So Mike got me thinking a lot. Most of the shots I post for critique have had a fair amount of editing done to them. His rant got me wondering how my actual "mechanics" are coming along. Here's a few pictures from my hike yesterday that are completely unedited. As always, I appreciate brutal honesty ;)

They seem a little overexposed to my eye. A subjective opinion of course.

Thanks Frog :) I still have a hard time judging "technically correct" exposure. I personally prefer shots a little on the dark side, so I am constantly underexposing images. This is something I have been trying to work on a bit. Maybe now I'm overcompensating? :o

number 5 catches my eye..get in there and do what your artistic ambition takes you.

number 5 catches my eye..get in there and do what your artistic ambition takes you.

Thanks J :) How's this for starters? :D

I think they are all good but do seem a little soft to me. When you shoot film you can miss exposure a couple of stops sometimes and the lab will pull it out an you may never know it. The lab can also screw up perfectly exposed shoots too. I find a DSLR more sensitive to F/stop and shutter speed changes. Also with the instant results the learning time is shorter. Just keep it in manual, after a while you will never go back.

Greg, any ideas on what's causing the softness? I think I was shooting f/5.6 on these with the last one being f/8 IIRC. Also, this was midday. Any ideas or correcting it or is it my lens? Thanks in advance for any help.

Aaron

5.6 is pretty narrow for macro shots. You an see it in #4. I think f/11 might have worked. But this effect changes with different lenses.

I had thought about stopping down more but, I didn't want the extra DOF. What would you do in a case like this? Since it is a digital image, I can sharpen it up but, what about if I was shooting film?

You can have your negs scanned and put on a cd an do as much in PS as with a digital image from a DSLR. You may try boosting the sharpness on your camera. I have upgraded my Oly 500 from the kit lens to a little higher grade lens and I think my pictures are a little sharper.
Try playing with some of you camera settings too. Boost the sharpness some.

no info on your lens issues...but on no5 pic...work on that old dead tree on the left. To me it stands out and holds interest. I think i would see what levels does to it on a seperate layer..lighten it?? In the color pic I would play with it on a color layer. Then dunk from incoming rants.:D

You can have your negs scanned and put on a cd an do as much in PS as with a digital image from a DSLR. You may try boosting the sharpness on your camera. I have upgraded my Oly 500 from the kit lens to a little higher grade lens and I think my pictures are a little sharper.
Try playing with some of you camera settings too. Boost the sharpness some.

Duh, I hadn't even thought about the sharpness compensation settings...LOL Thanks Greg :) The lenses used were already upgrades from my kit lens, unfortunately I can't afford any better at the moment :(

no info on your lens issues...but on no5 pic...work on that old dead tree on the left. To me it stands out and holds interest. I think i would see what levels does to it on a seperate layer..lighten it?? In the color pic I would play with it on a color layer. Then dunk from incoming rants.:D

I will be working on that shot some more, rest assured ;)

Great thread.I learned alot.Thanks Greg!