Desert shots...

[ScottDR]

Hello,

Would love some feedback on these two. This was my second time out trying RAW and I only used DPP around +2 sharpen, +2 contast then converted to JPG(and half sized after). These were taken mid-late afternoon near Pheonix, AZ with the camera and lens in my signature. Thanks in advance!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2388/2217443841_c3aa0522cd_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/2218238284_cd6ce5a752_b.jpg

[inthegarden]

Hi Scott,
Had time to pay a quick visit to the forums in between stuff I'm working on. I noticed that you had a number of visits but no replies. So I thought I would challenge myself to see if I could come up with something helpful.
The first one - I would say you might have tried lots of different angles. The refection is nice, but the surrounding foliage is not very interesting.
The second one - In my opinion the cactus in the foreground is distracting and adds nothing to the composition. So I cropped it out, placing the other cactus off center. I played around with blending modes to accentuate the contrast between light and shadow, and giving more of a feel of that warm glowy late in the day light.
By the way, I used photoshop cs2. If you don't care to do much image editing, then you could try shooting a little later and altering some of the settings on your camera, such as exposure compensation. Also, try learning a little more about composition, and try taking the shot from many different angles and heights.
Hope this is helpful and encouraging.
Cheers!

[Robert_Lay]

#1 is very nice - congratulations!

#2 seems to be a little overexposed or washed out. The treatment provided by inthegarden is an improvement.

[ScottDR]

Thanks for the feedback to you both. Robert, I looked at my settings in DPP and did actually increase the brightness a notch, oops.

[Kristy]

looks like you had another fun visit to the arboretum! I really enjoyed it there, so many things to photograph... :)

On the cactus shots, it is a bit bright. Shooting RAW gives you lots of control over the brightness/highlights... Something that we all to often have in excess here in the valley of the sun. Many times I find myself pulling down the highlight slider in my RAW editing program, pushing up the shadow a bit more, and bumping up the saturation... those few adjustments can really make a landscape image pop...

Have a look here and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about... I'm not posting it in your thread, because I don't want to draw attention away from your images... http://ksnyderphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/2550499#147754721 It's photo #30 in the gallery. :)

Not the most beautiful thing, but it was really sunny out that day and a few minor adjustments made the image much prettier. :)

[Robert_Lay]

looks like you had another fun visit to the arboretum! I really enjoyed it there, so many things to photograph... :)

On the cactus shots, it is a bit bright. Shooting RAW gives you lots of control over the brightness/highlights... Something that we all to often have in excess here in the valley of the sun. Many times I find myself pulling down the highlight slider in my RAW editing program, pushing up the shadow a bit more, and bumping up the saturation... those few adjustments can really make a landscape image pop...

Have a look here and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about... I'm not posting it in your thread, because I don't want to draw attention away from your images... http://ksnyderphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/2550499#147754721 It's photo #30 in the gallery. :)

Not the most beautiful thing, but it was really sunny out that day and a few minor adjustments made the image much prettier. :)

Very, very nice looking shots, Kristy. Thanks for sharing!

[ScottDR]

Thanks Kristy! Wow, it sure did make that image pop. I love the way it all got so vibrant and surreal!

[Kristy]

Very, very nice looking shots, Kristy. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Robert... coming from you that is a HUGE compliment. :) I'll be smiling for the rest of the evening now... :D

Thanks Kristy! Wow, it sure did make that image pop. I love the way it all got so vibrant and surreal!

You're welcome Scott... :) Although I'm more of a portrait person, I have a soft spot for a pretty lanscape shot. I've learned that the highlight/shadow detail can be manipulated quite a bit on a landscape to alter the appearance... Can't do that with people or you mess up their skin tones.. So I have fun playing around with things that can be subjective.. :)

Hope you have fun playing around in RAW and learning new things.. Learning is half the fun, so don't let yourself be frustrated or overwhelmed.. Just have fun, experiment and learn from your processes.. :)

If I can ever help, know that I'd be happy to. Although not the most knowledgable source... I'm still willing to share what I can.