Which one's better?

[Ultra Magnus]

These were taken in aperature priority mode, late moring in bright sunlight. I probably would've done it full manual as I've been practicing that a lot lately, at least on still subjects, but I was in a bit of a hurry.

The top one was taken at 1/200, f8 and the bottom 1/160, f8. Both iso 64.

[Young Shooter]

i like the top picture better then the bottom one but i think its like sharpened to much or something, possibly taken on a bad camera i dont know y it looks like not clear the lines are not clear mabey cause it was so bright i think you did a little work in photoshop and thats y it looks like this, i dont know dude

[TJM]

To me the angle on the second pic is much more interesting. Id try and eliminate the shed on the left though its a bit distracting. The telephone lines and trees could work but as they are they distract you from the car rather than lead you to it. Other than that it seams to be waaaaay oversharpened as Young Shooter said
Try re-shooting versions of the second shot its nearly a great photo in my oppinion

[Ultra Magnus]

I'd like to reshoot but since then I've pulled the weeds. The car is still the same but I think the weeds add a lot to the mood of the picture.

I don't know what to say about the resolution. That seems to happen to all my B&W pics when I shrink them down. I don't have photoshop or any decent photo editing program. the originals look great though...

[greg hxc]

I like the second one, agree on the shed and don't mind the phone lines.

I can almost gaurantee you the "oversharpening" they are talking about is a result of shrinking the image down in a program that does little or no resampling.

You could try an app I use here at work (its free for personal use if I remember correctly) called Irfanview. It allows you to resize and print entire folders of images if you'd like. Doesn't size down nearly as well as Photoshop but it should do far better than this.

http://www.irfanview.com/

[Ultra Magnus]

thanks a lot.. that program kicks ass, (for free anyway), and I could load it on my computer here at work w/o admin access!! Don't tell anyone!! thanks..

Here's a better resized picture...

[Ultra Magnus]

Hell, may as well repost the other pic too...

[greg hxc]

Press T while in Irfan to bring up a the thumbnail view and you can do all kind of great stuff (batch jobs, thumbnails, contact sheets, etc.).

I know this is terrible, but I actually MISS some of the harshness of the original (minus the digital eyesores). A little bit of talented Photoshop work could help out the new "clean" images. I played with it a little but I hard time not blowing out the lighter areas (how I hate you, shed!).

EDIT: went ahead and attached the best i got w/ PS. i hate posting mod's of others work w/o permission in advance so let me know if you want it gone. Don't particularly think this is a good edit but it gets the my idea across, bringing out some of the sharper edges and the roughed up texture of the car body.

[Wings]

bmadau, those are nice shots. I really like the first one, especially after a correction.

There are a few things that caught my eye; clear sky and short, hard shadows, definitely a sunny day.
It's important to adjust the blacks and whites in such a manner that both leave enough details. On a sunny day like this you will always find some details in the blacks, because of all the reflecting sunlight. This is how it should look in my opinion (on a calibrated monitor):

[Ultra Magnus]

I see what you both mean, and thanks a lot to everyone for all the help. I'm quickly learning that I need to pay closer and close attention to the smallest details. I see what you both mean about hte outline of the car being soft, and all the other stuff... I'll definately keep at it! Thanks again...

[greg hxc]

Excellent job Wings. Mine even looks dark on my overly bright flat panel I have here at work, hah.

[Wings]

Thanks Greg.

If you want to calibrate your blacks & whites on your flat panel, try this site;

http://pages.prodigy.net/ecmorris/tips/monitor.htm