Some older pics

These were not taken with a DSLR camera but would still like your input on my photos please. These photos were taken with a Sony DSC-H50. I need to get out and see what I can find to shoot with my new T1i soon

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#1 - Subject matter is great but it is OOF. You also want to be closer. The insects are certainly interesting but are such a small part of the overall image.

#2 - Nice shot, I only wish you took it with a wider lens

Really like the second one. A wonderful, tranquil mood and a "right place at the right time" feel.

If I may suggest -- burn in the sky quite a bit and do just a touch on the water to enhance the the after-sunset mood of the shot.

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Rimmer wrote in post #11578996
Really like the second one. A wonderful, tranquil mood and a "right place at the right time" feel.

If I may suggest -- burn in the sky quite a bit and do just a touch on the water to enhance the the after-sunset mood of the shot.

Thanks so much for your input. Very new to photography terms so I'm not sure what you mean by burn in? Can you explain please.
The software I use is Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 and Paint Shop Pro 12. This photo was actually shot not too long after sunrise.
I didn't use manual settings for any of these photos when the sun was rising and due to that all the earlier images were very grainy. I was so disappointed.

pelooyen wrote in post #11576494
#1 - Subject matter is great but it is OOF. You also want to be closer. The insects are certainly interesting but are such a small part of the overall image.

#2 - Nice shot, I only wish you took it with a wider lens

Thanks so much for your feedback. I'm learning about how to get my subject in focus. I couldn't get much closer without freaking out the little spider.

Lonestarlady61 wrote in post #11579536
Thanks so much for your input. Very new to photography terms so I'm not sure what you mean by burn in? Can you explain please....

Be glad to! Let me get back to my desktop later today where I have Elements installed and I will try to write out the steps. It's very easy to do.

Sunrise! Makes sense, when else would a fisherman be out?!

OK, here we go.

The nomenclature comes from film days and specifically from the enlarging process. When exposing the photo paper from a negative in the enlarger, "burning" meant to allow some additional light to fall on a specific region of the paper. Since it was a negative process, more light made that portion of the image on the paper darker. Conversely, "dodging" meant to shade an area so that less light fell on the paper. Less light meant less exposure, and that part of the image remained lighter. (Film exposure and printing is a "double negative" process. More light on film = darker negative = less light on paper = lighter print.)

Photoshop Elements (PSE) has a dodge and burn tool, but it doesn't work very well, and there is a better method that I have seen recommended many times in books and on the Internet. Here's how:

Starting with your image, create a new layer on top of it, set the blend mode to Overlay, and fill with 50% gray as follows:

Menu: Layer > New > Layer...
In dialog box: Mode (drop down) > change Normal to Overlay
Check box: Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)

(I'm quoting from PSE9 here, descriptive words may be slightly different in PSE7.)

Now to dodge and burn:

Make sure the foreground is set to black and the background is set to white (just press the "D" key). Select the brush tool (press the "B" key). Adjust the brush size as appropriate from the drop-down brush menu, or press "[" repeatedly for smaller and "]" repeatedly for larger (you will learn from experience how large you need). You probably want a soft-edged brush, which you can set from the brush menu, or press "Shift-[" to increase softness (four steps from hard to soft, and "Shift-]" goes back toward hard edge in four steps). Set the brush opacity fairly low. Experience will guide you as you learn, but try starting around 20%.

Make sure you have your new (50% gray) layer selected. Notice that since the blend mode is Overlay, it doesn't affect your image. Now "paint" with your black brush (be sure you are painting on the top layer, not the image!) and notice that the areas that you paint over get slightly darker. Change brush opacity to make the effect stronger or weaker. By using a low opacity brush you can build up the effect gradually by going over an area repeatedly. Repeated strokes and a soft-edged brush allow you to feather the effect so that it blends with the rest of the image.

Now swap foreground and background colors (press the "X" key) and paint some more with your white brush. Notice that as you paint, those areas of the image get lighter.

With a little practice you will master this quickly. Remember to use a soft-edged, low opacity brush. Usually a fairly large brush works best, but it depends on the size of the part of the image that you are trying to alter. Work carefully and you will be amazed at how natural the result looks.

Hope I got all of the details in here....

Rimmer wrote in post #11580093
OK, here we go.

The nomenclature comes from film days and specifically from the enlarging process. When exposing the photo paper from a negative in the enlarger, "burning" meant to allow some additional light to fall on a specific region of the paper. Since it was a negative process, more light made that portion of the image on the paper darker. Conversely, "dodging" meant to shade an area so that less light fell on the paper. Less light meant less exposure, and that part of the image remained lighter. (Film exposure and printing is a "double negative" process. More light on film = darker negative = less light on paper = lighter print.)

Photoshop Elements (PSE) has a dodge and burn tool, but it doesn't work very well, and there is a better method that I have seen recommended many times in books and on the Internet. Here's how:

Starting with your image, create a new layer on top of it, set the blend mode to Overlay, and fill with 50% gray as follows:

Menu: Layer > New > Layer...
In dialog box: Mode (drop down) > change Normal to Overlay
Check box: Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)

(I'm quoting from PSE9 here, descriptive words may be slightly different in PSE7.)

Now to dodge and burn:

Make sure the foreground is set to black and the background is set to white (just press the "D" key). Select the brush tool (press the "B" key). Adjust the brush size as appropriate from the drop-down brush menu, or press "[" repeatedly for smaller and "]" repeatedly for larger (you will learn from experience how large you need). You probably want a soft-edged brush, which you can set from the brush menu, or press "Shift-[" to increase softness (four steps from hard to soft, and "Shift-]" goes back toward hard edge in four steps). Set the brush opacity fairly low. Experience will guide you as you learn, but try starting around 20%.

Make sure you have your new (50% gray) layer selected. Notice that since the blend mode is Overlay, it doesn't affect your image. Now "paint" with your black brush (be sure you are painting on the top layer, not the image!) and notice that the areas that you paint over get slightly darker. Change brush opacity to make the effect stronger or weaker. By using a low opacity brush you can build up the effect gradually by going over an area repeatedly. Repeated strokes and a soft-edged brush allow you to feather the effect so that it blends with the rest of the image.

Now swap foreground and background colors (press the "X" key) and paint some more with your white brush. Notice that as you paint, those areas of the image get lighter.

With a little practice you will master this quickly. Remember to use a soft-edged, low opacity brush. Usually a fairly large brush works best, but it depends on the size of the part of the image that you are trying to alter. Work carefully and you will be amazed at how natural the result looks.

Hope I got all of the details in here....

Thanks so much for explaining it so clearly Rimmer. I'll have to try this out later on tonight.

The second looks pretty amazing, well captured.

Rimmer wrote in post #11578996
Really like the second one. A wonderful, tranquil mood and a "right place at the right time" feel.

If I may suggest -- burn in the sky quite a bit and do just a touch on the water to enhance the the after-sunset mood of the shot.

I thought that I posted the burn and dodge edit I did earlier but I don't see it. So I'll try again. Your instructions worked great. Not sure I got it right but I do have the concept down I think. From looking at your edit I think that I went too dark. Your edit looks great. I'll have to practice some more. Thanks again

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Great first try! I can't tell if it's too dark because I'm on my laptop right now, and everything looks dark on it. Anyway, a little practice and you will get the hang of it.

It's a handy technique to know about and is very useful for quick touch-ups. Sometimes just a quick sweep of the brush across an area to lighten or darken can really improve an image. Really works wonders on clouds and water, I think.