First Photo with Nikon D5000

[Castos]

Hi

This is one of the first photos I took. It was taken in Bamiyan, Afghanistan of snow weather approaching the mountain above the area where the Budda statues were with a 70 - 300mm lens. The mountain was 5km away from my location. I have close to a thousand photos that I have taken whilst in Afghanistan, and I am planning to publish a coffee table book with some of the best photos in it.

Cheers

 

[Scott Murray]

I like it but... I would like to see it with out the power lines and power pole also I think you can do more to enhance the overall photo.

 

[Castos]

Hi Scott

Thanks for the critic. That is the reason I am here is to learn. I do not know what or how to enhance so a lesson or two is required.

Cheers

 

[Scott Murray]

Hi Scott

Thanks for the critic. That is the reason I am here is to learn. I do not know what or how to enhance so a lesson or two is required.

Cheers

If I was at home I could show you but alas I am working. I am unsure what editing program you are using.

 

[Castos]

I have been using CS3 and have recently upgraded to CS6 which I now have to learn. I have also installed Lightroom 5.5 and am at present busy reading through the user guide before attempting anything - from what I see it is like working in a darkroom (except this is digital) where you make a test sheet to see what the settings should.... until you get the right quality.

 

[Scott Murray]

I have been using CS3 and have recently upgraded to CS6 which I now have to learn. I have also installed Lightroom 5.5 and am at present busy reading through the user guide before attempting anything - from what I see it is like working in a darkroom (except this is digital) where you make a test sheet to see what the settings should.... until you get the right quality.

Ok sounds like you are on the right track

 

[Horoscope Fish]

I agree with Scott, in that it needs some work. At a minimum it needs cropping and removal of the power lines.

Saturation and contrast need adjusting as well.

...

 

[Castos]

Hi All

I am posting two photos, the first is the original and the 2nd is one that I tweaked using Lightroom. I adhere to advice from Scott, so any advice that will assist me getting better is appreciated as this is a learning curve for me.

Cheers and thanks.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Personally, I'd go for a more dramatic look emphasizing texture in this shot.

This really small JPG was kinda difficult to work with (yes, I know there's some posterization in the sky but try to look past it) but for overall effect I was thinking something along these lines:...



....

 

[wornish]

Hope this helps I used LR 5.5 to modify your first photo - you captured a lot of detail that doesn't show up in the original.
Hope you don't mind the editing its to my personal taste but everyone is different. Just wanted to show whats possible with LR.
Working with RAW files is even better. Have fun and play with LR you can always go back to the original.

If it helps the steps I took were :-
Used alignment tool to straighten the pic using the power pole as the guide.
Used the Spot Removal tool to remove the power lines.
Adjusted blacks and whites slightly to get more dynamic range.
Then increased contrast and clarity.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

... you captured a lot of detail that doesn't show up in the original...

I noticed this too... Are you shooting in JPG? Because if you are I'm wondering if you need to adjust the Sharpness setting in-camera. For the life of me I don't know why the factory default for that setting is so low.

...

 

[Castos]

Thanks for the advice. Did not know that this modification can be done. I take all photos in RAW, but had to convert to jpeg for CS3. Now that I have CS6 and LR I can now start learning with the RAW photos.Thanks once again.

Cheers