Ok NOW First Sepia-Appropriate Pic w/ New Cam! (First Post=Technical Difficulties)

[Hallow's Maiden]

Please ignore last post. Now it works thanks to Irfanview. Thanks! Please critique (on the nicer side?) I have had my Nikon D80 cam less than two weeks but have taken 250 pics already. This is one of my favorite for some odd reason. Sepia added a nice touch. Please let me know what you think! Thanks alot!

[tirediron]

Hmmm.. interesting. Old railway trestle? I think the sepia works nicely here, although it might be worth playing around and trying different tones and perhaps dodging the dark areas esp. right foreground to lighten them up a little. From a composition standpoint, the only thought I have is that it might have been better if you were able to set it so that your camera's sensor plane was square to the cross-members; right now, it appears to me that the vertical elements are leaning toward the back of the image slightly but that's fairly minor. Overall, a creative image. Looking forward to seeing more.

Just my $00.02 worth - your milage may vary.

~John

[Hallow's Maiden]

Thanks :) Thats exactly what it is. Hidden down a path, old raised railroad. I quite liked it in black and white, but sepia is neat. I love sitting on my comp and fiddling with images in Corel. Thanks alot. Will definitely post more :) I do understand what you are saying tho... when i look at it i think it is a great start, but "field-wise" (actually out taking them) I need OODLES of practice because i definitely recognize so much more can come out of this pic!!

[tirediron]

Thanks :) I need OODLES of practice because i definitely recognize so much more can come out of this pic!!

We all need oodles of practice - one exercise that I find helpful is to take a subject like this trestle and keep re-shooting it and re-shooting. Go out there with an idea, take a few dozen (or more, remember digital film is cheap! ;) ) captures, come back, work on them, then go back and repeat.

[tegan]

Why the pink hue? :confused:

Tegan

[Hallow's Maiden]

Why the pink hue? :confused:

Tegan

Maybe because I lightened it after I added the sepia effect....? I am not sure, I didn't do it on purpose :( It was really overcast and the picture came out dark and you couldn't really see the detail in the wood... I thought the aged wood made the picture. that's my best guess.

[Marko]

I agree with the critiques so far and tegan brings up a good point on the pinkish hue. Now that I look more closely the wood seems to have a greenish hue as well. What did you use to get the sepia effect?

[Hallow's Maiden]

I agree with the critiques so far and tegan brings up a good point on the pinkish hue. Now that I look more closely the wood seems to have a greenish hue as well. What did you use to get the sepia effect?


Hmmm. I use Corel Painshop x2 and hit the sepia button. Then a window pops up with about 6 different variations of sepia... different shades, darker and lighter, and I chose one of those :)

[tegan]

Hmmm. I use Corel Painshop x2 and hit the sepia button. Then a window pops up with about 6 different variations of sepia... different shades, darker and lighter, and I chose one of those :)

The challenge to working with sepia or any other colour edting feature is that you need to be able to spot problems immediately and be aware of techniques for removing hues that you do not want.

Tegan

[Hallow's Maiden]

Thank you tegan. As my post says, this is my first REAL camera, the first two weeks of having my brand new camera. I have not owned anything else but a Nikon Coolpix L12, which leads to me not ever owning a photo editing program. I have little to no real experience, so I will have to learn at my own pace. So i don't really even know what I am looking for and what is wrong. Like I said, this was one of the options it gave me, and i didn't edit anything else colorwise. My apologies to you. The old structure intrigued me and I was actually pretty proud of that.. that is definitely not my last picture of that.. I am learning!

[tirediron]

I wonder if the hues that people are seeing here aren't due to monitor calibration, or lack thereof? I notice this image having quite a different caste depending on which computer I use. One thing I'd really recommend that you get as soon as you can HM, is a monitor calibration tool, such as the Spyder series.

http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-mc.php

Prices run from $75 - $300 depending on the model and software package; generally for home/consumer use the most basic model will do fine. You will be amazed at the difference you see in your images when they're done on a calibrated monitor.

[Hallow's Maiden]

I wonder if the hues that people are seeing here aren't due to monitor calibration, or lack thereof? I notice this image having quite a different caste depending on which computer I use. One thing I'd really recommend that you get as soon as you can HW, is a monitor calibration tool, such as the Spyder series.

http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-mc.php

Prices run from $75 - $300 depending on the model and software package; generally for home/consumer use the most basic model will do fine. You will be amazed at the difference you see in your images when they're done on a calibrated monitor.


Thanks TI!! I am going to scour the net to see if i can maybe download it somewhere.. you would be amazed at some of the stuff you can find out there! Thanks for your support :)

[tirediron]

Thanks TI!! I am going to scour the net to see if i can maybe download it somewhere.. you would be amazed at some of the stuff you can find out there! Thanks for your support :)

We won't get into the whole "You can download that free from here" debate, but suffice to say that's not going to work because in addition to the software, you also need the hardware, in this case the colourometer which is a physical device that rests on your screen to measure the the colours generated by the software and tell you when your monitor is 'right'.

[Hallow's Maiden]

We won't get into the whole "You can download that free from here" debate, but suffice to say that's not going to work because in addition to the software, you also need the hardware, in this case the colourometer which is a physical device that rests on your screen to measure the the colours generated by the software and tell you when your monitor is 'right'.


Lol 10-4. Got it. Would software like this be available in a computer type store or a photography store??

[tirediron]

Lol 10-4. Got it. Would software like this be available in a computer type store or a photography store??Yes. (But more commonly in photo/electronics stores than straight computer stores from what I've seen). If there's a London Drugs in your area, they're a good bet.

Spyder 3 at London Drugs (http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/en-US/SearchDetail.htm?SearchString=spyder&Catalog=Computers&Heirarchy=Computers%3bPrinters+and+Scanners%3bColo ur+calibration&Category=Colour+calibration&BreadCrumbs=Computers%3bComputers%3bPrinters+and+S canners%3bColour+calibration&ItemCount=10&CountIndex=5)

[Hallow's Maiden]

Yes. (But more commonly in photo/electronics stores than straight computer stores from what I've seen). If there's a London Drugs in your area, they're a good bet.

Spyder 3 at London Drugs (http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/en-US/SearchDetail.htm?SearchString=spyder&Catalog=Computers&Heirarchy=Computers%3bPrinters+and+Scanners%3bColo ur+calibration&Category=Colour+calibration&BreadCrumbs=Computers%3bComputers%3bPrinters+and+S canners%3bColour+calibration&ItemCount=10&CountIndex=5)


Thanks so much! I have a London Drugs in the next town from me and from what i understand there is a large sale happening :D Yay!! Well on my way! For this program.. is it like everything else.. price = quality??

[tirediron]

Thanks so much! I have a London Drugs in the next town from me and from what i understand there is a large sale happening :D Yay!! Well on my way! For this program.. is it like everything else.. price = quality?? Not so much no, in this case, price = features and a lot of the high-end features you won't really need for a one-user consumer application. Check out their website, as well as read some reviews. There are other brands too, and as far as I know, they're all decent, but Spyder is what I use, and have been very happy with it.

[Jesllo]

I like the picture, but I found that there was no resting point in it. My eye just wanted to keep wandering around. I think it would make a great background for a portrait.

I need to calibrate my monitors too! I've currently got two sitting side by side and they don't even match!!! UGH!!

Jess