First post of young rookie..please critique :)

Jred wrote in post #9261175
So true...here are is an image with and w/o PP done in aperture.

wow that's amazing...i need to learn how to use photoshop..do you know some online courses of pp?

I suggest you look into lightroom, smoother workflow if you ask me.

Good luck.

jazzyjazz wrote in post #9262550
wow that's amazing...i need to learn how to use photoshop..do you know some online courses of pp?

It was not done in photoshop, it was done in Aperture. I have a iMac and downloaded the free trial. Only been using it for a week, learning curve is pretty reasonable IMHO.

Nice start, I would say. In #5, I would have her turn her head more to her left so the nose is not extending beyond her face...in other words, let it fall on her right check.

In regard to training material try http://www.lynda.com/ - they have some free online tutorials. Just specify what software program you're interested in at the top of the webpage.

Regarding your PP question - if you shoot RAW there will certainly be some amount of PP. RAW is for the most part unprocessed in camera and will require some adjustments. Jpeg images can be customized in camera and creating images that do not require PP is possible. However; SHARPENING should always be the last process in PP. This is because the amount of sharpening is dependant on the use of the image. It can be different for printing a large image i.e 19 X 13 in vs 4 X 5 in photo. Same is true regarding sharpening techniques if posting online or emailing.

The thought process should be to get it right in camera when shooting. For instance, not much can be done in the image editing program regarding bad composition/subject matter. Same holds true if the depth of field is off or the image is oof (out of focus). Watch the light - light is one of the most important aspects of photography. It can make or break a photo. Looks like you see that already.........

All that said, you definitely have some interesting images here. PP could help to even out the exposure of the silhouettes of the two boys - in the staircase.

Keep it up!

seaside wrote in post #9266502
In regard to training material try http://www.lynda.com/ - they have some free online tutorials. Just specify what software program you're interested in at the top of the webpage.

Regarding your PP question - if you shoot RAW there will certainly be some amount of PP. RAW is for the most part unprocessed in camera and will require some adjustments. Jpeg images can be customized in camera and creating images that do not require PP is possible. However; SHARPENING should always be the last process in PP. This is because the amount of sharpening is dependant on the use of the image. It can be different for printing a large image i.e 19 X 13 in vs 4 X 5 in photo. Same is true regarding sharpening techniques if posting online or emailing.

The thought process should be to get it right in camera when shooting. For instance, not much can be done in the image editing program regarding bad composition/subject matter. Same holds true if the depth of field is off or the image is oof (out of focus). Watch the light - light is one of the most important aspects of photography. It can make or break a photo. Looks like you see that already.........

All that said, you definitely have some interesting images here. PP could help to even out the exposure of the silhouettes of the two boys - in the staircase.

Keep it up!

Thanks very much for all your tips..step by step i start to understand how complicated is photography..i mean how much should you know/be able to do to call this what you're doing - a photography! But it really catched me! last three days i spent most of the time with my camera/reading forum and trying to understand things. I'm professional musican and now i start to see that emotions that comes through good image are similar to this that comes with sound...

If some of you has time and will to edit my pictures that i can see what is wrong it would be appriciated

Thanks very much! Goodnight (here in italy it's now 2:30 am

I had to edit this post as I saw your website just after Chris! That's amazing I love your images!!!!!!! I wish i could make photos like these one day ...I have to start to think about some zoom

Except for the photo of the little girl in red I don't believe there is one photo that does not have blown whites. Also, the blacks are clipped on a number of photos. Exposure is of crucial importance. Learn about that. A good way to learn is when you take a photo, then take it again with different shutter speeds/aperture and take it a third and fourth time and then afterwards when you download them into your computer, you can look at what the different exposures did with the image. Learn to read the histogram so you can check immediately after taking a photo and you can adjust settings and take the shot again. Postprocessing gives you some great tools, but it cannot restore information that is simply not there, like in the clipped whites and blacks.

Postprocessing is not only used to correct flaws in the original shot, but for instance to place emphasis on something. Take your first photo. It's a lovely picture of a lovely flower. But it's also a bit bland. If you enhance contrast and boost saturation of the flowers a bit whilst slightly desaturating the green leaves in the background, you get an image that would put the flowers center stage. Make it a bit brighter and this image would really pop!

Hope this helps.

levinader wrote in post #9267740
Postprocessing is not only used to correct flaws in the original shot, but for instance to place emphasis on something. Take your first photo. It's a lovely picture of a lovely flower. But it's also a bit bland. If you enhance contrast and boost saturation of the flowers a bit whilst slightly desaturating the green leaves in the background, you get an image that would put the flowers center stage. Make it a bit brighter and this image would really pop!

Hope this helps.

You mean something like that?

Well, your edit is an improvement in that the photo has more colour and contrast now, but the background is still just as present as it was and the flowers still don't stand out. With a photo like that, I would want to put emphasis on the flowers and isolate them a bit from the background. Here is an example of what I mean. I only had the jpeg to work with of course, and you can do much more, but hopefully now you get a better idea of what I mean.

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levinader wrote in post #9270260
Well, your edit is an improvement in that the photo has more colour and contrast now, but the background is still just as present as it was and the flowers still don't stand out. With a photo like that, I would want to put emphasis on the flowers and isolate them a bit from the background. Here is an example of what I mean. I only had the jpeg to work with of course, and you can do much more, but hopefully now you get a better idea of what I mean.

That's interesting. I never really thought about De-emphasizing, but it makes lots of sense.

Appreciate your sharing.

You're most welcome.
I'm on a Mac too by the way and started out using Lightroom before I switched to Photoshop and the Bridge. But Aperture, like Lightroom, is a great application and more than enough for basic editing. However, to do what I did with this image you need something more sophisticated, like Photoshop. Or you could try out Gimp, which is free. I don't know it myself, but I hear good things about it.

You are getting good advice, so I'll keep mine simple. Love the shot of the little girl in the orange tunnel thing. You are in Italy so just remember what Michelangelo did with his sculpturing--he eliminated all the marble that wasn't needed. You can do the same with your images. get in tight in the camera viewfinder--down to the point where you see no sky--when you think you are too close, you may be just right. Use the focus point adjustment to move the little red box to the top of which ever way you orient the camera and put it on the subject's eye.

Then, in your editing program crop out anything that detracts from the object of most importance--just as Michelangelo chipped away the excess stone.

Thanks a lot for all your tips! Now I'd like to present my first picture with pp...Firstly it was fully coloured picture with oveblown white on all the sky and black on hairs and jacket. Please comment

What does all that sky contribute? How about the wall corner? This is what you have when you eliminate the excess: A beautiful woman, whom you can tell is at a beach.

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I agree, there is too much sky. Still, I wouldn't crop it that tight but give her a bit of breathing space. Also, by doing so the Rule of Thirds starts to work and in this case I think that would make a better photograph. I also removed some of the sepia. Personal likes and dislikes of course... Here's my edit:

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