Lake Tahoe - Please help me improve

[dhensley]

Hi everyone,

I recently took a trip to Lake Tahoe and took some pictures with my new 10-22mm lens. I am pretty new to photography and I am trying to get better each time I get a chance. I generally take a lot of pictures (when I can) and then go back to decide what I liked and more often what I did wrong. I think my biggest weakness right now is overall composition. I have thoughts in my head that never make their way into my actual picture. I know some people are a natural at this, but it will eventually be an acquired skill for me.

So, to cut to the chase: I used a Canon T1i with a Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM lens. Attached to the lens is a B+W kaesemann polarizing filter. I just got the lens and filter a couple of weeks ago so I have not figured out how to use them the best yet.



A larger copy of the image can be found at: All available sizes | Tahoe | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The photo was taken around 5:00pm facing roughly SW. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and filter was adjusted for maximum polarization. Below are my thoughts so far:

1. Even with the polarazer the sky looks much too white
2. the framing is nothing special
3. Probably could have had the horizon just a tad lower
4. Focus seems a bit soft even though I had f/22. I also used tripod with remote trigger.

I am looking to get good advise on what I could have changed to make this shot better (this will help me next time). Please dont step around yout thoughts, but please dont tear me a new one in the process.

Below is the exif data for my shot:

Camera Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture f/22.0
Focal Length 80 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias -1 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
File Size 2.5 MB
File Type JPEG
MIME Type image/jpeg
Image Width 1920
Image Height 1280
Encoding Process Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample 8
Color Components 3
X-Resolution 240 dpi
Y-Resolution 240 dpi
Date and Time (Modified) 2010:08:15 21:24:37
Exposure Program Aperture-priority AE
Date and Time (Original) 2010:08:12 18:09:11.03-07:00
Date and Time (Digitized) 2010:08:12 18:09:11
Max Aperture Value 5.0
Subject Distance 34.9 m
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Sub Sec Time Original 03
Sub Sec Time Digitized 03
Focal Plane X-Resolution 5315.43624161074 dpi
Focal Plane Y-Resolution 5342.32715008432 dpi
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode Auto bracket
White Balance Manual
Scene Capture Type Standard
Compression JPEG (old-style)
Viewing Conditions Illuminant Type D50
Measurement Observer CIE 1931
Measurement Flare 0.999%
Measurement Illuminant D65
XMPToolkit Adobe XMP Core 4.2-c020 1.124078, Tue Sep 11 2007 23:21:40
Creator Tool Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Lens EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Lens ID 178
Image Number 0
Flash Compensation 0
Color Transform YCbCr
Flash Return No return detection
Flash Mode Off
Flash Function False
Flash Red Eye Mode Fals

[Japaslavian]

Exposure wise, it's going to be really difficult to better expose the sky darker at 5 PM without a grad filter. You can go in PS and gradiate a blue spot color and set it to multiply for more color, or just a curves layer with the rest of the images masked. Personally, I think the slight haze to the sky and the mountains looks fine.
As for composition, the main subject seems to be the rocks jutting into the water, so while the foreground information does frame the shot, it's too pronounced and overpowering, so I keep getting pulled down. The fact that it's a little blurry doesn't help that much either.

Also, something seems to be wrong with your EXIF data, seeing as you mentioned this was shot with a 10-22mm, but your data says the focal length was 80mm.

How are you liking the 10-22 by the way? It's been my main lens for the better part of 3 years. Took getting used to, but now I never take it off.

[dhensley]

Originally Posted by Japaslavian

Also, something seems to be wrong with your EXIF data, seeing as you mentioned this was shot with a 10-22mm, but your data says the focal length was 80mm.

How are you liking the 10-22 by the way? It's been my main lens for the better part of 3 years. Took getting used to, but now I never take it off.

Oh my God....I am such a fool. I forgot I changed lenses to zoom in on the rocks. This was actually taken with my 28-135 USM IS. I cant believe I thought this photo was from my 10mm

As for the 10-22mm, I really love it for the shots that come out well. My biggest problem is composing the right scene (I'm just not much of an artist).

[Japaslavian]

Hah, well that explains the softness of the foreground.

But yeah, the 10-22 is tricky to get used to using because it includes so much information. I've never really had any success shooting it in the portrait orientation other than a few band promo shots I did a while back. It's great for utilizing negative space though, which is essentially what makes up a majority of my shots. You'll get used to it. Often times, the overly wide perspective it creates at 10mm can make something ordinary fairly interesting with little effort.

[Krusty79]

Your polarizer will have its maximum effect if you are shooting at a 90 degree angle to the sun. I can't tell where the sun is from this shot. You have a nice shot with some beautiful colors, but I don't know if the main subject is supposed to be the rocks or the water. I have learned on this site that if you start shooting at apertures smaller than about f/11, you start to get diffraction, which degrades the sharpness.

For anyone looking for composition and general help, I like to direct them to Ken's post:

Landscapes - the Best ways to Shoot them. What to do and What not to do

[Michael_2010]

Wish I could see the picture, but some wise guy computer geeks have filtered everything they deem a social networking site, including flickr. I will take a look when I get home later.

I got a 10-22mm recently for some architectural interior stuff I want to do this fall and for landscapes as time permits. I'm liking it, but it sure is a new animal. You have to change your thinking a little when using it.