Need help with post processing. First month with DSLR

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

So, I got a camera for Christmas. I've never had any experience with photography, needless to say, I am overwhelmed with all that goes into taking photos. Thank God for this site, it's made the learning curve easier.

Anyway, I took my first set of night shots last night, and do not like the way the sky turned out. I was wondering:
1. If this was a result of my settings
2. If it isn't, that's just the color of the sky, how can I improve it with post processing. I have photoshop 7.

Here's the photo




Thanks for any help

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

Originally Posted by Dr_Fu_Manchu

So, I got a camera for Christmas. I've never had any experience with photography, needless to say, I am overwhelmed with all that goes into taking photos. Thank God for this site, it's made the learning curve easier.

Anyway, I took my first set of night shots last night, and do not like the way the sky turned out. I was wondering:
1. If this was a result of my settings
2. If it isn't, that's just the color of the sky, how can I improve it with post processing. I have photoshop 7.

Here's the photo




Thanks for any help

[autofocus]

Is it the color of the sky you don't like? If so, both the foreground and the sky can be changed, and both should be done to look natural

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

Originally Posted by autofocus

Is it the color of the sky you don't like? If so, both the foreground and the sky can be changed, and both should be done to look natural

Yes, I would like them to look more natural. But as I said, I am completely new to this and am clueless as to how to improve the photo via PhotoShop

[autofocus]

Changed the sky and foreground color by going to Hue Saturation tool and adjusting the red channel saturation and lightness settings by dragging both sliders to the left...just play with those until you see something that you like. You can wind up with a near black sky and foreground as in my example below if that's more what you are looking to achieve.

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

Thanks auto, thats an improvement. I'll donthat

[mrteacherdude]

One of your first questions was whether or not you had a camera setting issue. I looked at your exif data and it indicates that you manually set your white balance to "cool white fluorescent." I don't actually know what the correct white balance setting would be for a scene like this, but I'm thinking that what the camera was set for is not the one you needed. If you have a RAW version of this file, you can open it and change the white balance setting to see if it gives you better results.

Since you are pretty new to this, you may want to leave your camera on automatic white balance until you get the hang of it; I find that the camera generally (not always) does a pretty good job in selecting the correct white balance for the scene. Otherwise, shoot in RAW and adjust white balance, if needed, after.

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

Originally Posted by mrteacherdude

One of your first questions was whether or not you had a camera setting issue. I looked at your exif data and it indicates that you manually set your white balance to "cool white fluorescent." I don't actually know what the correct white balance setting would be for a scene like this, but I'm thinking that what the camera was set for is not the one you needed. If you have a RAW version of this file, you can open it and change the white balance setting to see if it gives you better results.

Since you are pretty new to this, you may want to leave your camera on automatic white balance until you get the hang of it; I find that the camera generally (not always) does a pretty good job in selecting the correct white balance for the scene. Otherwise, shoot in RAW and adjust white balance, if needed, after.

Excellent catch...and a poor mistake on my part. Earlier in the day I was taking pictures inside. The lighting was fluorescent, I never changed back. I do have the raw file and will make the change. Thanks

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

Originally Posted by Dr_Fu_Manchu

Excellent catch...and a poor mistake on my part. Earlier in the day I was taking pictures inside. The lighting was fluorescent, I never changed back. I do have the raw file and will make the change. Thanks

Thanks Mr. Teacher Dude, I did that and am happier with the result.

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

BTW - How were you able to see my settings?