Creative photography

[dimitrz]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to get an Erie feeling while taking this shot ( Swamp 1) - however I messed up big time , in Swamp 2 & 3 I selcted Vivid option in colour setting within the camera to boost the contrast/saturation - it further messed up the photos --- I tried to see if I can somehow rescue the photos and Swamp 1 edited is the best I could get.

What I would like to know is a) what did I do wrong & b) how could I have got the effect and beauty of this swamp ?

Flickr links to the photos

swamp 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23531375@N00/2430082247/

swamp 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23531375@N00/2430082379/

swamp 3
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23531375@N00/2430082323/

edited
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23531375@N00/2430895908

exif details with the photos

Thanks

[bdery]

Hi,

first, it's hard to judge properly because the pictures are quite small, but I'll take a shot at it.

I like the second one much better, but I understand it's not the effect you wanted to achieve. It looks like the other pictures are either blurred by a long exposure time, or out of focus. The setting seems to be relatively low-light, even though your eyes won't tell you that, and this could accound for motion blur. It can be hard to take pictures under a trees canopy. To solve this problem, try to use a tripod or a solid surface to brace your camera against.

I also think contrast is too high, it creates harsh colours, opposed to the mood I think you want to create.

The sky seems to have been overexposed, which is to be expected, but it probably fooled your metering a bit, and it looks like the whole scene is incorectly exposed. You could use center-weighted or even spot metering in these situations.

Last, I think this picture would benefit from a larger field of view. Try to take a few steps back or use your lens in a wide position.

I might be wrong about many of those tips, it really depends on the picture you saw in your mind, what you were actually trying to achieve.

[ShutterbugGail]

You can bring out more detail in your current photos.

As bdrey pointed out, it's a very difficult scene to photograph with the light background (sky) fooling the camera meter. As a result, the swamp area is underexposed (dark).

Many people don't realize that it's better to underexpose an scene of this type, rather than expose for the dark area and then you'll lose all detail in the light area. There is almost always detail in underexposed areas that can be brought out with editing software.

Newer versions of programs such as Adobe Elements and Photoshop have a highlight and shadow adjustment tool that is perfect for fixing this type of photo.

I played with one of your photos, and here is the result:

            http://www.pbase.com/gailb/image/96130607/original

I used the highlight and shadow adjustment, adjusted brightness and contrast and sharpened.

Some of these techniques are described in the Processing Photos section of Digicamhelp.

               http://www.digicamhelp.com/processing-photos/

[dimitrz]

Thanks  Bdery & Gail,

Well I must admit that I did commit few cardinal crimes here
a)      Did not use the tripod when I was carrying one.  ( we were trekking through a low light swampy region known to be infested with snakes and were hard pressed for time – using the tripod seemed like a luxury that could be ill afforded – my mistake)
b)      I set the color mode to  Vivid within the camera hoping to get better contrast ( was playing around with the newly learnt setting) but you are right it kind of destroyed the overall image.
c)      Forgot to fix ISO – believe I should have kept the ISO at maybe max 200 what do you think ?

Thanks for all the tips – were very informative would help me in future
ps :-  when is it ok to set the contrast high  ?

Gail  the  edited photos look much better --------- think its high time I put my laziness behind and went through the tutorials in your site which I had bookmarked ages back

Cheeers