Beginner A wee bit of a catch up.

[Oldbones]

Been a little while since I was on here, and I have to say I am really enjoying getting to grips with the ins and outs of photography.
Thays not to say I know anything about it, but although I am not proficient with the camera at least now I am starting to feel at ease and comfortable with it.
Getting me out of the house, I go to the club once a week, and I use a small beach to practice photography, which is close to home.
There are several posts on other threads on these forums, but it all started here.
Using the camera, now I use manual and am working my way through ISO, aperture and shutter speed etc. Today I was trying to use exposure comp.
Composition is not hard but not easy, but it will come to me eventually, the good thing is there are plenty of areas of good subject matter all around here.
Editing, I use NX studio but am still working on that, eventually I may go and get something else, I cant find out how to remove items in the shots I take with NX studio.
I am happy with my progress, I have bought some secondhand lenses and few other small things.
It has not broken the bank and I think I have all I will need for the foreseeable future.
Most of this is due to the help I have received here, and watching you tube,
Thank you.

 

[Blue439]

This is a very challenging scene you decided to photograph here, because of the very large dynamic range between the darks and the lights. No sensor would be able to accommodate such a difference, which is why photographers in such situations either use gradient neutral density (i.e., grey) filters, or/and take several bracketed shots in rapid succession: one for the very bright Sun peeking through the clouds, one or two for the clouds themselves, and at least one for the ocean. Then, you would composite your photo in Photoshop, or any other retouching software allowing you to work with layers.

 

[Oldbones]

I do have a filter that i thought about useing, but i dont have the experience or the skill for that at the moment.
Thak you so much for your inpuit, its very helpfull to me, and it will benifit me in the longrun.

 

[Suvv]

Editing, I use NX studio but am still working on that, eventually I may go and get something else, I cant find out how to remove items in the shots I take with NX studio.

NX Studio only has an auto retouch brush. It looks like a sticking plaster. You can use it to remove dust spots from images but it can also be used to remove things like power lines etc. It is not great but can be useful. Photoshop & photoshop elements have much more powerful tools.
I quite like your dark moody shot but if you did want to lighten up some of it then the colour control points in NX Studio are quite good. I used 3 on the sea in your photo. I have lightened the sea quite a bit to show what can be done but as there was not much information to start with the result is not great quality. Working on the original raw image would be better

 

[Oldbones]

NX Studio only has an auto retouch brush. It looks like a sticking plaster. You can use it to remove dust spots from images but it can also be used to remove things like power lines etc. It is not great but can be useful. Photoshop & photoshop elements have much more powerful tools.
I quite like your dark moody shot but if you did want to lighten up some of it then the colour control points in NX Studio are quite good. I used 3 on the sea in your photo. I have lightened the sea quite a bit to show what can be done but as there was not much information to start with the result is not great quality. Working on the original raw image would be better

View attachment 446175

That is a lot better thanks, I did find that tool, its a bit difficult to use but I will have a play around with it and see what happens.

 

[Oldbones]

Been about six months since I have made a visit to this thread.
I have had lots of ups and downs with photography.
Learned lots, and been helped immensely along the way.
Still using my Nikon D3100 and D70s, I have also a couple of film cameras which I am using.
What has been happening, well the biggest thing is I now take most of my photographs in Mono.
In street my confidence has grown and things are better there.
To concentrate I have made a main folder where all what I think is acceptable photographs go, then sub divided in to projects.
This has led to far better control of my images and ideas while I am out with my camera.
Health wise, well I do lots of walking and that cant be bad, did 10000 steps yesterday and 8000 today before breakfast.
So that is a bonus no matter what, added to that my relaxation with photography is fine.
Perfect shot, I think it will exist but not in my camera, but I am very happy with some of what comes out of it now.
I don't fret about it, I also experiment, just to see what happens when I change settings, it helps me understand how things work.
So a new club season is almost upon me and I am eager to revisit with some new material for the comps.
Now this may be a big disappointment for me, I may be too big for my boots, and the worst that will happen is it will ground me to reality.
New Camera, well no, price and need is stopping me, I don't have the amount of money they want in my budget and secondly I have no need at the moment.
Used, well maybe at some point, but what I have is still working and I have the feeling a new or "Better" camera will not make any difference to what I am doing. (Some lenses are on the cards though)
That is going to have to come from me and how I take photographs.
What I need to do is slow down and stay in one spot for a few hours and take shots, dashing about is going to have to stop.
The Promnade.


Southbound At Speed.