First try at photography in forest. C&C

cooligPhoto

Hi Guys,

Went for walks in Donadea Forest Park this weekend and tried some photos of walkways...

1.

2.

3.

Dara Robinson

Hi cooligPhoto,

While they seem to be perfectly good shots there is nothing really to them. Nothing that catches the eye. Seems to be a shot that almost anyone could have taken (please take no offence to that).

Have you tried focusing in on something better? Using a subject, like a strange looking tree or some nice light coming in through the leaves or maybe something along the lines of a scene that would evoke a bit of fantasy?

You should consider framing your shots also a bit or reading up on composition. The human eye reads pictures in the kind of way we read books (while actually doing it differently ) but you can use this to draw the viewers eye to where you want your focus.

See:
http://www.picturecorrect.com/photographytips/composition.htm

I know there are much better stuff out there but I am at work atm

njburke

Hi Coolig,
I was out there the weekend before last and had an enjoyable hour or so with the camera. The colours are excellent this time of year. I have three boys and managed a few good photos of them, particularly when they're preoccupied with small boy matters. I put one up on page 27 of the current random photo thread.

I also got some shots of a sunset accross the lake, but the contrast is way to high, its not unlike a potatoe print.

In the couple of weeks before christmas the folks who run the coffee shop organise a Santas grotto, its a great place to visit santa and have a hot choclate afterwards.


Niall

nilhg

Sometimes nature and especially the photographer need a little help, inspired by Fensters work I made a lightroom preset to suit my Olympus for situations like this, example down at the end of this thread. Really it just tries to draw the eye into where you want and accentuate the forest colours.

AnCatDubh

some great advice above. In terms of composition the pathways are very centered in the frame. You could shift them to one side which might make the overall composition a little more interesting.

I do like #2 the best but it could still do with a bit of drama added in post production (just in my opinion) like fensters wonderful treatment suggested above. Try adding a little contrast too.

Again, i think the advice above probably say a lot.

Cheers.

cooligPhoto

Thanks for the advice. I'm off sick today with no web connection (just popped out for lunch to get connected). I'm not a big believer in post production but tried some stuff this morning on a couple of the shots from the weekend. OMG - I'm sold on it now. Only a little modification makes a massive difference. Can't believe how drab the originals look now :eek:

Will post some comparisons tomorrow.

rgiller

I think 1 and 3 are a bit overexposed and lacking a defined subject, as someone else mentioned. #2 is quite good though, and would be even better with the bottom third cropped away. It has the sinister look you want from forest shots, in the corridor of trees anyway

jackdaw

Hi Coolig,

Did you use auto white balance for these ?

It looks like you did, My forest shots improved drastically when I shot
with white balance set to shade...


just my 2 cents...

Ballyman

Hi Coolig.

Below is a before and after of a forest shot that I took similar to yours. I think the difference is like night and day when you look at the processed image (on the right) and the original (on the left). It really does make a huge difference to the final image.

I'm not saying the photo is great or anything, just trying to point out the positive difference some procesing can do and I chose this one as it was a little similar to the ones you have.

jackdaw

Ballyman wrote: »

Hi Coolig.

Below is a before and after of a forest shot that I took similar to yours. I think the difference is like night and day when you look at the processed image (on the right) and the original (on the left). It really does make a huge difference to the final image.

I'm not saying the photo is great or anything, just trying to point out the positive difference some procesing can do and I chose this one as it was a little similar to the ones you have.

Out of interest what PP has been done on the image above ?

Ballyman

Do you prefer the before or after?

jackdaw

Ballyman wrote: »

Do you prefer the before or after?

The after(R) definetely

Ballyman

Shot in RAW

Then increased exposure by 1 stop
Slight increase in fill light, blacks
Decreased brightness and contrast slightly
Increased vibrancy
Decreased darks and shadows

Thats pretty much it. All in Lightroom btw.