landscapes.

[Katy Noelle]

Here are some more landscapes. They are not the nearest and dearest things to my heart but I'm practicing for the real moment. I tried out a bit of what you guys suggested. (I need to finish reading all of your recommendations, though.) How do the colors look? What do you think about the compositions? (I was feeling compositionally challenged, that evening.) What about exposures? We haven't had blue skies for ages. It might be easier, when I'm not trying to catch a shadowy land AND sky like this. (I used the evaluative metering. Thanks, for the suggestion for that. I've read the book, read the tutorial but was still a bit confused. I'm making strides with my understanding of that.) I, also, adjusted the "picture style" on the 450d and made my own, in camera filters. (Lacking any real filters, at present) Especially for the last one (sunset) - I did that "on the fly" and didn't adjust it very much at all afterwards. Also, the closeup on the hills was sooc and I wanted to know what you thought of the color. Am I rambling, btw?

comments and/or criticism, anyone? Thanks!!!

[ScoutR]

Hi Katy, you don't look compositionally challenged to me. I'll leave the real critique to the experts, but my favourites are 1, 3, and 4 in no particular order. In number 3 just bring up the shadows a bit...oops, I said I would leave that to the experts.
Lovely area Vermont, I was there years ago, and would love to visit again, especially this time of year.
Hope you get lots of feedback on these.

Wendy

[Katy Noelle]

Hi Katy, you don't look compositionally challenged to me.

Lovely area Vermont, I was there years ago, and would love to visit again, especially this time of year.
Hope you get lots of feedback on these.

Wendy

Thanks, Wendy!

I think that it had something to do with the barbed wire. I should have tried to take an emotional shot of THAT!

I hope that you can come and visit Vermont again. It's such a special place. I try not to take it for granted. It looks like you live in a beautiful place, too, though!!!

[ScoutR]

Thanks, Wendy!

I think that it had something to do with the barbed wire. I should have tried to take an emotional shot of THAT!

yes the old rock fences compared to the modern barbed wire. Hmmmm which do I prefer

I hope that you can come and visit Vermont again. It's such a special place. I try not to take it for granted. It looks like you live in a beautiful place, too, though!!!

There are many similarities, the farms and forests, lots of maple trees, but I don't have any mountains and not even very many hills.

Wendy

[arith]

I like the light in #3, I wonder what it was like half an hour earlier but it is very nice.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Katy,

I agree with Wendy (I often do), #1, #3 and #4 for me.

They all suffer from excessive contrast and an element of foreground underexposure.

I had a quick 'play' with #1, what do you think?



I could tell you what I did, but I'm not sure how helpful that would actually be, because a lot of it was because I only had the small 8 bit jpg to work with, all the numbers would be different if working on the full size RAW original.

In broad terms; Levels, Local Contrast Enhance, Sharpen, Clone, Save

What do you use to PP?

Cheers,

[Katy Noelle]

Hi Katy,

I agree with Wendy (I often do), #1, #3 and #4 for me.

They all suffer from excessive contrast and an element of foreground underexposure.

I had a quick 'play' with #1, what do you think?



I could tell you what I did, but I'm not sure how helpful that would actually be, because a lot of it was because I only had the small 8 bit jpg to work with, all the numbers would be different if working on the full size RAW original.

In broad terms; Levels, Local Contrast Enhance, Sharpen, Clone, Save

What do you use to PP?

Cheers,

I only have iphoto, at the moment, only because I feel like I have a lot to learn with my new camera and feel a little overwhelmed when thinking about learning photoshop, too. Also, truthfully, because, we have a version of photoshop somewhere around here on disc but my DH doesn't know where it is and the CD player is broken on my computer. I picked a strange hobby for a poor person!

Anyway, this looks so much better. I just couldn't seem to get the right balance when I was working on it. I think that very, very soon, something is going to have to happen about photoshop!

The wall with the yellow goldenrod was sooooooo beautiful and the clouds parted and the light shone on it and I just couldn't get it!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Katy,

FWIW, I did this with Elements 8 - I am still lost with CS5 and I can't find half the things I want to use

So for 'quick edits' like this, Elements gets used

I am certainly no Photoshop (or Elements) expert, I just 'know a few moves' that get the effective results quickly (and dirtily) and re-use them incessantly

Cheers,

[Katy Noelle]

Maybe I should have put this one in instead.

[Katy Noelle]

I like the light in #3, I wonder what it was like half an hour earlier but it is very nice.

This is what the sky was at a quarter turn to the right, half an hour before.

[Dave Humphries]

This is what the sky was at a quarter turn to the right, half an hour before.

Nice picture Katy.

Hope you don't mind ...


Not recommended on a jpg, but I copied to a new layer and processed one of sky, the other for the foreground, then erased the foreground of the sky layer revealing the treated foreground beneath.

I was trying to increase the "ray" effect in the sky, improve cloud contrast and give some detail below.

Cheers,

[Dave Humphries]

Maybe I should have put this one in instead.

No, I prefer the composition of the first shot like this (#2) and that wasn't great (sorry) - I think you needed to get closer - there's just too much else (in both pictures); rocks and/or posts and/or trees, etc.

One of those shots where what you saw just doesn't come out well - but I bet I take more like that than you do, based on what I have seen both here and on your blog, so don't be dis-heartened.

[Katy Noelle]

No, I prefer the composition of the first shot like this (#2) and that wasn't great (sorry) - I think you needed to get closer - there's just too much else (in both pictures); rocks and/or posts and/or trees, etc.

One of those shots where what you saw just doesn't come out well - but I bet I take more like that than you do, based on what I have seen both here and on your blog, so don't be dis-heartened.

Don't worry! It was beautiful but I was leaning over some rusty barbed wire and quickly abandoned the idea. I wasn't sure why I wasn't getting it but I'll just move on.

[Katy Noelle]

Nice picture Katy.

Hope you don't mind ...


Not recommended on a jpg, but I copied to a new layer and processed one of sky, the other for the foreground, then erased the foreground of the sky layer revealing the treated foreground beneath.

I was trying to increase the "ray" effect in the sky, improve cloud contrast and give some detail below.

Cheers,

Thanks so super much, Dave! I don't mind your adjustments at all. It was sooc - not even straightened - I had no idea how to fix it or what it should look like. I can read and read about photography but, there's nothing like having people point out the flaws in what I'm actually doing. I mean, that's why I'm here.