Am I on the right track?

[MillennialDusk]

Hi, everyone. I am really glad that I found this site; it's quickly become a first resource when I have a question about how something works. As I am brand new to all of this (shooting with a DSLR instead of a phone, any kind of processing of a picture... all of it), I've been trying to take it slowly and figuring out the camera, and how to capture the best shot possible. Recently, I've been pouring through the digital photo editing workflow to see how to get the most out of the shots I've been capturing. So, I got a shot that I was really glad to capture, and tried to work through the workflow to see how I did, following the guide step by step. I did this only using ViewNX 2 (My camera is a Nikon D3200) and the included tools, and I'd like some feedback on how the results look.

First, here's an export of the raw file that I started with from ViewNX2 with no edits:




So, after following step by step through the Post-processing workflow guide, this is what I ended up with:



So, what I'd like to know is am I on the right track with the whole post processing thing?

This is a view down the street where I live early in the morning. What I was really trying to capture is the way the lower clouds captured the early morning sun, reflecting all of the red tones against a blue background. So it was really important to me that the different levels of the clouds and sky had some depth to them. Is there anything I could have done to better achieve this effect?

How much of a difference could I expect in using some other tool besides ViewNX2 (Lightroom, Photoshop, or some combination)?

As I mentioned, I'm completely brand new to all of this, so any input that can be shared is greatly appreciated.





Also, just for reference, here's the camera output of the JPEG when I shot the picture:

[flashback]

MD,
Here is a quick attempt on your image. All I did was apply a small amount of Unsharpen Mask, then adjusted the levels a bit, and then a final bit of Sharpen.
I only used GIMP (which is a free image editor) for the above. I also use RawTherapee (also free) in processing my images, generally RT first and then GIMP.
I am by no means an expert and there are many others here who are very adept at PP using the top tier image editors. But I have found that the aforementioned two do what I need from them rather nicely and, importantly, easily. The learning curve is not too steep (though there are many facets of GIMP I've yet to explore.)
Likely you'll be advised to edit your profile with at least a first name, as it is a more friendly way to address you rather than by your screen name. And knowing (generally) where you reside assists in offering advice on where to purchase, repair or rent equipment.
Welcome to the club ;-)

[IzzieK]

Gimp will also remove the electrical wires at the left side of the shot. But it will not add your location and real name which you need to fill in through your personal profile. Thanks.

[Manfred M]

The nice thing about sunrise and sunset shots is that there is no "right answer" in terms of colour accuracy and you can interpret the results pretty broadly and get something you can be proud of.

One thing one has to watch out for is the loss of shadow details; this is where things in shadow are totally black and all subtle details do get lost. I suspect this is happening here with the back-lit trees. You might want to look at how this is affecting the image. I wonder how much the tree on the right is actually helping your composition.

[FootLoose]

Julius, welcome to CinC and congratulations on graduating from a phone to a real camera

[Shadowman]

Going beyond ViewNX2 will give you white balance adjustments and noise reduction filters, plus quite a few other editing functions you might find useful.

[MillennialDusk]

Thanks, everyone, for the welcome and for the feedback.

MD,
Here is a quick attempt on your image. All I did was apply a small amount of Unsharpen Mask, then adjusted the levels a bit, and then a final bit of Sharpen.
I only used GIMP (which is a free image editor) for the above. I also use RawTherapee (also free) in processing my images, generally RT first and then GIMP.

Thanks, Jack! I like what you did with it, but I think that what I really wanted to get is somewhere between what I ended up with and your quick run. It's good to see what else is possible with it.

Going beyond ViewNX2 will give you white balance adjustments and noise reduction filters, plus quite a few other editing functions you might find useful.

I will definitely be moving beyond ViewNX; I just haven't had time to evaluate to what. I don't I have the photography skill level or purpose to justify a move to something like Lightroom. (The same reason I never bothered with photoshop, when I could draw a circle around something in an image with Paint.)

MD,
I only used GIMP (which is a free image editor) for the above. I also use RawTherapee (also free) in processing my images, generally RT first and then GIMP.
I am by no means an expert and there are many others here who are very adept at PP using the top tier image editors. But I have found that the aforementioned two do what I need from them rather nicely and, importantly, easily. The learning curve is not too steep (though there are many facets of GIMP I've yet to explore.)
Likely you'll be advised to edit your profile with at least a first name, as it is a more friendly way to address you rather than by your screen name. And knowing (generally) where you reside assists in offering advice on where to purchase, repair or rent equipment.
Welcome to the club ;-)

Gimp will also remove the electrical wires at the left side of the shot. But it will not add your location and real name which you need to fill in through your personal profile. Thanks.

I had actually forgotten about GIMP, somehow...Not that I would have even thought to use it for this if I did remember. A few years ago I used GIMP almost on a weekly basis, but for only a very select few basic things (handling .PNGs for transparency, and for blurring out confidential information in jpegs for powerpoint) for work, because the company couldn't spring for Photoshop.

The nice thing about sunrise and sunset shots is that there is no "right answer" in terms of colour accuracy and you can interpret the results pretty broadly and get something you can be proud of.

One thing one has to watch out for is the loss of shadow details; this is where things in shadow are totally black and all subtle details do get lost. I suspect this is happening here with the back-lit trees. You might want to look at how this is affecting the image. I wonder how much the tree on the right is actually helping your composition.

That was one of the frustrations I had with this particular picture. I've seen some tutorials on HDR images (one for GIMP even), and will try that out when I have time. As I'm learning more, I'm suspecting that a lot of the pictures that have the effect that I wanted (of really separating or highlighting the distance between the clouds catching the light from the blue sky farther above) were probably HDR photos.

The tree is probably not helping my composition at all, not that I actually know what I'm doing. I do know that because the shadow and color detail are lost, it looks like one big, dark, recognizable as greenery, blob, instead of what I originally (Before I decided to crop it like I did) intended, which is just highlight the lining of the street with the trees. The biggest reason for this shot though, was to see what I could do with the sky. When I figure out how to do that, there's a couple spots I have picked out to put into practice those aspects of things.

Thanks again everyone.