Critique a couple photos for me!

[Sukhoi]

Ok so I finally got to my photos from May. :Q Here are some of the better ones:

1
2
3
4
5

Be gentle. I'm just looking for general suggestions...like I should have focused on blah rather than blah, it's too busy, should have over or under exposed from what I did, no focal point for the pic, etc. Thanks all.

BTW if someone can tell me how to stop PS 7 from stripping the EXIF when saving from .RAW to .TIFF please inform me!

 

[alfa147x]

Im thinking Seattle Waterfront would look better if you shot it at a smaller aperture and on a tripod

But awesome shots what camera ?

I think in PS if you just do a save as it will keep it im not sure

 

[bobmundo123]

impressive pictures

 

[alfa147x]

Oh never mind D80 I see it now ....

 

[soydios]

#1: composition is good, but colors look flat. the only way around that would be to take the same shot on a non-overcast day. the water would be blue instead of gray, for instance. note where you placed the horizon, 1/3 of the way from the top of the frame, to compare with later pictures.

#2: a polarizing filter would deepen colors, but what this picture really lacks is dimension and depth. photography is about replicating 3-D spaces in a 2-D image. you need a point of reference in the foreground to give it scale. my best analogy for this is two beach sunset shots that I took: both had beautiful skies, but the bottom edge of one shot's frame stopped at the first waves, while the other came all the way in to show sand; needless to say, the picture with a foreground reference point (the beach) was much more powerful.

#3: I like the colors, and the composition is alright. the only way to make the colors better would be an HDR image, which is exceedingly difficult with the ocean (identical frames of waves = impossible). I only called the composition "alright" because the horizon line is smack-dab in the middle of the frame. if that's what you intended, great, and I think it works fine here. if you go back to the same spot with the same lighting conditions and weather, I would suggest taking the picture at different angles to place the horizon 1/3 from the top and 2/3 from the top, just to see what it looks like.

#4: again, I like the colors, and I see what you aiming for with composition, because I make this mistake all the time. that dark band of ocean straight across the middle of the frame literally cuts it in two. if you were to crop away the bottom third and one sixth off of each side, then that dark band of ocean would act as a sort of underline for the sky, anchoring the bottom of the picture.
every photographer tries to take pictures of sunsets. it takes time to get good (and I need more time myself), and I should imagine nobody ever gets perfect.

#5: once more, I like the colors, and I see what you're doing. I would crop away some of the black areas around the sides and bottom edge, as it makes the picture very imposing, instead of the window effect towards the receding sunset. this would be an interesting candidate for an HDR, with all the pretty colors.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

[mortal kombat]IMPRESSIVE[/mortal kombat]

TIFF doesn't have EXIF data. If you convert RAW to TIFF, then convert that TIFF to JPEG, your EXIF data should still be in the JPEG.

The photos are very good considering you're new to the camera. How did you like the Olympic Peninsula? Did you chomp on some smoked salmon while you were there? OMG smoked salmon > beef jerky.

I think you've already seen my Olympic Peninsula pictures: http://fuzzybabybunny.smugmug....llery/1209945#56600002

 

[alfa147x]

I hate the fact that google and flickr dont hold the EXIF data on the image it self
the images on my site are hosted by flickr but some of my visitors like to look at the EXIF data just by using firefox's EXIF Viewer

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: alfa147x
Im thinking Seattle Waterfront would look better if you shot it at a smaller aperture and on a tripod

Definitely would have been better doing a pano on a tripod, but I took that from a boat. It's just a cropped 18 mm f8 shot.

Originally posted by: soydios
#1: composition is good, but colors look flat. the only way around that would be to take the same shot on a non-overcast day. the water would be blue instead of gray, for instance. note where you placed the horizon, 1/3 of the way from the top of the frame, to compare with later pictures.

#2: a polarizing filter would deepen colors, but what this picture really lacks is dimension and depth. photography is about replicating 3-D spaces in a 2-D image. you need a point of reference in the foreground to give it scale. my best analogy for this is two beach sunset shots that I took: both had beautiful skies, but the bottom edge of one shot's frame stopped at the first waves, while the other came all the way in to show sand; needless to say, the picture with a foreground reference point (the beach) was much more powerful.

#3: I like the colors, and the composition is alright. the only way to make the colors better would be an HDR image, which is exceedingly difficult with the ocean (identical frames of waves = impossible). I only called the composition "alright" because the horizon line is smack-dab in the middle of the frame. if that's what you intended, great, and I think it works fine here. if you go back to the same spot with the same lighting conditions and weather, I would suggest taking the picture at different angles to place the horizon 1/3 from the top and 2/3 from the top, just to see what it looks like.

#4: again, I like the colors, and I see what you aiming for with composition, because I make this mistake all the time. that dark band of ocean straight across the middle of the frame literally cuts it in two. if you were to crop away the bottom third and one sixth off of each side, then that dark band of ocean would act as a sort of underline for the sky, anchoring the bottom of the picture.
every photographer tries to take pictures of sunsets. it takes time to get good (and I need more time myself), and I should imagine nobody ever gets perfect.

#5: once more, I like the colors, and I see what you're doing. I would crop away some of the black areas around the sides and bottom edge, as it makes the picture very imposing, instead of the window effect towards the receding sunset. this would be an interesting candidate for an HDR, with all the pretty colors.

#1 - Yea weather sucked that day. Do you think I should have put some foreground grass in the pic (I was on a hill) to add depth? It kind of looks like the view is hanging in space.

#2 - Good point about the polarizer, I should have tried it. At the time I was probably worried about having a quick enough exposure time because I was on a boat, but at 18 mm I definitely didn't need to shoot 1/160". :Q

#3 - Would it be ok to have the trees cut off on the top of the pic rather than the side? I had thought about lopping 1/4 of the top off but thought it might look kind of funny.

#4 & #5 - Good cropping thoughts.

Over the weekend I'll try some of those changes out and post em up to see how they look.

fuzzy, that explains it. I didn't realize TIFF doesn't hold EXIF. All of my post-processed pics are saved as TIFFs. I thought about doing PSD or whatever it is, but I don't want a format that limits me to a single program to open it. What I ended up doing is saving each EXIF as a TXT and then putting them all in a RAR file...it worked pretty well except that obviously when I change the TIFFs to JPG to post online there is no EXIF included.

I actually enjoyed the western side of the peninsula the most. Hurricane Ridge was mostly closed because of snow, and the Sol Duc area was kind of boring. Lake Crescent was very pleasant though. I have seen your pics; they're very good. I didn't get a pic of that phone booth though! Was it right at the main visitor center in Port Angeles?

 

[soydios]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
[#1 - Yea weather sucked that day. Do you think I should have put some foreground grass in the pic (I was on a hill) to add depth? It kind of looks like the view is hanging in space.

#2 - Good point about the polarizer, I should have tried it. At the time I was probably worried about having a quick enough exposure time because I was on a boat, but at 18 mm I definitely didn't need to shoot 1/160". :Q

#3 - Would it be ok to have the trees cut off on the top of the pic rather than the side? I had thought about lopping 1/4 of the top off but thought it might look kind of funny.

#4 & #5 - Good cropping thoughts.

Over the weekend I'll try some of those changes out and post em up to see how they look.

#1: this is one of those times where a rule can be broken, and you don't need any foreground as a reference point. I would rate that shot very highly if it were taken on a day with blue skies.

#2: the polarizer is just a standard thing whenever taking pictures of highly reflective scenes, like the ocean and sky. with this shot, i'm just thinking of how cool it would've been to see some of the edge of the boat in the picture; it would give your eye a point of reference, as if you were actually there.

#3: you're right about cropping the top looking funny: those trees on the right-hand side are a good ruler to give the photograph scale. this is a very good shot, and I would be happy with it myself.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

fuzzy, that explains it. I didn't realize TIFF doesn't hold EXIF. All of my post-processed pics are saved as TIFFs. I thought about doing PSD or whatever it is, but I don't want a format that limits me to a single program to open it. What I ended up doing is saving each EXIF as a TXT and then putting them all in a RAR file...it worked pretty well except that obviously when I change the TIFFs to JPG to post online there is no EXIF included.

I actually enjoyed the western side of the peninsula the most. Hurricane Ridge was mostly closed because of snow, and the Sol Duc area was kind of boring. Lake Crescent was very pleasant though. I have seen your pics; they're very good. I didn't get a pic of that phone booth though! Was it right at the main visitor center in Port Angeles?

Errr... wait. I'm confused. When I process my photos, I save the master copy as TIFF. When I want a JPEG I open up this TIFF and save a copy as JPEG, and the EXIF appears. The EXIF data is IN the TIFF file, just not viewable methinks. When you save the TIFF as JPEG the EXIF should reappear. Are you saying it's not appearing anymore?

The western side of the peninsula definitely rocks. The north... not so much. And I loves me Lake Crescent. The phone booth was actually at the Hoh Rain Forest visitor center, and is pretty hard to miss. When I went Hurricane Ridge was snowy and my parents didn't feel like going even though I was driving. If I were by myself I would have gone up without hesitation. Such is life traveling with the parentals.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

fuzzy, that explains it. I didn't realize TIFF doesn't hold EXIF. All of my post-processed pics are saved as TIFFs. I thought about doing PSD or whatever it is, but I don't want a format that limits me to a single program to open it. What I ended up doing is saving each EXIF as a TXT and then putting them all in a RAR file...it worked pretty well except that obviously when I change the TIFFs to JPG to post online there is no EXIF included.

I actually enjoyed the western side of the peninsula the most. Hurricane Ridge was mostly closed because of snow, and the Sol Duc area was kind of boring. Lake Crescent was very pleasant though. I have seen your pics; they're very good. I didn't get a pic of that phone booth though! Was it right at the main visitor center in Port Angeles?

Errr... wait. I'm confused. When I process my photos, I save the master copy as TIFF. When I want a JPEG I open up this TIFF and save a copy as JPEG, and the EXIF appears. The EXIF data is IN the TIFF file, just not viewable methinks. When you save the TIFF as JPEG the EXIF should reappear. Are you saying it's not appearing anymore?

The western side of the peninsula definitely rocks. The north... not so much. And I loves me Lake Crescent. The phone booth was actually at the Hoh Rain Forest visitor center, and is pretty hard to miss. When I went Hurricane Ridge was snowy and my parents didn't feel like going even though I was driving. If I were by myself I would have gone up without hesitation. Such is life traveling with the parentals.

Correct, the EXIF does not reappear when I save the TIFF as JPEG. I just checked, and it seems like the RAW doesn't have it, which would explain the rest. When I open the RAW in PS 7, go to File -> File Info and into the EXIF section it is blank. The RAW normally has EXIF, right? Even if I go into the Windows Properties for the RAW the EXIF section is blank.

The phone booth being in the Hoh Rain Forest would explain it...I went through that area really fast so I could get to Ruby Beach for sunset.

 

[soydios]

RAW should definitely have EXIF. RAW files are really just containers for a JPG preview file, actual data stored in a manner similar to TIFF, and the EXIF data.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: soydios
RAW should definitely have EXIF. RAW files are really just containers for a JPG preview file, actual data stored in a manner similar to TIFF, and the EXIF data.

How do I check if my RAW files have EXIF data? Should it come up when I go to the file properties, like where a JPG has it? My RAW are empty there.

While working on those couple pic changes I promised, I have found another problem. Do web browsers follow the ICC or whatever it is called? The color calibration thing. In comparing a picture loaded in Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Photoshop I'm noticing that when viewed in FF and IE the picture looks worse than in PS. Definitely something with the color. Right now the pictures are in Adobe RGB. Do FF and IE display this right, or do I need to convert to sRGB before uploading online? If not, any idea what other fix there might be to the problem?

I should add that the picture also looks correct when viewed in Windows Picture and Fax viewer...that looks the same as Photoshop.

 

[soydios]

You need to open the RAW files in a program that can read them, like the included Nikon software, Apple Aperture, or Adobe Lightroom/CameraRaw.

sRGB is the color space used by web browsers. AdobeRGB images will look flat when viewed in the sRGB color space.

 

[Sukhoi]

Yep, it was the sRGB thing. Damnit, now I have to re-save all my files to put on Picasa. I also figured out the RAW thing. I'm pretty busy this week but the modified pics will be coming eventually.

 

[soydios]

Adobe Lightroom would make your life so much easier. Hooray batch processing!