I have been working on landscapes/waterscapes. Shot this a few weekends ago on a camping trip by Broad River in Lugoff, SC

Anyone have any pointers?

Hi Katie,

The composition is nice. I particularly like the sloping line of the trees and the border on the other sidel If I have an issue with it, I think it comes down to post processing (something I am admittedly not as good as others here at). Care tosend me the file? i would love to see it full size and see if I can pull a bit more pop out of it.

James

Hey Katie, looks pretty good for starting out. The tilt is a bit heavy to the right but easily corrected. The biggest thing this needs is what James pointed out. The camera does not see like the human eye. If what you want to present is your experience, post processing will need to be done to bring out the magic of what you saw. I too would be willing to play with the shot in Post and see what you think of the results. That is if your willing to let the file loose to one or both of us.

Nice work. Look forward to seeing more.

Roman

Thanks guys! I would love to see what you (both) would do with it. What do you mean by post processing? Also..is it really messing me up to not shoot in RAW? My computer shuts down when I try to upload RAW files so I have been using JPG. Just let me know where to send the original file.

Post Processing - Using an editing program to bring the most out of your capture.

RAW - 12 or 14bit data captured to give you the most elbow room to do post processing on your capture. jpg files are only 8 bit and can react harshly to more serious editing.

It doesn't take a high end computer to do post processing on, but most current editing programs do push older equipment fairly hard. But almost any current i3 processor or better with even a mid level video card can do some pretty darned nice editing. Most editing is 2D and you don't need a crazy gaming level computer to edit.

Roman

I have PS Elements 9 for editing. But I suck at it lol I have been reading up and practicing some though. It frustrates me.

I will try to shoot something in RAW again and upload it...it has been a while since I tried and I can't even remember why, but just remember that my computer did something funky when I tried to put them on.

Hey Katie,

I have been playing with the image for about the last 20 minutes. Honestly, I cannot do much with it beyond what you have done with your shot. I will defer to greater powers than my own (LOL, does not say much)!

James

Too much of this picture, is in a shadow. In landscape shooting shadows usually are negative space that need to be accounted for, before taking the shot.
The leading lines here also take you away from what I think was the subject.

Solution is to reposition/ reframe the shot.
MHOYMMV

Hi Katie,

Practice, combined with exposing yourself to thoughtful critique is the path to improvement. So first and foremost keep shooting and poting. Now onto the image.

This is one of those scenes where you would've actually been better off waiting on the sun to get higher in the sky (assuming shot in morning) so most if not all of the scene would've been lit. The other option might've been to shoot earlier... again looking for even lighting. Of course we don't live in a perfect world and arriving earlier or waiting til later isn't always an option.

I like how you're attempting to use the tree(s) on the upper right edge of the image to provide some framing. Nice idea. I also like the positioning on the river to lend depth to the image. Another good compositional application. The highlights don't look clipped and the dark areas aren't terribly blocked-up. All those are positives!

The downhill horizon is definately a distraction. It happens to all of us and is usually easily corrected. (The exception being a tight shot on a subject where you don't leave enough space to correct without cropping the subject uncomfortably).

I haven't done anything with Elements for years and I have no idea what tools are avialable to you in '9'. If it has a "shadow/highlight" tool you might be able to use that to lighten the shadow areas and/or tone down the highlights a bit.

You're on the right track. Keep shooting, experimenting, submiting images for critique and asking questions. You'll just keep finding yourself happier and happier with the results.

Have you checked for a local course on Elements 9? Or, perhaps, a class at/through a local community college? When I was first trying to get a handle on Photoshop I took an online course through the local community college and that helped a lot. There are also a lot of online classes and tutorials that can be found.