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06-29-2016, 11:00 AM - 1 Like   #1
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Hi guys!

So, this is a bit stressy, but here is a selection of my first DSLR pics, after starting photography for about one year on film before. I hope you see a lot of mistakes in them so that I can improve!

Context: we went on a road trip through the Croatian coast, from Krk to Dubrovnik and back, These are 21 of the roughly 200 pictures I kept of these 7 days. They are of very different kinds, as I can't really decide for now what I prefer to shoot. I do very little post processing, only some exposure and contrast if necessary.

Hope I'm doing this right!



Max

06-29-2016, 11:06 AM   #2
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It would be best if you post only one photo for critiquing, 21 photos are a bit much for members to critique all of them. You can make more posts for each one you want critique on.
06-29-2016, 11:29 PM   #3
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Ok, noted! I'll try this when I have a little more time...
06-30-2016, 06:52 PM   #4
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I would prefer to comment on the first offering. I understand that you are quite new, however in photography the goal is make the photograph interesting. The way to do that is to get a handle on composition. Which means you will also have to ask yourself, "What is the Subject?". Were this my photo, I would have avoided getting the pier on the right in the viewfinder, and also the lone ship on the left. Then I would have keyed in on getting only the two boats going from left to right. There are ways to learn composition, for example Youtube has excellent videos on this very subject. Of course only through practice and patience will you eventually develop your own style. I like the foothills in the background for contrast against a partly sunny, blue sky. If you stick with digital photography, you will have to learn Post Photo Editing Software. That will be unavoidable. So, do not feel discouraged. You made a fine effort for starting out.

Regards,

Antonio

07-01-2016, 10:43 AM   #5
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I think you can make a big difference with a little post-processing.

#1 level the horizon, pull down the highlights a bit to get a bit more texture in the sky and water.
#2 the silhouetted foreground is large, complex and dominates the shot as "negative space", bringing up the shadows a bit will add some texture. Don't over do it, or it will become too busy, and distract from your main subject for that reason
#3 the foreground silhouette is excellent, bringing up the mid tones a bit would brighten the water and help bring it out, but watch that you do not blow out the highlights, lose your sunset colours, or the fine detail in the clouds
#8 the highlights seem a touch bright, try bringing them down a bit e.g. using the midpoint slider in "levels"
#10 well done on the motion blur, like #8 this shot might benefit from pulling down the tone curve a bit

Shooting RAW really helps with tonal range changes, especially with the highlights, as it captures a greater range than when shooting JPEG, but you can still do a lot with JPEGs.

You've posted a lot of images, and there is a lot more that could be said. This is just what caught my eye at first, and can be easily improved with just a bit of editing. Much of this is subjective. Try it out, and if you don't like it by all means discard it. Also, try your own experiments with your editing program, and figure out what works for you.
07-04-2016, 09:51 AM   #6
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Hello,

First of all, thank you very much Cthulhugan for you comments. This is very valuable to me, as I said I am new to DSLR and I have no clue of what I am doing when I come to post-processing.

Could you maybe tell me what you mean with "bringing up the mid tones", "the midtone slider in levels", "pulling down the tone curve a bit"? I'm sorry if these are stupid questions...

Concerning the format, I do shoot RAW, as I was told exactly what you said.

I know these are a lot of pictures, and I will post much less next time. In the meantime I would like to thank you again for this feedback! This is what makes me want to improve.

Max
07-04-2016, 08:03 PM   #7
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Photo editing apps provide various tools to manipulate the tone curve, which is what is visualized by the histogram. This is often broken down into three zones: shadows, highlights and mid-tones. Bringing up the mid-tones means brightening the pixels that fall in the mid-tone range, which shifts that part of the histogram to the right. To keep things looking natural, the photo editor will adjust the shadows and highlights slightly, and keep a smooth tone curve. In your photo editor, look for something like "brighten mid-tones". Photoshop has a more complicated tool named "curves" that does this (IIRC Photoshop Elements has a button for this in the "Colour Curves" window). Most apps also have a "levels" window (including Photoshop and PS Elements), that shows the histogram along with control point sliders for the black point, white point and the 50% grey point. The middle control point can be dragged left to brighten the mid tones, or right to darken them. I mostly use "levels" for these adjustments. Play around with these controls to get a feel for how they work. If you mess up, undo is your friend.

07-05-2016, 03:05 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by Cthulhugan Quote
Photo editing apps provide various tools to manipulate the tone curve, which is what is visualized by the histogram. This is often broken down into three zones: shadows, highlights and mid-tones. Bringing up the mid-tones means brightening the pixels that fall in the mid-tone range, which shifts that part of the histogram to the right. To keep things looking natural, the photo editor will adjust the shadows and highlights slightly, and keep a smooth tone curve. In your photo editor, look for something like "brighten mid-tones". Photoshop has a more complicated tool named "curves" that does this (IIRC Photoshop Elements has a button for this in the "Colour Curves" window). Most apps also have a "levels" window (including Photoshop and PS Elements), that shows the histogram along with control point sliders for the black point, white point and the 50% grey point. The middle control point can be dragged left to brighten the mid tones, or right to darken them. I mostly use "levels" for these adjustments. Play around with these controls to get a feel for how they work. If you mess up, undo is your friend.
Once again thank you for your valuable feedback!

I am using Lightroom myself, and I do have a histogram in the "develop" window. I guess I can grab the shadow, highlights and mid grey points on this. I will try it as soon as I am back home!

Anyway, thank you for your help! I guess the best way to improve is taking more pictures and posting them here to get feedback of people who know what they're doing
07-14-2016, 05:27 AM   #9
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Hi,
I think that you have "an eye"
I like most of your pictures, except those two of flowers.
07-14-2016, 11:11 PM   #10
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Hi!

Wow, that's probably the nicest compliment I've ever had on my pictures! Thanks a lot!
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