Winter Wonderland (Newbie ;))

[Mark-2]

ok so as I've mentioned I've just bought a D40, currently using the kit lens and I'm a total beginner.

Went out to the army ranges near where I live earlier to take some pics as there was loads of frost on the trees and I thought it would make for some attractive pics. So I've uploaded them to see if any of you can give me a bit of feedback on them All comments good or bad welcome so don't hold back!



































I've uploaded absolutely everything I took so there are a few that I've cocked up but there's no touching up on any of them, just what came out of the camera

Cheers in advance
Mark

[cbcbcb]

The 3rd one is quite nice. My number 1 tip would be to be a bit more selective

[missdiane]

This one is lovely

[chr15b]

there's no such thing really as a bad picture.

can i suggest trying some different angles, like the sign one towards the bottom, more interesting because unlike the one towards the top it's not straight on - try getting lower down or an offset angle.

[CivicMan]

Agreed - given it a tiny tweak..:

[Mark-2]

Thanks for the comments guys

What do you mean by 'more selective'? In what I post? Or what I shoot?

CivicMan, that looks fantastic! What did you do to that?

[Gingerbread Man]

Longmoor army camp!

[andy-xr]

Mark-2 said:

Thanks for the comments guys

What do you mean by 'more selective'? In what I post? Or what I shoot?

CivicMan, that looks fantastic! What did you do to that?

When you left the house, what were you thinking of coming back with on the camera?

Today I was coming back home from a tripod shopping trip and thought I'd pop to the local colliery I always shoot something at.

Sometimes it's the same composition, same angle from the same position but there's something different each time; sky, light, addition of people, weather etc

Today I thought instead of panoramic I usually try with a wide angle, I'd go closer for detail with a prime lens instead, as I'm trying to learn more about how best to shoot without a zoom and using more of the available light (hence F1.8)

The point being, I had an idea of what I wanted to take a photo of. It's interest or technical merit to others is largely irrelevent, it was a learning expedition based on a plan

[Mark-2]

Gingerbread Man said:

Longmoor army camp!

Yep! Red flags were up though so I couldn't go in

Andy, as it's my first SLR I was really just experimenting as it's the first chance I've had to get out in the light to get some pics. Was having a play with Aperture and Shutter priority mode and just seeing what it can do Though I understand what you mean, and when I start to get to grips with the camera I'll bear it in mind

[andy-xr]

Hope it didnt come across as harsh, as it wasnt intended that way at all.

Just from my experience I found taking a load of pics (even of the same shot) is great, taking a load of pics for the sake of clicking the shutter wasted my time and I didnt learn anything

[Furyous]

andy-xr said:

Today I was coming back home from a tripod shopping trip ....

What did you buy out of interest ?

[CivicMan]

Mark, what I did was to put a bit more contrast into your image. Using Photoshop Elements, I adjusted the "levels" to enhance the colours - the trouble with winter skies is that it tends to produce very flat light, and image manipulation helps to boost the picture.

There are 2 free programs you can download to have a start at manipulation:

Gimp which is at
http://www.gimp.org/

or

Picasa at
http://picasa.google.co.uk/intl/en/#utm_source=en-...

Bit late for me, should be in bed, but I've had a 5 minute fiddle with another couple of yours, and, as you can see, you've got potentially some nice shots. In the second one, you'll notice I've taken out the red signs with the "clone" tool in Elements.

[andy-xr]

Furyous said:

andy-xr said:

Today I was coming back home from a tripod shopping trip ....

What did you buy out of interest ?

Just a cheapie Jessops job with a bit more height than my old one

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Acc...

[Mark-2]

Cool, I've got Picasa so will have a play about with it

They look much improved, I like!

Thanks again

[chr15b]

andy-xr said:

Furyous said:

andy-xr said:

Today I was coming back home from a tripod shopping trip ....

What did you buy out of interest ?

Just a cheapie Jessops job with a bit more height than my old one

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Acc...

I just got one of these

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Acc...

they were out of stock of the one i wanted and i had some vouchers i needed to use up.

[Mrs Fish]

I like this one


with a tweak...

[Mark-2]

Thanks, that one was literally a turn and hit the shutter as they went past

[ruaricoles]

I like the 3rd one best too, and can't help thinking how incredible it'd be if there'd happened to be some great car drifting round the corner at the time....

Ruari