AVForums

Our philosophy in our forums, reviews, podcasts and feature videos is to promote audio and visual excellence by gathering and sharing the best information and resources available.

Help

To begin please visit our help section »

Not a Member Yet?

It only takes a minute to start enjoying the benefits of AVForums membership, and it's free!

Member Log in

Can I do it?

Post Reply
Old 20-12-2007, 7:44 PM   #1
Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Experience Points:
4,401, Level: 15
Points: 4,401, Level: 15 Points: 4,401, Level: 15 Points: 4,401, Level: 15
Activity: 0.4%
Activity: 0.4% Activity: 0.4% Activity: 0.4%
Thanks: Gave 3, Got 8
Posts: 380
Can I do it?

OK so a complete DSLR newbie looking for your advice on where to improve - be gentle! Taken with 400d and kit lens





The rest are hiding at http://www.bexpics.fotopic.net/c1426996.html
  Quote
Old 20-12-2007, 9:12 PM   #2
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Experience Points:
12,951, Level: 27
Points: 12,951, Level: 27 Points: 12,951, Level: 27 Points: 12,951, Level: 27
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 36, Got 547
Posts: 2,713
Re: Can I do it?

Yep, you certainly can

Some lovely pics actually. One tip though - for landscapes switch to Aperture Priority mode, and try different apertures for each shot. The higher the f-number, the deeper the depth of field (ie more of the picture in sharp focus).

I took the liberty of cropping this one...



and changing the sky to something more sunrisey...



I boosted the colour, increased the contrast, changed the levels a bit, and sharpened it a smidge as well. So my other tip is to have fun with Photoshop
  Quote
Old 20-12-2007, 9:15 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Paranormalist's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern Ireland
Experience Points:
10,827, Level: 24
Points: 10,827, Level: 24 Points: 10,827, Level: 24 Points: 10,827, Level: 24
Activity: 3.1%
Activity: 3.1% Activity: 3.1% Activity: 3.1%
Thanks: Gave 1,339, Got 622
Posts: 2,528
Re: Can I do it?

I've had a look - nice set.
Being a relative newbie myself (6 months now) all I can say is keep taking photos as much as possible because there's nothing like practice.
If you haven't already bought photo editing software it may be something to think about. You could increase the contrast and saturation for instance to help give your images more punch or convert a photo to B&W.
  Quote
Old 20-12-2007, 9:23 PM   #4
Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Experience Points:
4,401, Level: 15
Points: 4,401, Level: 15 Points: 4,401, Level: 15 Points: 4,401, Level: 15
Activity: 0.4%
Activity: 0.4% Activity: 0.4% Activity: 0.4%
Thanks: Gave 3, Got 8
Posts: 380
Re: Can I do it?

wow yandros that looks lovely - I have PSE5 at home but am still learning how to do neat tricks like that. Funnily enough I upped the contrast on all the pics and hated it as they didnt have that dreamy feel that I remembered when taking them!
  Quote
Old 20-12-2007, 9:38 PM   #5
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Experience Points:
12,951, Level: 27
Points: 12,951, Level: 27 Points: 12,951, Level: 27 Points: 12,951, Level: 27
Activity: 0%
Activity: 0% Activity: 0% Activity: 0%
Thanks: Gave 36, Got 547
Posts: 2,713
Re: Can I do it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Madkitty View Post
wow yandros that looks lovely - I have PSE5 at home but am still learning how to do neat tricks like that. Funnily enough I upped the contrast on all the pics and hated it as they didnt have that dreamy feel that I remembered when taking them!
Actually my girlfriend looked over my shoulder and said she rather liked the dreamy quality of the original, so your instinct is quite right methinks (she has better artistic eye than me usually)

Here's a halfway house - cropped, sharpened, and with a milder 'sunrise' effect (created with a couple of colour control points in Nikon Capture NX incidentally)

  Quote
Post Reply



Thread information and display options
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off