The *Official Photography Thread*

I was wondering if I could get your guy's critique of this edited image? I'm not really happy with the edits and I'm not sure what direction I should re-edit the image. I took like last Friday, and edited it on my laptop instead of my desktop so I think that's why I'm partly upset with the colors.

I think the image is too dark overall, but if I raise the exposure, I'll blow out the sun on the face of El Captain as well as loose the textures/definition on the clouds. I wanted to accentuate the yellows, so I went cooler on the white balance but I think it's a bit over done.

 

Monday

 

You need a bit of contrast in the sky. Maybe try shooting with a graduated ND filter or CPL. The thing is, the flat light doesn't help much at all. I'd like a little wider angle.

It's a classic for sure.

 

I'll have to look on my computer. If you have a high resolution one you wouldn't mind sending I could show my take too if you want.

 

Now that I'm on my computer, yeah could definitely use some more contrast. Light is fairly flat period so you'd have to pull out what you can. Looks sharp. Might be better in B&W though depending on what data can be pulled out of the original.

 

I agree that more contrast and structure in the clouds would make it pop, unless you were going for a dreamy effect. What software are you using to edit?

I hope you don't mind, but I did a quick edit of the jpg in Lightroom and made these adjustments.

+0.5 EV
+3 warmer color temp (not sure what that translates to for a raw photo, since I was editing jpg)
Grad filter at -1 EV for the sky
+10 Clarity
+35 Dehaze

 

Thanks! I really like your edit. I use capture one 12 instead of lightroom b/c I didn't want to pay for a subscription. I'll add some more contrast and I might add a mask over the sky to bring down the highlights in the sky while lifting the overall exposure.

 

Bradenton/Anna Maria area beaches?

 

Up the coast from there. Indian Rocks.

 

Is that Chimney Rock, near Courthouse Mountain? Regardless it’s a great photo.

 

It is.

 

Getting into this photography thing and learning more about RAW format and post-processing. Been using a Nikon D3400 and messing around in DarkTable with post-processing. If anyone has pointers or advice it would be greatly appreciated. DarkTable has so many damn modules, half which probably i would never touch. Also, please feel free to critique these edits below on some things you might change, I value all feedback.

Question!!! How do i remove that hazy-ness in the trees?

 

Not sure you can really get rid of that - but are these HDR's? You have really bad halos around your trees, and the treeline starts darker than it should too, not sure what's up with that but it looks odd. I know nothing about Dark Table.

 

What is your ISO? That can cause the haziness in the trees. Also I've noticed that strengthening the clarity will produce the "outlines" around objects where they meet the sky.

I shoot in Manual, ISO100. I'll adjust the exposure as needed for the shot. I'll lighten the shadows in Lightroom.

Here you can barely see the the outline around the trees on the right. Using a brush I'll touch up those areas in Lightroom to make it less noticeable.

 

You might bump the iso up to 200 for the day time. Also try either spot metering (set metering point to something that is neither the darkest or lightest part of the subject). You could also try +EV to brighten the overall exposure.

the halos are likely the result of processing. It might also happen if there’s too little data in the image (too few pixels).

 

Here's a good read on halos

https://www.duncanfawkes.com/blog/avoiding-halos

 

Might as well post it here too

 

They are not HDR's. DarkTable is basically just a free version of Lightroom though, but a little different. I think it has too many modules that do the same thing, but then again im just getting started so what do i know.

 

Must have gone a little overboard with sliders. I don't usually see that type of halo unless it's HDR.

 

The 1st picture is taken in Aperture Priority at F/5.6 & ISO100.

The 2nd picture was just in Auto mode from a while ago that I wanted to edit.

Im still learning a lot about DSLRs and photography in general. Trying to stay out of the auto mode and learn the camera for all its capabilities.