Hello, I’m a relatively novice photographer and would love to hear some feedback on things I could improve and different things to try to improve my results. I know there are some amazing photographers here and hope to benefit from your knowledge and experience. Thank you!
I think you don't need to consider yourself a novice! If I had not been to monument valley, I might think your colors were off but they are exactly as I remember. Isn't that place amazing! I have very little to suggest to you. In the second image you have halos around the peaks and the sky is green on my monitor on the third. Overall - nice set of work!
Thank you Ruth! It's like going to another planet. It was hard to leave. I definitely feel like a novice when it comes to processing the images. I just use lightroom cc on an ipad so there's some limitations. I can see exactly what you mean about the second and third images. I see some amazing landscapes here and I feel like I can't get my images to really pop like those.
I agree with Ruth that you're doing well if you consider yourself a beginner, Jason! I'd echo her comments about the haloes, which creep in very easily especially when you increase contrast or manipulate tones (shadows/mids/highlights) much, and about the green sky. One thing that draws attention when you post this batch is that the overall colours in the first three are mismatched - look at the sky in each, and the rocks. Maybe they were different rock colours, and the clouds can change colour, but I suspect it's either your camera making decisions for you in creating its jpegs - the reason to shoot RAW - or it's something in your processing. Have you used some preset effects, perhaps, or adjusted white balance?
There is a distracting green flare spot at the bottom of the fourth, diametrically opposite the sun, very hard to avoid completely if you have the sun in the frame - just a fact of photographic life. If the sun is out of frame, keeping sunlight off the lens itself helps, by using a lens shade, a hat, or your hand, but it's hard to keep the latter out of shot.
In the first, the tree and the rocks compete a bit in the composition, especially as the tones of each are so similar, so you lose the impact of both. Seeing this image, I think of alternative images - of just the tree, or just the rocks, or the tree to the left of one rock, avoiding overlap. moving back or zooming out to fit it in. It's a pretty cool tree, so I'd milk it for all its photographic worth with multiple angles and focal lengths. This may not have been possible if there are obstacles out of shot, or the ground undulates.
Also, the light is "flat"in the first three, whereas sun from the side would make the forms look more three-dimensional, but again you may have had limited time. In the third, the angle of the sun means that you're largely looking at rocks in shadow - flat light again, apart from the foreground.
The last image is hard to "read" - it looks like a sunlit plume of dust falling into a ravine. Good images can be made that pose questions to the viewer (Is it a dust plume? What made it fall? Or is it water?), but this looks at odds with the other four "straight" depictions of obvious subjects. The light here does highlight the beautiful undulating rock forms.
I hope this is not discouraging - you really are doing well, and I've pointed to the main things that detract to a degree. The quality of light, angle of the sun, and of course viewpoint (hence composition) are a large part of what makes images, especially landscapes, appealing. You can't always get what you want! I think you have an eye for composition.
Your third picture is my favorite. The green over red is a great combination. Was that as shot? Or were you playing with color grading? Lighting will help make the pictures pop more. In the first three it looks like you are in overcast skies. I always have trouble when the sky is overcast. I tend to look to turn those to black and white to see if it creates a better mood. You can see the lighting difference between the first 3 and the 4th you took at horseshoe. The light against the foreground rocks is great. Shooting in RAW and editing can really help when conditions aren't ideal. Also, if you are not using a tripod it might have helped in the darker pictures. Great pics though, I haven't been out west yet!
Thanks Shawn! I definitely played around with the color on the third one. I liked the contrast between the colors but maybe I took it too far. I was using a tripod for 2, 3, and 4 but handheld for 1 and 5. Other than picking a better time of day to shoot is there a way to get better results with mediocre lighting?
I will sometimes shoot 5 pictures bracketed. It helps me when it is grey out. Outside of that I have just been trying to practice in Lightroom. A lot of articles on this sight, in terms of tips, have helped me with post processing tremendously. The more I practice, the quicker I get. And the more I realize how much most posted pictures are processed. Most of the pictures I take are when I travel and I usually just get what i get for light, ect. I shoot with a canon, so one of the first things I do is change the profile from Adobe to a Camera profile. If you are shooting with Canon, that simple adjustment alone makes a huge difference. From there, you just have to start playing. Hue, Saturation, Luminance or Exposure, Dehaze. Using the graduated filters will help some, for instance if my sky is dark, maybe I will drag a graduated filter down and just boost the exposure a bit. I know you are looking for specifics, but I will leave that to others on here that are much more professional than me.
Thanks again Shawn. I didn’t even know about changing to a camera profile. I use a canon too (SL2/200D). That looks like it should give me a better jumping off point. I have seen tutorials on exposure bracketing but I don’t think there is a way to do it on an iPad. My PC is old and needs to be replaced so for now it may not be an option.
Congratulations on inviting critiques, but do not get discouraged by the kind advice that is not meant to discourage you, but only find ways to encourage ways for you to improve. My monitor is on a swivel and when I move it up or down, the lighting on images I am looking at changes in exposure. So, sometimes we might not be seeing just what you see. Do you notice a green cast in the sky of the third photo? Google way to rid images of color cast. Check out ways to eliminate "Chromatic aberrations" that cause the halos. In the first photo, notice how the tree outer branches overlap the background rocks. Separation of subjects can help improve the depth of images. Backing up a few paces would leave all of the tree entirely framed by the open sky of the background. Just keep putting yourself in front of beautiful scenery!
PS See how we can differ? Paul really like the green tone of your sky! Also compare the detail seen in the large rock in #2 to the rock in #3. Experiment with the dodge tool to bring more light and detail out of that rock face in #3.
Thank you! There are definitely different preferences we all have. I think the theme is that better processing and lighting will make a big difference.
Thank you Chris! Thats a a kit of info to digest which is exactly what I was looking for. I did shoot all of the images RAW and was heavy handed with the processing. I guess I was trying to make a mediocre photo more interesting. In the raw images there's no cloud texture so I went to far to try to get some. I think I also got a little too "artistic" with the colors. I didn't notice the lens flare while I was there and assumed it was just the result of a cheap lens. Thank you for the tips on keeping the sun out of the frame or shading the lens. In the slot canyon one I was just copying other images I've seen. I really wish I had gotten a sharper image but I couldn't bring a tripod so my shutter speed was too slow. More iso would have been better probably. Thank you for all of your input! Its definitely not discouraging.
Love your attitude, Jason! I think you did what we all tend to - say, with the clouds. Pretty much ALL those beautiful clouds you like in other people's images would be processed I reckon.
And in flat light, you may not get drama, but you could aim for subtlety and understatement, with desaturated colours. I'll stick my neck right out, in appending a heavily processed, "unnatural" edit some will hate along those lines; I keep thinking of the pioneering 19th century images of this area.
Your images are not "mediocre photos". Ansel A (good pianist) said the negative is the score, the print the performance, and so it is with digital - some files are hard to process into good images, as was the case with printing negatives.
Wow! I really like that. I'm guessing thats just desaturated and some vignetting. It definitely conveys more of the feeling of being there. Thanks!
Fair bit of fiddling actually, Jason, with the tones as well! Couldn't even tell you exactly what I did, but I raised the shadows and then tried to increase the contrast in curves (getting the curve steeper in a particular section without the rest looking crap) until I got the etched look your photo made me think of. The vignette's a bit heavy-handed.
It can help to have a "look" in mind, once you're a bit familiar with processing software.
Here are the unedited images. I would love to see how any of you would edit these.
Hey Jason, you have received so much other good advice so I'll not repeat.
You are well on your way and I think the more you shoot, process and are open to well-meant feedback the better you will become.
A few overall suggestions;
- you mention being heavy-handed with the processing. Always put to one side when completed and revisit later. I am frequently amazed by how changes I make after letting an image stew for 24 hours.
- look at as much work and as many tutorial videos as you can. Look to find traits in images that you enjoy - you will find those traits influencing your own decisions and resulting images.
- when requesting critique I find it best to select an individual image unless you are looking for comments on overall style.Others may disagree but the amount of information can be otherwise overwhelming.
Good luck with your work and make sure you enjoy the experiences along the way.
Thanks Alan! Just looking at the unedited ones now it sort of makes me want to cringe haha. I like the idea of just focusing on on one image at a time instead of a mini portfolio. I appreciate all the feedback. Part of what I enjoy about photography is trying to solve the problem of how to achieve the results I want so I can't wait to put all this great advice to work.
Your photos looks much better unedited...
I actually like these too. I think that they need a little work but much less than was done before. I like the softness and natural tones. a little exposure tweaking and a touch of saturation and these would excel!
Thanks for all the feedback. I can see these from a different perspective now. I can see now that I did more harm than good. There's a photographer named Max Rive that I came across on Instagram and I wish I could get my photos to look like that.