These any good?

C

charlottemarie_15

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Trying some landscape photography, mainly do macro and underwater though so go easy on me!

Used Nikon D90, Sigma 10-20 (which just ISN'T sharp at all) tripod, remote, B + W ten stop filter, Lee 0.75 ng hard grad.

I already realise that some of my horizons aren't the straightest, and some are lacking foreground interest, it was more a case of trying to get some sharp images.

Oh and does anyone have any tips for post procesing landscapes? I'm struggling to give them punch, and wary of 'over processing' them.

Thanks!

S007_Windermere.jpg


S011_Reflections.jpg


S015_Pebble_on_Beach.jpg


S016_Footstep.jpg
 
I'm not a landscape photographer, so not sure how useful the comments will be, but IMO, the best of the lot is #2 - love the colours! :)

The others lack a bit of pop - could do with a contrast boost...., and maybe a tad underexposed.....
 
#4 is a cracker, i love the sunset colours and the platform leading out, #2 has a lot of space, i like the composition but the boats are a bit far away, this is where a 70-200mm lens may have come in handy still giving you that top & bottom balance, i'm not keen on #1 and #3 looks a bit inferior because it's next to #4 :)
 
Really nice set :) I like the simplicity of your compositions and the lighting is nice. Interesting you say the Sigma isn't sharp as from the images I'd agree. What aperture settings did you use as some lenses go a bit soft at very small values. Also are the images straight from the camera? What sharpening has been applied to the JPEGs?
 
mattcambs said:
Really nice set :) I like the simplicity of your compositions and the lighting is nice. Interesting you say the Sigma isn't sharp as from the images I'd agree. What aperture settings did you use as some lenses go a bit soft at very small values. Also are the images straight from the camera? What sharpening has been applied to the JPEGs?
Click to expand...

Well as the above post says, they do look sharper in Photoshop for some reason, but still not as sharp as I'd like. I was practising some techniques for sharp images, so shooting around f11, tripod, remote, low ISO, focussing a third into the scene etc. I shot in RAW and have applied some sharpening, but to be honest it always makes it worse to me :confused:. What should be my in camera sharpening settings would you reckon?

I wouldn't mind tweaking the sharpening if I was using a very sharp lens, just to make it pin sharp, but to sharpen these it just looks rubbish when I try...

Saying that I find post processing really hard, I can never decide what looks best, and I'm new to RAW... lol
 
Some corkers there..!!! I like the set except #1.... It seems to lack something that the others have. Some lovely colours in all of them but #1 seems dull in comparison.
 
Charlotte think you may need to set the in camera sharpening to five or six or is that already done?

What's it like with other lenses on? Even wide open I'd expect you to get a good degree of sharpness with a wide angle
 
First off, a nice set of images indeed with some lovely colours.

I`m still pretty new (well newish) to landscape photography myself so I`m no expert but here`s what I see...

The shots do look a little soft but from what your saying about using f11, tripod, remote, focusing a third in etc it does seem like your doing things as they should be done. (According to those that know ;) ) Maybe try f8, f9 etc aswell as some lenses tend to have a bit of a "sweet spot" around there.

What I`ve learned about focusing is to make sure you are a third of the way in to the scene and take your time to focus, refocus if needed to get it spot on. You could also try the Hyperfocal focusing thing but that can be a bit confusing (well was for me :D ) but if your interested in it just google it and you`ll find loads about it with some good guides etc. You obviously know your way round a camera if you do macro and underwater stuff. :cool:

In #4 the sky looks a little blown...

As youv`e said yourself, the horizons might be a wee bit off but that`s easily sorted in PS.

Personally I would`nt have any of the in-camera settings, such as sharpening etc on atall. (Sorry chivers :D ) That`s just the way I do it but also the way I`ve read that a lot of really good and pro landscapers do it so might be worth a go. Try and get your shots as sharp as you can by using the correct shutter speed and f-stop etc and add a little sharpening using Unsharp Mask in photoshop, start with a small amount and add some more till you think it looks good.

Try a Radius of 0.3 but experiment with it. And a Threshold of 0. Amount is obviously up to you.

There are some really good photography and editing tuts here

As I say, your shots are good, so keep at it. :)
 
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Can't see images but I'm surprised you dont find the 10-20 sharp at all, I find mine to be pretty dam good to be honest.
 
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