Beginner A few from today's adventures

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Yep, you've shown you can turn the camera on and take pictures. You need to challenge yourself more and find ways to capture images which are interesting to look at. The light in most of these shots isn't really on your side which means if you're dead set on getting some shots when the light is bland it's worth looking at a range of approaches utilising your lens, camera settings and composition to be more creative. If you're not looking for this kind of feedback please feel free to disregard.

Cheers

Tim
 
I'm not sure what the issue is but the sky is totally blown and the non sky areas in the forest scenes maybe don't look right either. Maybe it's just terrible light and I if that's the case I sympathise as I'm often out when the sky is nothing but a featureless white/grey nothingness. Anyway, if the light is so bad or so challenging that you can't capture the forest and keep the sky I'd maybe think about framing the picture so that the sky doesn't fill a large part of the frame or perhaps just isn't included. Other than that are these straight out of camera or raws processed on the pc... I don't know what camera you have but it may be possible to retain more of the highlights and boost the shadow areas post capture, you may be happier shooting raws and processing for the best effect on your pc if not doing that already.
 
Phrasemaker said:
Yep, you've shown you can turn the camera on and take pictures. You need to challenge yourself more and find ways to capture images which are interesting to look at. The light in most of these shots isn't really on your side which means if you're dead set on getting some shots when the light is bland it's worth looking at a range of approaches utilising your lens, camera settings and composition to be more creative. If you're not looking for this kind of feedback please feel free to disregard.

Cheers

Tim
Click to expand...

Yes I agree totally with your comments. Composition is a hard thing to master, I should have taken more time and thought about what I was taking a picture of. I was more getting used to the different setting on the camera with me being very new to dslr's. It is a steep learning curve indeed.

woof woof said:
I'm not sure what the issue is but the sky is totally blown and the non sky areas in the forest scenes maybe don't look right either. Maybe it's just terrible light and I if that's the case I sympathise as I'm often out when the sky is nothing but a featureless white/grey nothingness. Anyway, if the light is so bad or so challenging that you can't capture the forest and keep the sky I'd maybe think about framing the picture so that the sky doesn't fill a large part of the frame or perhaps just isn't included. Other than that are these straight out of camera or raws processed on the pc... I don't know what camera you have but it may be possible to retain more of the highlights and boost the shadow areas post capture, you may be happier shooting raws and processing for the best effect on your pc if not doing that already.
Click to expand...

Comments taken on board. I'm using a nikkon d5600 with a kit lens and shooting raw + fine. The processing part using gimp is a little overwhelming at this point but at least I could tackle this in time to come shooting in semi raw.
 
dbay said:
Yes I agree totally with your comments. Composition is a hard thing to master, I should have taken more time and thought about what I was taking a picture of. I was more getting used to the different setting on the camera with me being very new to dslr's. It is a steep learning curve indeed.



Comments taken on board. I'm using a nikkon d5600 with a kit lens and shooting raw + fine. The processing part using gimp is a little overwhelming at this point but at least I could tackle this in time to come shooting in semi raw.
Click to expand...

I'm a bit of a fan of Nik filters at the moment and as they're available as a free download you might want to download them and see what's possible. If you haven't already used them. I don't know if they're compatible with Gimp but as they're free all it'll cost you to try them is time :D
 
BUT, the big caveat here is no amount of GIMP will rescue these shots... Dull light, flat skies, and a little lack-lustre composition means these shots weren't ever going to be great. This isn't a real criticism of your technique, no one would shoot much interesting in such rubbish conditions.

The exception, is those kind of days are good for macro/portrait/detail shots as you get nice even light, hence why the single shots of the individual rhodo's are IMO the best of the bunch. So on such a day, focus on those kinds of things, and just work your composition until you get something you like.
 
woof woof said:
I'm a bit of a fan of Nik filters at the moment and as they're available as a free download you might want to download them and see what's possible. If you haven't already used them. I don't know if they're compatible with Gimp but as they're free all it'll cost you to try them is time :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, is there a link for the nik filters or do I just Google for the download?
 
Durbs said:
BUT, the big caveat here is no amount of GIMP will rescue these shots... Dull light, flat skies, and a little lack-lustre composition means these shots weren't ever going to be great. This isn't a real criticism of your technique, no one would shoot much interesting in such rubbish conditions.

The exception, is those kind of days are good for macro/portrait/detail shots as you get nice even light, hence why the single shots of the individual rhodo's are IMO the best of the bunch. So on such a day, focus on those kinds of things, and just work your composition until you get something you like.
Click to expand...

I agree the flowers are the best of the bunch that I had taken that day. I'm still learning the functions of the camera so I'm happy with the progress I've got so far. They are better that the shots I had taken in auto mode so at least I'm learning every time I'm out with the camera.
 
Someone once asked me on a one to one tuition session when we were sat outside a pub how I would go about taking landscape pictures on a day like this. I looked at the sky which was a mushy dull grey with no features and no contrast and my answer was simply.. I wouldn’t.

Sometimes the art of photography is knowing when not to shoot something, not just when to shoot it.
 
I really wouldn't think about the Nik stuff at this point David - it'll be a distraction from getting the basics right.

Learning will occur through doing and reviewing. First photo at f/5.6 has resulted in a nicely blurred background which is what you want. Sky is overcast which has moderated contrast - this can be good.

Essentially when we take / make a photograph we are not recording a thing (or things) - we are recording light.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Someone once asked me on a one to one tuition session when we were sat outside a pub how I would go about taking landscape pictures on a day like this. I looked at the sky which was a mushy dull grey with no features and no contrast and my answer was simply.. I wouldn’t.

Sometimes the art of photography is knowing when not to shoot something, not just when to shoot it.
Click to expand...

I can understand not taking pictures but sometimes free time only coincides with terrible photographic conditions. There have been times when I've gone for literally months with my only free time coinciding with dead light total white/grey featureless no sky days and on those days it's frustrating to see the shots on screen and think that there are zero keepers and I really shouldn't have bothered. I have thousands of pictures of my local area like that and it does get depressing and I just long for some decent light and the free time to use it but I persist because it's my hobby and even when it's frustrating and I get no real keepers it's still something I have to do. It's sort of like being a football fan, for many it's frustration and anger and disappointment and a whole load of negative emotions but you just know you'll be back next week.
 
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TCR4x4 said:
I looked at the sky which was a mushy dull grey with no features and no contrast and my answer was simply.. I wouldn’t.
Click to expand...
To add a positive to this tale..
there’s no such thing as ‘crap light’ only inappropriate light; like weather and clothing, you just have to choose the appropriate subject for the conditions,
 
Phil V said:
To add a positive to this tale..
there’s no such thing as ‘crap light’ only inappropriate light; like weather and clothing, you just have to choose the appropriate subject for the conditions,
Click to expand...

And there's also what's new and interesting to you, for example there was a discussion on another forum about the unique quality of light you get above a certain latitude and as someone living above that latitude I had to smile to myself as I realised that the dead lifeless light I see too often in my little part of northern England may actually be something special and interesting to someone living elsewhere in the world who'd never seen it before.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Someone once asked me on a one to one tuition session when we were sat outside a pub how I would go about taking landscape pictures on a day like this. I looked at the sky which was a mushy dull grey with no features and no contrast and my answer was simply.. I wouldn’t.

Sometimes the art of photography is knowing when not to shoot something, not just when to shoot it.
Click to expand...
woof woof said:
I can understand not taking pictures but sometimes free time only coincides with terrible photographic conditions. There have been times when I've gone for literally months with my only free time coinciding with dead light total white/grey featureless no sky days and on those days it's frustrating to see the shots on screen and think that there are zero keepers and I really shouldn't have bothered. I have thousands of pictures of my local area like that and it does get depressing and I just long for some decent light and the free time to use it but I persist because it's my hobby and even when it's frustrating and I get no real keepers it's still something I have to do. It's sort of like being a football fan, for many it's frustration and anger and disappointment and a whole load of negative emotions but you just know you'll be back next week.
Click to expand...

droj said:
I really wouldn't think about the Nik stuff at this point David - it'll be a distraction from getting the basics right.

Learning will occur through doing and reviewing. First photo at f/5.6 has resulted in a nicely blurred background which is what you want. Sky is overcast which has moderated contrast - this can be good.

Essentially when we take / make a photograph we are not recording a thing (or things) - we are recording light.
Click to expand...

Phil V said:
To add a positive to this tale..
there’s no such thing as ‘crap light’ only inappropriate light; like weather and clothing, you just have to choose the appropriate subject for the conditions,
Click to expand...

woof woof said:
And there's also what's new and interesting to you, for example there was a discussion on another forum about the unique quality of light you get above a certain latitude and as someone living above that latitude I had to smile to myself as I realised that the dead lifeless light I see too often in my little part of northern England may actually be something special and interesting to someone living elsewhere in the world who'd never seen it before.
Click to expand...

I think there a lot of good advice here, albeit apparently conflicting in places. It's not really.

The takeaway for me is when you're starting out every day is a big learning opportunity and you can gain a lot from disappointment. So just get out there and shoot and see what works and what doesn't. Also look at as much good photography as you can, eg Flickr or search different subjects on Google images, and try to analyse what works best. It will usually boil down to good subject + good/appropriate light + good photographic technique = good image.

Sometimes just a good subject will win out (eg any picture of my granddaughter :D), sometimes the light will be simply spectacular, and on rare occasions just camera technique will win, eg a very long or very short exposure or a macro lens can reveal or create something that was previously invisible, but you need to get a grip of the basics first.

Then post your results for crit in the appropriate forums, ask questions, and try again. Read, ask, practise, repeat. Nobody got good overnight or without putting in the effort. Getting a decent camera is just the start :)
 
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