Two photos with the Nikon 18-55mm "kit lens" with a lens hood...

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to grab my Nikon D3500 with the common "kit lens" that came with it -- the 18-55mm AF-P DX f/3.5-4.5 G VR small zoom. I stood on an elevated walkway over the spillway/dam, almost looking into the sun, and had the tulip style lens hood on.

One photo is 24mm (I didn't like it at 18mm, as I had weeds and other junk on the sides), and the other is at 55mm.
I had my Nikon D3500 on "P"rogrammed Auto, so it chose the shutter speed and aperture, but would at lease allow me to make subtle changes it if I wanted...

24mm

They are over exposed. Not enough contrast as a result. The black aren't really black. You could have come down some and kept more detail in the fountain while not loosing anything in the tree line. Probably more a function of the time of day. Camera seems to be fine. Look at the histogram. Its all shoved to the right. These types of subjects can be a pain....

Thank you... My Nikon D3500 is practically brand new and has no problems at all. You are absolutely right in that I should have adjusted the aperture more to get rid of the glare and harshness.

It was midday right after lunch, and the sun was beating down too. Not exactly the best time for photography.

I learn as I go, always ask questions, and if I screw something up, I delete it and learn what NOT to do.

See what you can recover before you delete it. It will help ya learn how off you can be, and still pull an image back. I am surprised what current tools do with my older stuff taking with a Canon 10D and 20D. Not sure what the dynamic range of your camera, but there my be more there than at fresh blush.

Did you shoot it in RAW?

duckster wrote in post #19181026
Did you shoot it in RAW?

No, just the regular Jpeg mode.

Wow!!! I like it!! It's like a very subtle polarizing filter was added.