Picnic table on the river

[phil24]

I am new to this site and fairly new to digital photography. I am anxious to hear comments on how I can compose a better picture, perhaps adjustments that will make the photo "pop" when others look at it.


Hopefully, this is the correct link to the new flickr account I created. I included information on settings on this link except the time of day was early morning. I was driving by a park and it just caught my eye so I tried to get a quick shot before the crowd showed up.


Last item is if I need to do something different for posting please let me know, I am not easily offended and I know this is new to me so I expect to make a lot of mistakes

[Michael_2010]

You will have better results by dropping the ISO to 100 for landscape shots. Shooting in high resolution RAW will allow you to make exposure adjustments after the fact. This one looks slightly overexposed. That is causing a loss in saturation and washing out the sky. A circular polarizer is a very handy tool for a shot like this. It will deepen the blue of the sky and give you a little of that "pop" you want.

A B&W treatment might be an interesting variation.

[phil24]

Thanks for the input. I just found how to do the B& W settings for the camera and I will get back to try it again, (when the rain in Maine stops)

[Michael_2010]

Most folks never shoot in black & white these days. They prefer to have options, when they get back to their computers.

Are you using any image editing software yet?

I'm fairly new to dSLR's and only got serious about learning how to properly use one back in May. Most of what I have learned has come straight from DPS. So, you have found the right place. I'm sure others will be along sooner or later to give you some more specific tips.

[phil24]

I have a trail version of capture nx2 that I am trying to learn, but as with everything else I think it will take some time to figure everything out. I also have an Imac with the Iphoto which seems to do some good things.

I really like the idea of being able to create a good shot without the computer doing all of the adjustments. I know many things are controlled by the camera, but I am working on learning the manual adjustment process so when I take a shot it is my art not so much the technology. Probably crazy.

Thanks for your input and I hope to put up some other images in the near future that will bring more comments, but for now at least having one person comment is pretty cool!

[Michael_2010]

It is definitely best to take full advantage of your camera in the field as well as using good composure practices. However, you will find that some adjustments at your desk will still be needed to take an average photo up a notch or two.

That is not much different than the film days. Almost every professional, finished photograph you have viewed spent some time in the darkroom getting polished a little.

[upsidedown]

Originally Posted by Michael_2010

You will have better results by dropping the ISO to 100 for landscape shots. Shooting in high resolution RAW will allow you to make exposure adjustments after the fact. This one looks slightly overexposed. That is causing a loss in saturation and washing out the sky. A circular polarizer is a very handy tool for a shot like this. It will deepen the blue of the sky and give you a little of that "pop" you want.

A B&W treatment might be an interesting variation.

I completely agree with this and would like to suggest a tiny bit of counter-clockwise straightening.

[phil24]

Thanks for the input, I see the tilt now that you mentioned it. Good point for me to look at in future framing.