (jpeg) for the storm cloud, just reduced in size to 800 pixels wide and saved as an 80% jpeg in Photoshop to save bandwidth, its not been processed or cropped or anything:

meonphotography-stormcloud-original.jpg


It appears very flat to me as in person it was very dramatic, the dark under cloud area looked almost black, the blue was bright blue, and the orange glow really seemed to shine out of the cloud - so I tried to up the contrast and give it some more saturation. The orange glow was from the setting sun to the left of the image, and there is a rainbow in the cloud just above the right side of the hedge, which in reality was stunning but somehow got lost in the image.
The white top to the cloud is pretty much how it looked.
I guess its an example of a decent enough image but lacking real skills to process it to bring it back to how it looked when I was stood in front of it. If anyone has any suggestions on how I should/could tackle processing it better that would help a lot, or maybe I ought to post that in another forum?
 
I've reached a plateau with my photography and post processing. Local camera club is all about competitions with the usual 2 or 3 winning every time. Tried to find courses locally but you have to have completed courses, A to G before you can access H which is the level you might be at.
 
A lovely set.
The first three could be even better if the horizons weren't on the 50/50.
 
Creo said:
I guess its an example of a decent enough image but lacking real skills to process it to bring it back to how it looked when I was stood in front of it. If anyone has any suggestions on how I should/could tackle processing it better that would help a lot, or maybe I ought to post that in another forum?
Click to expand...

It's also worth remembering that sadly the camera doesn't see in the same way as our eyes do. We have a greater dynamic range & the ability to selectively focus on details while still taking in the overall scene. Hence the rainbow had real impact for you but in the image you can barely see it.
 
A suggestion I have for you is given you are capable of composing and understanding the lighting conditions that give interesting landscapes is to process, sleep on it and come back.

The big sky and corn field looks like it just needs some contrast and saturation added, as well as some clarity/structure/definition, but nothing like to the extent you added. I tend to sometimes add a little topaz but again not the extent you have done.

I tend to follow, and I am not saying my way is right, as little as possible but as much as neccessary for the look I like...

FWIW I think your 3rd image is on the money and I like the 4th, but it would work in context of other autumn shots you took in the series.
 
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ST4 said:
The big sky and corn field looks like it just needs some contrast and saturation added, as well as some clarity/structure/definition, but nothing like to the extent you added. I tend to sometimes add a little topaz but again not the extent you have done.
Click to expand...

Any better? I have tried to follow your suggestion, added some clarity, contrast and a smidge of saturation, I have no idea what adding structure and definition is or requires, so havent added that. Have cropped it to my preferred 2:1 landscape ratio.

It certainly looks more natural, and less processed to my eye, but does seem to lack a bit of contrast, I didnt want to go further with the contrast at this stage.

Thanks.

1100stormcloud.jpg
 
That to me has much more natural colour in the blue sky. I know what you mean, though, about thinking it lacks a bit of contrast. You could maybe up the reds just slightly which would put a bit of 'fire' back into the cloud right of the treeline and bring up the yellow in the crop a bit, but not enough to affect the blue sky.
You have that problem of you were the one there at the time, so you and only you know what it really looked like. We come along and say 'that looks overprocessed' but you are trying to reproduce what you remember. It's never easy. But in the end, unless an image is for sale, the only one it really has to please is you.
 
Jannyfox said:
You have that problem of you were the one there at the time, so you and only you know what it really looked like. We come along and say 'that looks overprocessed' but you are trying to reproduce what you remember. It's never easy. But in the end, unless an image is for sale, the only one it really has to please is you.
Click to expand...

The first one was definitely over-processed. I had so many attempts I had forgotten what my original objective was.

This image in question so typifies where I struggle as a relative novice. The storm cloud was amazing! It had just deluged where I live and was heading Butser direction so I got in my car and drove up to a place where I thought I could photograph it, and was gob-smacked. It was so dark, the sun was about to set (to the left of the cloud which illuminated it in the orange light and there was a very distinct rainbow. Also the dark underside of the cloud looked almost black Yet, my image looks like some cloud sat on a harvested field! I realise one can never capture what one saw in 3D I just have this horrible feeling I havent done it justice!
 
Creo, is your monitor a decent calibrated IPS monitor? These pictures looked better on my un calibrated work laptop, at home on the calibrated monitor they look odd. Good ideas, nice eye for a shot and a bit of creativity in there too so no doubt you are heading in the right direction but I feel unless you can see exactly what you are doing to a photo in post processing you will always struggle.
 
Craig_85 said:
Creo, is your monitor a decent calibrated IPS monitor?
Click to expand...

Good point. I use a 23" Apple Cinema IPS screen, calibrated it with Adobe Gamma and Nvidia . As I am not using it on an Apple system the control of it is very restricted, but prints I have made have come out pretty true to what I am seeing on the screen.
From all I have read in this thread I suspect the colouring "oddness" has less to do with my screen, and more to do with my novice PP skills and maybe even what I perceive as a rendition of the original scene.

This thread has been very helpful to me and I thank everyone that has contributed. The consensus seems to be that my composition and creativity are progresing well, but my PP is not. I have put a plan into place to resolve that, or at least get me going in a better direction.
 
My wife and I took up Photography in May, mainly as something we could do together as she likes to walk and I get bored rigid. I've done things in the past that required design (graphics, web design, Bonsai and other Japanese arts, sculpture, ceramics) and so I think I probably have developed an "eye" for what makes a reasonable composition. I am one of those people who tend to learn fast and improve quickly, then stall - I am at the stall stage now :)
 
Creo said:
Any better? I have tried to follow your suggestion, added some clarity, contrast and a smidge of saturation, I have no idea what adding structure and definition is or requires, so havent added that. Have cropped it to my preferred 2:1 landscape ratio.

It certainly looks more natural, and less processed to my eye, but does seem to lack a bit of contrast, I didnt want to go further with the contrast at this stage.

Thanks.

1100stormcloud.jpg
Click to expand...

I like that. I think that's as good as it will be and it's to me fine contrast wise
 
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I like the way you think Creo, you have a style-- but maybe a little over enthusiastic with the pp work at times, nice work,

Geoff
 
Many thanks Geoff, the feedback I have received in this thread is very encouraging, also educational, in that it has shown me I need to get concentrate more on the actual results of PP rather than trying to recreate what I thought I saw and getting carried away and going over the top, a softer touch is definitely needed.
 
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Creo said:
Many thanks Geoff, the feedback I have received in this thread is very encouraging, also educational, in that it has shown me I need to get concentrate more on the actual results of PP rather than trying to recreate what I thought I saw and getting carried away and going over the top, a softer touch is definitely needed.
Click to expand...

It takes time. Work on an image. Come back to it after a nights sleep and ask yourself is that what I want it to look.

I'm as a little as possible but as much as necessary sort of shooter. Some do as much as possible but as little as necessary
 
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