"Park Walk" my first image post

[Carl in Louisiana]

It was very cloudy this morning and I was just out shooting a little and trying to get use to the 60D. I would like to have honest feed back and what I need to do different so please chime in. I want to learn everything I can to become better. I used the color curves in Panit.net to darken the image a little more and that was it besides resizing.

[FrankMi]

Hi Carl. I think I'd be tempted to crop about 20% of the water off the bottom which would put the subject more on the 1/3rd line. Give it a try and see what you think.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Okay I cropped it down some and it does look better with less water.

[Donald]

Okay I cropped it down some and it does look better with less water.

Definitely.

We didn't need to see all that water in order to get the story about us being on a lakeside. There needs to be a good readon to include a lot of water that doesn't really have anything happening on it or in it. It just becomes boring.

I think the way your have re-interpreted it makes it a much more interesting image.

Hope you continue to have fun with the 60D. You're quite right in your approach - just get out there and practice, practice, practice until you can operate all the controls without even thinking about it. It takes a while, but one day you will realise you're adjusting settings without taking your attention away from concentrating on the composition

[Carl in Louisiana]

Thank You Frank and Donald ! That's what I am looking for. It is a bayou, not a lake, I was standing on the side of the boat launch looking back at the park as the bayou makes a turn around the park, me eyes was seeing more than me camera I guess. This should help me slow down and look at what the camera sees and capture that better. I also am waiting on my monitor and calibrator, not sure the colors came out well. Thanks again for your guidance.

[FrankMi]

Excellent!

If you are ready to move on, to me it looks like that image is a little soft, as if you might not have performed capture or possibly output sharpening. If you haven't see it, you might want to take a look at the following tutorial. https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...sharpening.htm

There are others on the concept of sharpening in the set but this one will get you started!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Carl,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me, great to have another member thirsty for knowledge.

Something I would correct is that it isn't level - or more obviously, the vertical things are all leaning to left - if the whole image has a small clockwise rotation, this could be fixed. Best done when shooting (but often I mess that up too), it can be corrected in PP (post processing), although I cannot say how with what you are using.

The second one definitely needs a sharpen after the downsizing, I would use UnSharp Mask (USM) method with settings like 100% amount, 0.3px radius and threshold of say 2 (I'd normally say lower, but I note the iso was 2000)

In return, please educate me; what is a bayou? yes that is a serious question!

Thanks,

[jjbacoomba]

Carl, great job with the crop. I agree with Dave about how the vertical things lean to the left, and sharpening it a liitle. I like what Donald said about practice,practice,practice. I have been coming here almost a year and I have learned so much.Im a beginner, with limited PP skills,but what I have learned, I mostly learned here and in other forums.Welcome to CiC. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Thanks Joe,
I am already learning a lot from this post, just hope I can remember it all the next time out.

Thanks Dave,
I will have to see what I can do with it. I am still learning with Paint.net it is a free software that you can add plug-ins as needed so it may take a little time.
A bayou is a slow-moving waterway. Common in southern Louisiana, these lazy streams crisscross the land like webbing. They connect lakes, swamps, or marshes and can be short creeks or rivers that wander for 100 miles. Bayous may be as broad as a river or narrow enough that trees on opposite banks will touch.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_bayou#ixzz1lXFhn413

Thanks Frank,
for the Tutorial link. I will give it a good looking over. There is so much here on this forum that I feel as if I'll never get around to seeing it all. I will be ordering my HP ZR24 this next weekend along with a calibrating tool, right now I am using the monitor on my laptop and can not tell a whole lot about the images and color. Well it looks good from my end is what I am trying to say but my end is not as good as your end....lol The tutorial will get up to par for the new monitor I caint wait to see the difference.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Okay Dave,
Here is a link to the history of this particular bayou. In the image is the park on the right side of the bayou I was standing almost at the very bottom of the picture and shooting back over the bayou towards the park.
Here is the image after using the sharpening feature. It does look some better even on this monitor and with these old eyes.

[Carl in Louisiana]

The link: http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/pdffiles/0600574.pdf
Not only the eyes but the mind too......

[Jack R Mann]

Welcome carl, nice to see new members, thirsty for better understanding of photography, like i am. good start nice composition looking foreword to seeing more.

[jamn4ex]

welcome Carl, with an easy crop adjustment and sizing resharpening your image became premeir . keep posting I think you will like this site.

[Dragonking]

Carl,
There is one improvement which will make all the difference and will improve your shot once again. Dave mentioned it in his sharpenning post. The ground isn't level. It becomes obvious and is slightly un-nerving as the lamposts, building sides and trees are not vertical. I notice that you are using software that I am not familiar with. Is there a plug-in for straightening? Is it available with the software as it comes.
The edge which should be horizontal is the top of the grass in front of the large building and its extension to the left and right of it. Have a go. I think you will be suprised at the improvement, I was. I haven't posted the result as I think you should try yourself. If you can't do it because ofthe restrictions in your software let me know and I'll post the my modified image.
Welcome to CiC and the Forum. I joined last month and I haven't regretted it. The knowledge that members are willing to impart is deep and their willingness to share is astounding.

[MrB]

Remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dPBG86iQz4

Philip

[Carl in Louisiana]

Thank You Jack, James, Bob thank you but I have not had time to go online to see about a plug-in if you like go ahead and post it I would like to see what you all are talking about. Oh yea Philip that was a good one.

[Dave Humphries]

The link: http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/pdffiles/0600574.pdf
Not only the eyes but the mind too......

Thanks Carl, now I know, from what I learned (I think) unlike a linear river of stream, a bayou is one of possibly several parallel paths for water to take from source to ocean, hence it being slow moving, because of the combined cross sectional area of the parallel paths.

I have an engineering background, does it show?

[Carl in Louisiana]

Yea what you said Dave ! I think?


Hey Hey Hey ! I found how to straighten the photo but lost some of it in the crop. Oh well at least now I know to start with the image before snapping the shutter and minimize the angle. In Paint.net it is Layer/Rotate/Zoom and from there you can make adjustments.

[Dragonking]

I didn't post my image as it was time for bed. Thats the problem or advantage of international chat. Obviously this programme is quite capable. Well done. Looks better already.
Ah well, off to work.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Thanks Bob! In a way I am glad as it made me find a way to get it done, as I have now learned a new trick. Ha "can't teach an old dog new tricks" who said that? Yea the time difference can play havoc on things at times. Have a great day at work and I'll try to do the same!