First RAW

Ok, this is the first time I've every played with a RAW and the first time I've experimented with shadows taking over a subject. Again, my poor dog is all I have to experiment with right now. You can even tell by the picture he looks upset at me.

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another RAW and shadow play

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Welcome to RAW, hope you keep with it! Sharp images, good color and a cute dog but I'm not too crazy about them.

I'm not sure I follow your use of shadows. are you just adjusting the raw photo itself, or using post processing to 'draw' in shadows (ie in photoshop). I dont really see what effect you are trying for in either photo. Both seem to convey a sort of voyeuristic and amateur-look, which can work in certain situations if done on 'purpose'.

I see picture 1 being over saturated. #2 has better color/contrast.

thanks for the feed back. yes, very ameteur I know. These were actually the very first photos I took with my new Canon XT (always used point and shoot before)

As for "what I was trying to do" - I really couldn't say. They were very badly taken pictures as far as clarity and the background. There was a lot of shadows in the original photo so I thought I would just work with it. Some of my favorite photos are where there's mostly dark and then there's this intense object with light. Obviously it didn't really work for me here - but that's what I saw in my head. Perhaps I should find the un-touched RAW photos and post them untouched. Then maybe you guys could see what I was working with and maybe going after.

Obviously I'm very new at this, but I do appreciate the feed back and any input that will help the learning.

You'd find it helpful to try to visualise the end image, but I think that it's great that you're thinking of trying to get something different. Keep at it, and one day it'll all come together.