New at this so fire away!

[jetwrnch]

Any suggestions are welcome. One of my biggest challenges is having a calibrated monitor. I edit on a laptop and so far using a Huey Pro has been less than gratifying.

[caleb]

were the different exposures in #1 handheld? looks soft in some areas. generally these cartoony hdr's aren't my favorite.

#2 you did a good job getting the water movement but it's overexposed (quite hard not to do to some extent) and then the shadows are significantly underexposed. a different time of day or making an HDR may work.

#3 i like but it looks a little soft. were you handheld? what shutterspeed?

[jetwrnch]

Pardon my ignorance but please define "soft." All of these were done with a compact Panasonic Lumix LX3 and a very light weight tripod. I'm usually on foot with a pack so weight has been an issue. Some of the softness may be in the way I downsampled the image for posting. You may be able to get a better image here:
dloposser.smugmug.com

Soft seems to be description that applies to all three so I'm wondering if it's the camera, user, or a post processing error. I appreciate the comments and could certainly use the help. I'm considering upgrading to a Pentax K20 for the wide AEB and environmental seals. Until a few weeks ago I had only used cameras on the "auto" setting so I'm about as green as it gets.

[caleb]

I typed out a long response but it was deleted due to a server error. here's the quick version:

Soft = slightly out of focus. the problem could be any of the three you listed. looking at your photos in bigger size it looks like they may be over sharpened as well. what are you doing on the computer to these images (if any)?

[jetrim]

Welcome to the critique forum!

OK
1) Coming from someone usually guilty of over processing - the first one looks way over-processed. The difficulty is that it doesn't look like a photo anymore, but the effect is so bland and uniform that it isn't quite digital art either. I think if you brought this back to being just a photo or started getting really creative with it, it would be fine, but as is it's kinda floundering as it is.

2) I'm not really bothered by the hot spots and the composition is sound. Not bad It is a bit out of focus at the very bottom, so it's probably not a contest winner, but a decent shot nonetheless.

3) Love the angles, distortion, and punch of color the window brings. Not crazy about the sky that's on the verge of "blowing out" or the noise artifacts produced by the high ISO coupled with the high aperture. This shot would greatly benefit from a reshoot at ISO-100 and a polarizing filter (since it's a point and shoot you could even get by with holding a pair of polarized sunglasses in front of the lens - it works!)

[Frog]

Welcome to the forums! A great place to learn. I sure have.

I agree with the above responses.
Your compositions are quite good. I really like the scene reflected in the window of the 3rd shot.
What editing software are you using?
I think if you can desaturate these a bit and decrease the sharpening you'll have some nice shots.

[jetwrnch]

I'm using Photoshop CS2, Photomatix Pro, Digital Image Suite, SilkypixPro, and sometimes Gimp. I'm considering CS4 Extended. I have the RAW files for each of these so I'll try to clean them up a bit. My plan with the third one was a reflection into the future with the fall colors in the window only.

[byjamesderuvoDHQ]

I think all three would look fabulous in Black and White. At least the first and the third. Your second one has marvelous water falling effects. Nicely done.

[Canyon Hiker]

It looks like during HDR processing you didn't remove the "Hot spots" or noise. Try running it through a noise filter, it will help a ton here including softening it up.
When I see a picture like this it brings me back to what it might have been like then. This is my quick attempt at a Daguerreotype. Produced from 1839-1855 it was the first form of popular photography. They used a piece of thin silver plated copper that could not be Re-produced. I really like this one, over sharpened a bit and over Sat with HDR, but a great photo. I hope you don't mind..

[jetwrnch]

Anyone can edit anything I post. I'm here to learn and try not annoy too many folks with newbie questions that have been discussed to death. I take pictures for my own enjoyment and enjoy post processing almost as much as taking the shot itself. That, I'm sure, will be my nemesis. My only talent at this point seems to be composition and a willingness to hoof it to wherever I need to go to get the shot. I don't have a lot invested in equipment at this point because I always seem to discover a new feature that's not available on whatever I just bought. I shoot color with a Lumix LX3 and infrared with a modified LX2. I have adapters and filters for both. I find I can carry this pair in a case built for one DSLR or a small Pelican case as needed. Thanks!

[caleb]

In a thread with many post processing revisions, someone posted something to the effect of "when people see pictures like this they tell me that I must have a great camera." Seems like a good goal for editing the shots on the computer.

[writer45]

Yes, good be nice images, but I agree they do look over sharpened.

John

[herg]

i will agree that the shots like a bit over-sharpened.

i just wanted to comment on the last shot in particular though. i love how the colour of the trees behind/beside the building are faded and kind of washed out, but the reflection in the window is nice and saturated. it looks good.