I feel like there is something missing with these.

[Ysarex]

Can't wait!!

Dropbox - DSC_8763.xmp

That's a link to the file DSC_8763.xmp. LR will read an XMP file. If you place your NEF file with the same name (DSC_8763.NEF) and this XMP file together in the same folder then when LR opens your file it will read the XMP and show you everything that I did.

View attachment 130244

Above are histograms of your processed version of that photo (top) and mine (bottom). They tell you the problem with your file and it's precisely what Tim pointed out. Your images lack normal contrast. A normal contrast photo will have a histogram that extends corner to corner; your's falls substantially short of the right corner (whites).

Your not setting and maintaining white and black points in the photos. You're also pushing too hard with the processing -- the lake wasn't blue and your attempt to make it blue shows. Another guy who hangs out here, Sparky, says; "if it's obvious you did it then you over did it." Sparky's right.

View attachment 130247
You took the photo with the camera set to auto white balance. AWB usually gets you in the ballpark but never does get the ball to home plate. Your camera's AWB was off a little to the blue/cyan direction. If you load that XMP file you'll see I set temp to 5950 and tint to +8.

The biggest difference you see between the two files is the contrast difference. My version has blacker blacks and whiter whites and that shows throughout the photo. Look right across the lake at the shadows cast by the trees and notice how they're darker in my version. Compare the sky at the horizon and my version is much lighter. I darkened the sky too (used a gradient) but I also made sure the photo didn't lose it's white point.

Set white and black periodically as you work -- set them and reset them. Hold the option/alt key down and click on the white slider. The screen turns black. Move the slider to the right until color shows. Determine that the color showing is diffuse highlights (not reflections) and then move the slider just until the color is gone and stop: white point. Then the same with black. This time the screen turns white. Move the slider until you see just the beginning of black appear. This is different than white. You want to reach black so the goal is to find the spot where black just starts to show up and stop. Make other processing changes then reset the white and black points. Last thing you do when the photo is finished: recheck the white and black points.

Joe

Just got through viewing it in lightroom and it looks so much better. The one I did looks like lightroom threw up on it lol. Yours looks so natural and clean. Setting the white and black points made the image so much more dynamic and other than my abuse of the saturation slider, I think that is what was making my images so flat (lack of dynamic range.) And yes I have been in the habit of leaving the WB in auto. I will experiment with that next time I am out. After this, I will be resetting a lot of my images and re-editing them. I will post one or two to here when I finish them. I can't thank you enough for this information. I was not expecting it and have learned so much. I hope that when I become a lot more experienced, I can somehow return the favor. Again Thank You!!!

You're saving raw files so white balance is easy.

The card is a piece of white Styrofoam cut from a food tray. Any white Styrofoam will do: coffee cup, take-out container, etc. Styrofoam is spectrally neutral so that the color of the light is not changed by the card. Therefore we can measure the color of the light by measuring the card. Card is free. Just take a snapshot of it before or after you take photos. No need for another card shot until the light changes. In LR open the photo of the card and use the WB eyedropper to read the card. Write down or remember the temp and tint values. Open the photo you want to process taken in the same light. Type in temp and tint values.

Joe

 

[HeidiMartinez]

Can't wait!!

Dropbox - DSC_8763.xmp

That's a link to the file DSC_8763.xmp. LR will read an XMP file. If you place your NEF file with the same name (DSC_8763.NEF) and this XMP file together in the same folder then when LR opens your file it will read the XMP and show you everything that I did.

View attachment 130244

Above are histograms of your processed version of that photo (top) and mine (bottom). They tell you the problem with your file and it's precisely what Tim pointed out. Your images lack normal contrast. A normal contrast photo will have a histogram that extends corner to corner; your's falls substantially short of the right corner (whites).

Your not setting and maintaining white and black points in the photos. You're also pushing too hard with the processing -- the lake wasn't blue and your attempt to make it blue shows. Another guy who hangs out here, Sparky, says; "if it's obvious you did it then you over did it." Sparky's right.

View attachment 130247
You took the photo with the camera set to auto white balance. AWB usually gets you in the ballpark but never does get the ball to home plate. Your camera's AWB was off a little to the blue/cyan direction. If you load that XMP file you'll see I set temp to 5950 and tint to +8.

The biggest difference you see between the two files is the contrast difference. My version has blacker blacks and whiter whites and that shows throughout the photo. Look right across the lake at the shadows cast by the trees and notice how they're darker in my version. Compare the sky at the horizon and my version is much lighter. I darkened the sky too (used a gradient) but I also made sure the photo didn't lose it's white point.

Set white and black periodically as you work -- set them and reset them. Hold the option/alt key down and click on the white slider. The screen turns black. Move the slider to the right until color shows. Determine that the color showing is diffuse highlights (not reflections) and then move the slider just until the color is gone and stop: white point. Then the same with black. This time the screen turns white. Move the slider until you see just the beginning of black appear. This is different than white. You want to reach black so the goal is to find the spot where black just starts to show up and stop. Make other processing changes then reset the white and black points. Last thing you do when the photo is finished: recheck the white and black points.

Joe

Just got through viewing it in lightroom and it looks so much better. The one I did looks like lightroom threw up on it lol. Yours looks so natural and clean. Setting the white and black points made the image so much more dynamic and other than my abuse of the saturation slider, I think that is what was making my images so flat (lack of dynamic range.) And yes I have been in the habit of leaving the WB in auto. I will experiment with that next time I am out. After this, I will be resetting a lot of my images and re-editing them. I will post one or two to here when I finish them. I can't thank you enough for this information. I was not expecting it and have learned so much. I hope that when I become a lot more experienced, I can somehow return the favor. Again Thank You!!!

You're saving raw files so white balance is easy.

View attachment 130250

The card is a piece of white Styrofoam cut from a food tray. Any white Styrofoam will do: coffee cup, take-out container, etc. Styrofoam is spectrally neutral so that the color of the light is not changed by the card. Therefore we can measure the color of the light by measuring the card. Card is free. Just take a snapshot of it before or after you take photos. No need for another card shot until the light changes. In LR open the photo of the card and use the WB eyedropper to read the card. Write down or remember the temp and tint values. Open the photo you want to process taken in the same light. Type in temp and tint values.

Joe

That is genius! That would take any guesswork out of it and I was thinking I'd be trying to dial in WB on the spot every time or something like that but that way is way more easy and convenient!! I should have some white styrofoam kicking about here somewhere to throw in my kit bag. Thank you for yet another piece of fantastic advice!!

 

[The_Traveler]

You got really excellent advice from Tim Tucker and Ysarex but, in your excitement at making things looks better, don't forget what Derrel said.
Don't become obsessed with the technical issues of color and lose sight of the most important issue to the viewer - pictures are content.

Boring, unexciting, emotionless stuff, no matter how pretty, eventually becomes reduced in memory to just 'stuff'.
Compose and frame for interest, edit to make it better and more enjoyable.

(Also note that you got great response because you had a question that people could respond to and find a way into what you were thinking when you posted.)

 

[thereyougo!]

I agree. You are using critique section for what it is meant to be and asking questions that are pertinent and taking things on board. The best thing is that others also get to learn from the excellent guidance being given.

All credit to you!

 

[Peeb]

When I posted a similar image early on, I was told that my images lacked a subject. Without careful composition, a landscape image can come off like just a random shot out the car window, rather than telling a story with the image- which is so much more compelling.

 

[Peeb]

OK- it got off the rails a bit, but here was my thread.

What does this shot need?

 

[The_Traveler]

OK- it got off the rails a bit, but here was my thread.

What does this shot need?

If you don't know exactly what you were looking at and why you thought was interesting and how it made you feel - you won't get any of that in the photo.

 

[HeidiMartinez]

After all of the wonderful advice and input from everyone here, especially with the incredibly in depth post processing advice from Ysarex, I went and re-edited some of those images to something I was so much more happy with. I finally feel like the images are showing what I wanted from them. The biggest struggle was dealing with middle of the day light but I used the contrasting shadows and highlights to make the image pop. The biggest thing I learned here was creating more dynamic with setting my white and black points in Lightroom (thanks to Ysarex) and also some split toning in some which I picked up from a youtube video. I also cloned out some distracting things in Photoshop which was a lot of fun. I did decide to keep the lake blue in one of the images as although it wasn't originally, I like the way it feels to me. So, here are the updated pics. Let me know what you all think of where I went with them and if anyone has any input I would love to hear it. And again, Thank You all so so much for all of the help!!!

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