Attenborough Nature Reserve - first use of filters (help!!)

macs

macs

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Rich
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This shot is my first attempt at using a set of ND Grad filters. For this shot I used an 2 stop soft grad and a 2 stop ND filter. The RAW version had a slightly green tinge to it which i have mostly sorted out in pp but i still think it looks a bit odd. Anyone got any tips on how to remove it totally and give more natural colours?


Attenborough Nature Reserve by richardmcbrayne, on Flickr

Obviously any other C&C is very welcome too.
 
Here's a quick edit....might be well off but thought I would have a crack...

7076964535_28d66b1472_b.jpg
 
Matt, the shot was taken using AE so I was basing the shot on the cameras metering. Guess you can't always truss a computer.

Danzaroonie, that effort is much better than mine. Did you just adjust the exposure or were there other tweeks in PP?
 
macs said:
This shot is my first attempt at using a set of ND Grad filters. For this shot I used an 2 stop soft grad and a 2 stop ND filter. The RAW version had a slightly green tinge to it which i have mostly sorted out in pp but i still think it looks a bit odd. Anyone got any tips on how to remove it totally and give more natural colours?
Click to expand...

Use the white balance tool in camera raw. Select a light grey area of the cloud and see how that looks. It should bring the white balance not far from correct. Repeat until happy...
 
Your shot is far too dark as has already been said. It was shot at F36. You don't need very small apetures to get a picture in focus. F13/F16 would be much better and still kept the focus sharp front to back. The flora in the foreground is blurry and that spoils it for me as my eye was drawn straight to it............
Did you use a tripod or was it handheld. The shot looks soft, that could be down to using F36 For a pic like that with a large depth of field I would be on a tripod, mirror lock up and using a cord or self timer to trigger the shutter.
I just looked at my stream to find a pic with a large depth of field to show you. This shot was at F11 and still has detail nearly all the way through.


Llyn Y Fan Fach by ian hatch, on Flickr
 
I hadn't meant to shoot at f36, I had previously messed about with the settings and couldn't have put that one back for this shot. I was using a tripod and a remote shutter release but not mirror lock up as my d3000 doesn't have such a feature.

I will try using filters again soon using a proper f-stop and trying to get the metering correct as at the moment I think that's one thing that I definitely don't have the hang of yet.
 
macs said:
I hadn't meant to shoot at f36, I had previously messed about with the settings and couldn't have put that one back for this shot. I was using a tripod and a remote shutter release but not mirror lock up as my d3000 doesn't have such a feature.

I will try using filters again soon using a proper f-stop and trying to get the metering correct as at the moment I think that's one thing that I definitely don't have the hang of yet.
Click to expand...

Well F36 will be the cause of a soft pic, I've got the 'didn't reset my settings' T-shirt too :) Mirror lock up isn't needed when you shoot with a shutter cord. With correct exposure and a F16 aperture focus approx 1/3 into the picture and you'll be fine. What software are you using to post process ?? Are you shooting RAW ??
Ian
 
h14nha said:
Well F36 will be the cause of a soft pic, I've got the 'didn't reset my settings' T-shirt too :) Mirror lock up isn't needed when you shoot with a shutter cord. With correct exposure and a F16 aperture focus approx 1/3 into the picture and you'll be fine. What software are you using to post process ?? Are you shooting RAW ??
Ian
Click to expand...

Shooting in RAW and using Nikon ViewNX2 and GIMP to process pics but i'm far from an expert in either. I'd say i'm more beginner than anything else.
 
macs said:
Matt, the shot was taken using AE so I was basing the shot on the cameras metering. Guess you can't always truss a computer.

Danzaroonie, that effort is much better than mine. Did you just adjust the exposure or were there other tweaks in PP?
Click to expand...

I first corrected the White Balance(This was taken from the Cloud area) as others have already mentioned, I then played with the Shadows and highlights to bring the background back into play...and tweaked the levels slightly...

What Processing tool are you using?

cheers

Dan
 
I would think the Nikon View tool is very much like the Digital Photo Professional tool you get with Canon. You should have the White Balance dropper to which you can select an area to sample on. You should also have some kind of Histogram which would allow for the level changes.

Gimp I would use for more advance techniques like layers and adding your own personal touch to a photo...for now stick with the Nikon View tool and get to grips with that…then move on to Gimp .

Dan.
 
There is a white spot and a black and gray spot...

But there is an option on the rhs list under exposure (I think) for changing the White balance. Just play through the settings until its close then use the fine tune slider to get more accurate.

If there is a bit of white on the picture, use the white spot and it should change the white balance. Just has to be almost white (really close to white) or the colours tend to merge...

If you are struggling with Gimp/NX post in the post processing bit of the forum - should get a few suggestions on how to do it :)
 
Hi Rich,
You've balanced the sky/ground very well in this shot. My only nit pik is the shrub peeking in from the left, by moving angles to the right you would then include all of the bridge too :)
Ian
 
Hell's teeth Ladybower is a lot fuller when I was there last...:D

I've recently bought some grads and a Pro Stopper...still getting used to them.

Cheers.
 
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