Tree vs War

[baajero]

Hi guys,
I took this picture in an foggy afternoon. I think it has a great potential to tell a story but I feel it was let down by my composition. I would appreciate any feedback you can give me.
The other question is what do u guys use for metering in foggy conditions... do u just use matrix? the reason i'm asking is because I've been getting trouble with colors in foggy conditions?



Canon 60D
Shutter 1/13
ISO 400
F/8
Autobalance: AUTO
Metering: MAtrix

Much appreciated

[baajero]

God... I think I might have figured it out I should have taken the shot from behind the canon... through the aim of the canon on the tree.. but I would have needed a nicer sky to go behind the tree what do you think

[Krusty79]

I think a shot from behind the cannon will give you a better composition, but as far as the story goes, I'm not sure what a cannon pointed at a tree is supposed to say. I'd rather see it pointed at something in the water.

Shoot RAW and bracket your shots so you can still get a good image if your camera's meter is fooled by the fog.

Jeez, you had me spelling "cannon" as "canon" also!

[baajero]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

I think a shot from behind the cannon will give you a better composition, but as far as the story goes, I'm not sure what a cannon pointed at a tree is supposed to say. I'd rather see it pointed at something in the water.

Shoot RAW and bracket your shots so you can still get a good image if your camera's meter is fooled by the fog.

Jeez, you had me spelling "cannon" as "canon" also!

lol god i just noticed canon

The story is about nature standing in the face of war... There are too many cannon's firing back home (not the camera ) ... so the picture kinda spoke to me... it'll take a nature's intervention to stop the the wars around the world.

I'm sorry for sounding naive... can you explain a bit more about the bracketing thing... i'm not sure i understand

[Krusty79]

Here's a DPS article - Bracketing – What Is It and What to do with the Images?

I go into my settings, go to AEB and set it to take shots at -2 and +2. You don't have to use it for HDR - I prefer to use the bracketed shots so if I cannot get all of the light and dark areas exposed like I want, I can use one jpg for the highlights and one for the darker areas and make an exposure blend using a layer mask.

[baajero]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

Here's a DPS article - Bracketing – What Is It and What to do with the Images?

I go into my settings, go to AEB and set it to take shots at -2 and +2. You don't have to use it for HDR - I prefer to use the bracketed shots so if I cannot get all of the light and dark areas exposed like I want, I can use one jpg for the highlights and one for the darker areas and make an exposure blend using a layer mask.

Thanks krusty79 you've always been great help

[milosh]

Regarding composition, I would either like to see the other comp. that you're mentioning, or this one including the entire cannon (camera positioned more to the right and possibly a bit lower, placing the cannon near the lower right corner).

Bracketing is great technique to have under your belt, but it's not always necessary. Learn how to use manual and semi-manual modes (M, Av, Tv) and how to evaluate exposure using your camera's histogram, and then adjust exposure as necessary, and if you still can't obtain satisfactory exposure, then bracket.

The colour problem you're mentioning is due to wrong white-balance setting. You can either correct the colours (up to a certain level) in post-processing if you shoot in jpeg, but the complete control over WB is gained by shooting in RAW.

Here, I removed the blue colour cast from your photo, as an example.

[baajero]

Originally Posted by milosh

Regarding composition, I would either like to see the other comp. that you're mentioning, or this one including the entire cannon (camera positioned more to the right and possibly a bit lower, placing the cannon near the lower right corner).

Bracketing is great technique to have under your belt, but it's not always necessary. Learn how to use manual and semi-manual modes (M, Av, Tv) and how to evaluate exposure using your camera's histogram, and then adjust exposure as necessary, and if you still can't obtain satisfactory exposure, then bracket.

The colour problem you're mentioning is due to wrong white-balance setting. You can either correct the colours (up to a certain level) in post-processing if you shoot in jpeg, but the complete control over WB is gained by shooting in RAW.

Here, I removed the blue colour cast from your photo, as an example.

Thanks milosh for your comment I have been shooting fully manual for the past year. I do shoot RAW as well. I tried to correct the colours... but at the end just converted it to black and white... you can see it on my blog baajero.blogspot.com.
I think you are absolutely right... I need to brush up my skills in white balancing and histogram reading skills... I do know the basics but not as good as I should... I shoulhave thought about looking at the histogram while I was shooting at the scene... thank you kindly for bringing that up... I will post the new pictures once I get the chance to drive back there... I'll let you know and would be grateful for your advice