In over my head?

Recent convert from film to digital, and, taking most recommendations on here, I am shooting in raw and then attempting to post process in Lightroom2.

Beyond, adjusting the exposure to adjust right side clipping of histogram, and, black for the left, maybe a little contrast and sharpening..I dont have a clue at what else i should be looking at ..or..maybe I should just let lightroom adjust with the auto adjustment.. I did purchase a rather in depth book on using Lightroom (cant recall name and I am not near the book) but it is very in depth and confusing..

No camera clubs in my area that i could join and perhaps learn from others.. sometimes i feel i should just shoot in jpeg and let be what is to be..but i want more than than that...I read everything i can on here..but sometimes I am at a loss.

To sum it up...am I in over my head..or should i just keep plugging along?

I am pretty sure that one of my major problems right now is trying to work on a lap top (older) with out a calibrated monitor so lots of times i am not getting what i would like as far as prints. I am in the process of putting together a desk top computer, will work toward a good screen, and then the calibration software.....that appears to be another hurdle to climb.

Dont mind me..I am just expressing my frustration. Attached is photo taken in raw, cropped, auto adjustment and some sharpening...what do you think?

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One thing i definitley see is some noice. I would adjust that in post processing. Near the bottom in the development tab you will see an area for adjusting noise. Zoom in to the picture at 1:1 and fiddle with the settings. It will help reduce some of the grain im seeing.

Thanks..so ..the adustments are more a seat of the pants type thing? Adjust until it looks right?

Lightroom in more intuitive than CS, but only by a little. With that said, you can do some amazing things with it.

I recommend the following:

Scott Kelby's lightroom 2 book is awesome. Its broken into bite size morsals, and you can easily do a section a day and be an expert in a few months time.

Kelbytraining.com offers several great online training classes -- you can join for $20 a month and complete all the lightroom stuff in that time.

Lightroomkillertips.co​m. The name says it all!

Just keep taking pictures and it will feel less overwhelming as you move along.

I went through something similar but I never really got into film. Well, I started to. Bought a Minolta Maxxum in '97 and couldn't figure out where to learn from so I basically shot in auto.

I got into digital a year ago and am experiencing things similar to you. My PP skills are nill. I installed Lightroom, bought a book and am confused beyond belief. My monitor stinks so I just bought a Dell Ultrasharp...etc, etc...

I barely post pics because I don't PP. I shoot in RAW + JPG and am just now saying screw it, I will just put up the jpegs for now. When I figure out Lightroom, all the better.

Those are excellent pictures!

If you don't mind me asking, why make the switch at all? I shoot film, too, though I like the versatility of digital better. I was thinking, on the recommendation of someone here, of investing in a TLR medifum format camera and shooting slide film; learning that system.

I have a professional darkroom to use so its become more of a reality, recently, via the newspaperI work with (yes that's me in the column on the left; "through the lens"it's supposed to be every month but they haven't updated the website in a while).

Thanks for all the comments....I have played a little more with the pp of these two images...I guess that is what it is..play with it until it looks good to your eye

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Simply use your eye and instinct. I think you're worrying too much on technicalities. Your final PP's are looking like you're off to a great start. Don't sweat the big change. Give it time and you'll find digital can work for you.

Matt is right on this, i forgot to mention i have kelbys book and its fantastic. Its how i learned the program and he teaches it in a way where it becomes natural to you.

mattograph wrote in post #8279765
Lightroom in more intuitive than CS, but only by a little. With that said, you can do some amazing things with it.

I recommend the following:

Scott Kelby's lightroom 2 book is awesome. Its broken into bite size morsals, and you can easily do a section a day and be an expert in a few months time.

Kelbytraining.com offers several great online training classes -- you can join for $20 a month and complete all the lightroom stuff in that time.

Lightroomkillertips.co​m. The name says it all!

Your PP is definitley looking better with the last post. Keep toying with it!

sorry to sound stupid but with the lens line up you have,why have you got so much noise,
have you cropped the pictures really hard.

For beginners post processing definatly feels like you are adjusting "seat of the pants". But over time, you will be able to look at an image and think "needs more fill light' or "boost contrast" or whatever.

Changing from my 17" CRT screen to my 22" LCD made a huge difference, and then buying a Spyder2 to calibrate my screen completely took away any frustration I was having. Nothing worse then spending hours editing images and then you look on someone elses screen or print them out and they look like crap!

If you would like help with editing those bird pictures, it might help to post copies of originals so we can see what you have to work with...

I would be glad to post originals..except I am not sure how to re-size them. Thanks for all the comments.

And yes..they are cropped..I did not think they were cropped that bad. If someone can guide me on re-sizing to the required size, I will post originals.

Check this out!!

http://www.adobe.com …ir2am_videotuto​rials.html