Photography, Getting More From The Moment.

[Guest bigdirty]

I have been taking alot of photos lately. I find many come out dull and with little color. I know it can come down to light conditions and quality optics.

 

What can be done with an editor in post? Can anyone recommend a decent editor of the free or trial variety. Any tips, suggested reading, is all appreciated.

 

Here is the one shot I've taken that is full of color. Shot with a gopro and polarizing lense filter. Couldn't get the fish to cooperate.

[KrookedOne]

Great photo. Are you shooting only with GoPro? With most cameras you can change white balance. Take it off auto and use manual settings for the light conditions you’re in (ie. Sunlight). Polarizer is also great for helping those colors pop, which it seems you already have a handle on. You should be able to find a cheap or free older version of Photoshop Elements which will meet most of your editing needs. Once you find one, play with the sliders to better represent what you saw, but be careful as it is easy to overdo and make the photo look unnatural. Bumping the saturation a few points (5-9) will make those colors pop.

[Guest bigdirty]

Thanks for the response. At the moment I use a gopro4 silver and a Sony Z1 cell using camera zoomfx for camera app. I think the gopro has access to manual settings. Not sure on the cell app.

[cheeler]

I use Adobe Lightroom for most of my post; it has a trial but could be a bit expensive. They are also coming out with a newer version sometime in the near future.

 

For free programs there's GIMP and Paint.net; I haven't used these much but they seem to be more like Photoshop. An instructor of mine at SAIT swears by ACDSEE, which is easier to use and also has trial versions. I am sure there's other choices that have less control but easier use, especially for smartphones, but I don't have any experience with them.

 

A polarizer certainly helps; is there a pattern, such as time of day or conditions, where you find you don't get what you're looking for?

 

Also, not sure if either camera exports a RAW file, but you get much more ability to edit with that format than you get with jpegs.

[Guest bigdirty]

Cheeler, thanks.

 

I don't think I have a large enough sample size to see any patterns forming. Low light and bright sunny afternoons seems to be the tough days.

 

I know the gopro has some manual settings, iso amongst others. I guess I'll start trying to understand the jargon.

 

I really want to share better photos.

[Roast]

I'm an amateur photographer, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I really like Lightroom, however as previously mentioned it isn't free. However it does have a lot of great features that make it worthwhile. It lets you easily organize your photos and makes it easy to adjust your photos or add various effects. I don't have a go pro, so I don't know what the file options are, but if it has RAW use that. RAW files allow you to easily change things like white balance and edit the photo in a nondestructive way.

 

If your getting blurry photos in low light, up the ISO on the camera. However raising the ISO introduces digital noise and your photos can start to look grainy. Which can be good or bad depending on the look you want. For bright conditions keep the ISO low for the least amount of noise and generally the best results.

 

The best thing to do is to play around with your camera, In the digital age, it doesn't cost anything to experiment.

[bcubed]

Your biggest handicap is going to be using a gopro, it's not going to give you enough options while out in the world to be able to get exactly what you want, so you'll be spending a lot more time editing than if you had the ability to change settings while taking photos.

 

Get an entry level SLR, or used one, and a wide angle lens and you'll find yourself having a hell of a lot easier getting your photos to be what you thought they looked like in person.

[cheeler]

Cheeler, thanks.

 

I don't think I have a large enough sample size to see any patterns forming. Low light and bright sunny afternoons seems to be the tough days.

 

I know the gopro has some manual settings, iso amongst others. I guess I'll start trying to understand the jargon.

 

I really want to share better photos.

 

I am guessing the GoPro might be trying to adjust for the low light by upping the ISO; in this case all of the colors will naturally be less vivid and muted. Limitation of the technology, but they can be edited afterwards. The photos from the bright days should be easier to correct; they may just need an exposure adjustment.

[Guest bigdirty]

Appreciate the input guys, thanks.

[Guest bigdirty]

One I wish had turned out better. Gopro no filter.

[Guest bigdirty]

Cell phone pics.

 

First shot after realizing burst mode reduced MP.

[Guest bigdirty]

Any thought on the Nikon AW1? Water proof slr, but with few lense options.

[KrookedOne]

You will find the best camera reviews on the net at dpreview.com (in my humble opinion anyway)

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikon-1-aw1

 

It is their top pick for best waterproof camera in December of 2014

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/3436829389/dpreview-recommends-best-waterproof-cameras

 

Just FYI. It is not a SLR, but looks like a great camera.

[dryfly]

Some good advice here. Cell phones, P&S and tablet cams are "okay" for web posts and modest prints. If you are serious about "scenery," then get a good DSLR and good wide angle lens and polarizer. LR is good, although I don't use it often. As someone noted, everything you will ever need or want to do can be done in PS Elements for about $80. (Look for a new older version.) I've taken about 250,000 digital photos since getting my first DSLR ten years ago. Although most of my work is purely for pleasure I still do occasional photo shoots and sell a few images to ad agencies. For what I need and do, PSE has been great.

 

Lots of good PSE videos online and Kelby's books are worth the money.

 

Every photo in the galleries linked below was run though ACR and PSE. (Warning: Whereas Shaw's gallery system is handy, Shaw's gallery system increases compression of photos and IQ is reduced. It is very noticeable in some pictures. Oh well.)

 

http://clives.shawwebspace.ca/photos/view/birds__animals_scenes______2014_/

http://clives.shawwebspace.ca/photos/view/arizona_2015/

http://clives.shawwebspace.ca/photos/view/birds__animals_and_scenes_2013_-/

 

Clive

[dryfly]

Any thought on the Nikon AW1? Water proof slr, but with few lense options.

 

bigdirty .. good question and KrookedOne's reference recommendation is spot on.

 

Only you can make the decision...depending on your wants and needs.

 

An alternative to the Nikon AW1 is a good dryland DSLR plus a good waterproof DSLR like those discussed at dpreview.

 

Just a warning about kit lenses from ALL major manufacturers. Generally, $200 kit lenses are decent for casual scenics and people shots etc. However, if your long-term goal is high-end scenic shots for printing, at some point you will want a fancy wide angle and it will set you back (say) $800 to $2,000.

 

Photography is a never-ending process of acquiring skill and knowledge and changing/upgrading gear. Start with good gear, develop skills and knowledge and upgrade your gear over time. You are never finished.

 

Have fun.

 

Clive

[Guest bigdirty]

Thanks guys. Really appreciate all input.

 

I didn't know I enjoyed photography until started fishing. There is so much cool stuffs around the river.

[Guest bigdirty]

Another I wished turned out better.

 

So after rule number one, always keep your phasers on stun, never point your camera at the sun?

[dryfly]

Especially for an underwater shot of a fish. You want the sun directly on the fish to show off the colors and details on the fish. Even clear water reduces the sun's rays on the fish.

 

I dropped your pix into ACR (a RAW processor) and could not recover the details in the fish because there are none there...it is as if there was a sheet of paper in front of the fish. The fish body is washed over by the rays.

 

Gardening time again.

[Guest bigdirty]

Was thinking more about the double krypton sun. Would a filter of any kind help when shooting into the sun?

[dryfly]

Not really. Flare is flare. You could place the sun off to the side and the krypton glare would be reduced over the fish. I'll post an example.

 

Sometimes a bit of flare is arty and looks good. Flare shots seem to be trendy in iPhone photos. Whatever. (Lots of great iPhone photos online, but 99% are mediocre record shots and that's fine. They are useful tools.) It is all about making the owner happy.

 

Having a camera that shoots RAW files and underexposing a sun-flare shot and then working the image hard can bring up darker areas and ....blah blah blah. In the vast majority of cases, start with a good quality image and making it better in PSE or whatever program you use.

[dryfly]

This is a crap quality image (I don't like it anyway) after being uploaded to Shaw galleries...no matter. It shows what I was getting at. The sun is offset...and has not blown out the foreground.

 

[Ricinus]

Looks like you could use some rain in Coaldale..

 

Mike

[Guest bigdirty]

Bigsky morning

[Pipestoneflyguy]

I bought Photoshop last summer, a bit complex for a hobbiest, wish I had gone with lightroom now, also I believe lightroom includes a video editor whereas Photoshop does not.

[Guest bigdirty]

Bought a camera today. Nikon 5500 with a 35mm f1.8 Dx lense. Charging the battery weeeeeee