Mt. Baker

[kimssmiling]

[EOBeav]

Do you have something specific you'd like some help on, or did you mean to post this in the SYS section?

[kimssmiling]

I'm sorry, Yes I do. Actually any help is welcomed. I think the snow looks washed out compared to the rest of the picture. What could I have done to help that? Was it the sun being straight above the mountain?

[EOBeav]

Generally speaking, the moderators here like you to have some specific questions about your image, and to also have you include the EXIF info. To help you out, I grabbed it from your Flickr account:


Camera Nikon D5000
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/20.0
Focal Length 55 mm
Focal Length 55.0 mm
Exposure Bias -4/3 EV

As per your question about the snow, I don't see a lot of blown out areas. As for the sun, my big no-no is to shoot images like this in the middle of the day. specifically because you're going to get some blown out areas. And if you're able to control the blown out areas, a lot of the rest of the image tends to be underexposed. Plus, the light that is hitting your subject tends to create some harsh shadows. Bright sunlight and deep shadows don't play nicely on a digital camera sensor. If you can, take this same photograph either just at sunrise or just at sunset and see how much better you like it. You'll probably need a tripod, or something else to keep your camera steady.

Other issues: You might want to also read up on something called white balance, which you adjust so that your blacks and whites don't have different color casts to them, like blue, yellow, magenta, etc... This image here tends to look a little blue-ish.

Oh, and your aperture setting seems a bit small to me. For a scene like this, you should be able to go somewhere between f/11 and f/16 and improve your sharpness/detail.

I took the liberty of making a quick edit to your picture, just so you can see the difference. It's not perfect, but you can see that I boosted your contrast and warmed up your white balance a little. Hopefully that was ok; if not, let me know and I'll remove it immediately.

This is a nice scene and I think has a lot of potential. Hopefully we get to see more of it soon! Here's a look at your image that I edited:

[kimssmiling]

Thank you and it is fine what you done to my pic. I do see the difference. It looks a lot better. Sorry I didn't post it right. It was my first post on in this forum. I'll make sure to do it right next time......
I knew I should NOT be shooting that type of pic at the time of day I was, just knew I had to get one since we were leaving the mountain for the day. I have started reading up on the White Balance. I guess I just have to play with it to really learn how it works???
Thanks again for the help.

[EOBeav]

Originally Posted by kimssmiling

I have started reading up on the White Balance. I guess I just have to play with it to really learn how it works???

Yes, and different editing programs allow you to adjust white balance differently. There are some tutorials right here on DPS that should help you get started.

Sometimes, you have to take a picture when you can, even if it's not ideal lighting conditions. In that case, you might want to consider doing a black and white photograph, but that would be a post for a different time. :-)

[Krusty79]

To add to EOBeav's comments, I would invest in a circular polarizer if you are going to shoot during the day. Depending on your angle relative to the sun, it can produce more vivid colors and reduce glare off non-metallic surfaces. However, avoiding the midday sun is still a better option.

If you shoot RAW, your RAW processing software lets you adjust the white balance (as well as other adjustments) of your images before you convert them to jpgs.

[kimssmiling]

Thank you Krusty. I do have a couple polarizers, just didn't have them with me at the time. I always shoot in RAW/JPEG setting. That way I have both pics to work with. I am still learning so much about photography. I have a long way to go. BUT I love it! I am so grateful for the advice and hints.