Nature gives me the fear..

[picarusslim]

Hello again.

I’ve posted in this thread and ‘am i a faux’ thread before with a reasonably positive response (thanks btw). I went out with a friend to shoot some nature yesterday, my worst fear. I’m not great with greenery and all things purdy and woodlandish. Anywho, my efforts for your perusal & critique :-

I quite like the frog shots but I have no idea about the others. I was completely out of my comfort zone. Any criticism is welcome.

 

[JCFindley]

The frogs are nice as are the waterfalls. I like the one you didn’t post as well.

I think you did well on them.

The stem thingy is well executed but as a subject it seems a little bleh to me.

[picarusslim]

Thanks JCFindley, appreciated!  The stem is a bit boring. I actually took that last week, i’ve just moved house from a city to a more rural area so i’m trying my hand at a few nature shots. I’ve always had trouble with waterfalls and the likes.  I was glad to find the frog though, he made for a few decent shots.

I’ve a fair few more I haven’t finished processing, including some HDR, which i’m also unsure about.

[JCFindley]

Are you new to HDR or have you been doing it for a while?

Either way, here is a great site with a very good tutorial on it. (done by a great American and friend and mentor of mine)

http://thehdrimage.com/

Where are the falls BTW?

[Nightrose]

I love the frog photos! You did well 🙂

[picarusslim]

Thanks JCFindley.

I’m quite new to HDR. I’ve never really liked it after seeing those other worldy shots but once I’d seen a few realistic looking ones I decided to give it a go. I’m using photomatix and at the moment just getting to grips with it. There aer a few efforts on my flickr stream, some urban exploration and a landscape.

I’ll check out the link.

Thanks nightrose!

[JCFindley]

For me, HDR simply gives me the ability to show the image as the eye sees it and it is not a “style” in and of itself.

This one is not HDR.  There is no detail or color in the shadows, which is fine for this presentation as the silhouetted back of the bridge is fine and the sky and reflection of the sky off the side of the bridge are what I wanted to achieve.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/bridge-over-the-hackensack-jc-findley.html

Whereas this one, the grass in the foreground is an integral part of the composition and just wouldn’t work if it were silhouetted and black. There is no need for HDR to be “cartoony” though many people choose to do that.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/across-the-meadowlands-jc-findley.html

Enjoy the journey as it really does open up a lot of opportunities that simply won’t work with current sensor technology.

 

[iliketag]

JCF, I think that’s some of the best “HDR” work I’ve come across. To me, I hate when it looks over-processed and gray clouds have those cartoony black enhancements. It’s part of the reason I’ve never been the slight bit interested in experimenting with it. I’m relieved to know that’s not the case!

Picarusslim, the shots are great. The bud, like everyone else has said, is pretty blah… but everything else came out well. May I recommend picking up a Neutral Density filter at some point? Those falls would look better with that softness I think. Overall I think they turned out well for your first stab at it! Show us more 😀

[Sarah]

I love the frog photos. The lighting on them is nice. The weed is boring as a subject but the images are technically sound.

[picarusslim]

They’re very nice HDRs!! I hope I can achieve that level of natural-ness! Thanks for the input, i’ll report back with some of my efforts.

Thanks all. The bud is pretty dull eh, especially compared to what I normally like doing.

I definitely need to get a few filters, i’ve being a bit cheap on that front.

This is my landscape(ish) folder, not my strong point as previously stated and most were taken last year when I wasn’t as ‘educated’

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111320353313439269434/albums/5822164981212373505

and these are more me:-

Portraits and stuff

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111320353313439269434/albums/5799670324163534305

Street/urban

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111320353313439269434/albums/5799632381049824769

and some urbex

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111320353313439269434/albums/5799686886132647137

I need to prune some out, especially fromt he street album. I’m really uncomfortable with greenery that involves trees, plants, water. I look at the recent waterfalls ones and recoil. I did enjoy the day though (and it’s twenty minutes from my house)

My flickr account is more for my project 365, which through moving house several times, many personal stresses and more recently a pregnant girlfriend has suffered some serious quality control!

 

[picarusslim]

Sorry JCFindley, the falls are UK, at Bingley. They’re called Goit Stock falls or Harden Falls.

 

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