Photo Critique Club

[TheOddOneOut]

Are you starting to see that the real colors look better than that fake coloring crap?

No

 

[Fuchsia]

No

 

[Anime2lover]

I like the stairs, but they aren't level. They are on a slight angle. Love the adorable bird & I'm a big ivy fan. That being said, my pet peeve is the blown out highlights & whites. Anything white is a challenge to photograph. The problem with blown out whites & or highlights is the loss of detail. And a difficult problem to eradicate. Look at the difference in detail in the feathers highlighted in purple to pink. View attachment 3161881

I'm going to start by saying that sky photography is HARD. No matter what you do, unless you're shooting with some neutral density filters or a shield of some kind that can block out the most intense part of the sunlight, you're going to have blown out clouds every time. Especially mid day when the sun is brightest. Effectively getting daytime clouds usually involves combining multiple bracketed exposures and postprocessing to balance out the hot spots and highlights. You can have a lot more luck around sunrise and sunset, or on days where you have more overcast than direct sun. Always remember to get it as sharp and focused as possible, and try not to shoot directly into the sun because it will end up give you hazy, blown out shots.

The other thing you want do do is find the drama in your clouds. Often it's better to use them as an accent piece in a scene rather than as the entire shot.

Here's a brigtly lit daytime shot. Notice I'm facing with the sun over my right shoulder and using the cast shadows for extra impact in the scene.
View attachment 3162254
Here's a somewhat bland sunset with some cloud cover. Pretty, but nothing to write home about.
View attachment 3162232

Here's a more dramatic one.
View attachment 3162239

Here's a fairly overcast sunset. Again, not a lot of drama, but you get some good textures.
View attachment 3162237

And a couple with storms. Notice in these how the Clouds are adding drama to the scene but aren't the entire focal point.
View attachment 3162233View attachment 3162234
This one wasn't as good in color as it is in Black and white.
View attachment 3162235

Sunrise example.
View attachment 3162236


And here's one in the dark. MAX drama.
View attachment 3162231

Hope that inspires.

It does inspire, love landscape photos. Unfortunately I don't have access to clear landscape to get shots like that.

Taking photos just the clouds and sun are the only real options that don't get power lines, my house, and tall trees blocking it. Sunsets don't work either because of the trees. Any way I can improve the two pics I did take?

 

[Cold-Blood]

How about this one?
View attachment 3161196

Oh my goodness one in a million!

 

[TheOddOneOut]

I love bright colors. You photo snobs can say it looks fake but it’s a personal preference. I think slight enhancement is pretty.
I’m not saying i’m right. I just like it.

 

[Cold-Blood]

I love bright colors. You photo snobs can say it looks fake but it’s a personal preference. I think slight enhancement is pretty.
I’m not saying i’m right. I just like it.

Snob is a strong word there.

 

[azurbanclucker]

It does inspire, love landscape photos. Unfortunately I don't have access to clear landscape to get shots like that.

Taking photos just the clouds and sun are the only real options that don't get power lines, my house, and tall trees blocking it. Sunsets don't work either because of the trees. Any way I can improve the two pics I did take?

You're limited to messing with contrast/exposure/shadow/highlights really. Play with them. See what comes out.

 

[Fuchsia]

snobs

 

[Quatie]

What are your thoughts on this photo?

 

[Anime2lover]

You're limited to messing with contrast/exposure/shadow/highlights really. Play with them. See what comes out.

Not sure if these look any better.