I went through some old files and pulled out a few images that were really not worth much in the photography department but I thought they would be fun to use to finally devote some time learning to use Lightroom. None of these were DNG files, all JPEGs. (I know now what I didn't know then .)
Anyhow I would like to get some feedback on the PP. I have basically started on Chapter 1 in Martin Evening's book and am working my through it. Tough going. The original has been posted above those that have been through Lightroom. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

The first series is from Capitol Reef NP and the second group is from Lost Lake with a view of Mt. Hood.

[Jimbo]

I love lightroom and you are right Raw files gives you so many more pixels to work with, though Jpeg will still give ypou room to work with. I am heading out of town this week but so won't be able to get to this until I return. I was at Capital Ree too and have similar images to the two you posted. Love that area.Wish I had more time to help today Susan. JIM

[Jimbo]

Here is my image from the trip to Capital Reef. Cheers JIM

[slowpez]

I love lightroom and you are right Raw files gives you so many more pixels to work with, though Jpeg will still give ypou room to work with. I am heading out of town this week but so won't be able to get to this until I return. I was at Capital Ree too and have similar images to the two you posted. Love that area.Wish I had more time to help today Susan. JIM

Thanks Jimbo. I'm sure someone will chime in with some suggestions before too long. We were there at the same time that you all were at the workshop. Wish I had known it at the time - would have loved to have met you all. The images I remember seeing turned out so much better than anything that I came up with for sure.

[MSL]

I think you've nicely cropped the first one. It might be a little too bright. I think you've overbrightened and washed out the second. One question you might want to pursue if you are going to do a lot of this is whether the monitor your are using is well calibrated or not.

[slowpez]

I think you've nicely cropped the first one. It might be a little too bright. I think you've overbrightened and washed out the second. One question you might want to pursue if you are going to do a lot of this is whether the monitor your are using is well calibrated or not.

Thanks so much for your comments. I really doubt that my monitor is calibrated properly (really can't afford it right now). Now that you have pointed out that these are over-brightened I can see what you mean. I seem to have run the gamut from to dark to too light. Now I need to find a middle ground. I did think Mt. Hood looked better in the original. Again, thanks for your help.

[Den]

Remember to not wash out highlights and brighter areas when getting details out of shadows. Good PP is rarely, if ever, a one step process. Just like the old film and darkroom days of dodging and burning. Think Ansel Adams, even if it's in color. Just my opinion. I'm sure there are thousands more LOL

[Kerrowdown]

in Martin Evening's book

Aye he writes a good book, once you really get into Lightroom, it's amazing just how much PP can be done to an image.

[MSL]

Thanks so much for your comments. I really doubt that my monitor is calibrated properly (really can't afford it right now).

Susan, I don't think you need to have it calibrated, you just need to mentally compensate for its biases once you know what they are. In this case I have to wonder if it isn't showing images as bright as it should, just because you overcompensated on both pictures. I don't use Lightroom - I do most of my PP in FastStone. The nice thing is being able to flip between the original and PP at each stage, or to have them side by side. At times, and when I work on other peoples images to make a point, I often push to far just to show what can be done by tweaking the contrast or highlights or whatnot, knowing that I can then go back and start over with slightly less adjustment. In other words, it is good to push things too far at times, so that you can sense where the boundaries are.

[slowpez]

Susan, I don't think you need to have it calibrated, you just need to mentally compensate for its biases once you know what they are. In this case I have to wonder if it isn't showing images as bright as it should, just because you overcompensated on both pictures. I don't use Lightroom - I do most of my PP in FastStone. The nice thing is being able to flip between the original and PP at each stage, or to have them side by side. At times, and when I work on other peoples images to make a point, I often push to far just to show what can be done by tweaking the contrast or highlights or whatnot, knowing that I can then go back and start over with slightly less adjustment. In other words, it is good to push things too far at times, so that you can sense where the boundaries are.

You may be right or it may be that I am overcompensating because I have been told some of my images are too dark. Anyhow, I have gone back and reworked both images and looked at them side by side and the one of Mt. Hood is definitely improved but the one from Capitol Reef still doesn't look quite right. Sigh - I hate self-help books. There is no one there to tell you that you have over-helped yourself.

[Sailor]

These look pretty darn good to me, Susan. When I started out in digital photography several years ago with a then new DS2, I began using RAW from the beginning after some hurried studying prior to the Christmas day (on which I would get the camera). Consequently, I know no other way.

Jer

[Bob Harris]

Susan, over editing is my problem so I cut it way down to a minimum and now have tried to use the different in-camera filters in the camera to do most of the work. I can't see spending hours changing an image to the way you think it should be or the way someone else might like. What's wrong with the image the way it is most times with just some quick processing. I do like to play with abstract images and converting to b/w, but most of the time I just click on a "one step fix" button on Picasa or Corel, but I'm just an amateur who enjoys photography as a hobby not a profession.

[slowpez]

These look pretty darn good to me, Susan. When I started out in digital photography several years ago with a then new DS2, I began using RAW from the beginning after some hurried studying prior to the Christmas day (on which I would get the camera). Consequently, I know no other way.

Jer

Susan, over editing is my problem so I cut it way down to a minimum and now have tried to use the different in-camera filters in the camera to do most of the work. I can't see spending hours changing an image to the way you think it should be or the way someone else might like. What's wrong with the image the way it is most times with just some quick processing. I do like to play with abstract images and converting to b/w, but most of the time I just click on a "one step fix" button on Picasa or Corel, but I'm just an amateur who enjoys photography as a hobby not a profession.

Thanks Jer and Bob. I appreciate the input. Guess I'm just feeling that my images are missing the mark somewhat and they just need some PP to get them to where I want them to be. I'll just keep plugging away until I get there or at least think I have.

[Bob Harris]

Thanks Jer and Bob. I appreciate the input. Guess I'm just feeling that my images are missing the mark somewhat and they just need some PP to get them to where I want them to be. I'll just keep plugging away until I get there or at least think I have.

I find my photos look so much better after a couple of glasses of wine for some reason.

[slowpez]

I find my photos look so much better after a couple of glasses of wine for some reason.

Sometimes mine look great after a glass or two. Sometimes, after a glass or two I don't remember that I took any photos.