My first images

Recently decided to acquire a used K-30 from eBay as my first DSLR in preparation for a short trip to Iceland in January. Feeling brave enough to post a few images from my first attempts at photographing the moon with a DA55-300.....F8 def seems to be the sweet spot on this lens.
Never shot in RAW before, or done any real post processing, and am loving how much flexibility it gives.








Also, this pic of my nephew, which was taken in a rather dark restaurant with bright spot lighting. AV mode used ISO 2000, and I was amazed at how much detail could still be retrieved. I am in danger of getting PPA (Post Processing Addiction) as well as LBA.




Comments/criticisms are welcome!

If you learn to use the camera properly then you do not need to use the cheat that is Photoshop!

Excellent start with the portrait. Full of character.

I'm not one for moon photographs, so I'll not pass comment on those

Don't worry about people who say you don't need photoshop. Our learned friend is one of a kind. Every digital image needs processing, whether its by accepting the decisions made by the software in the camera, or by personal decisions in photoshop/lightroom, etc

Hello and welcome to the forum. I look forward to seeing more of your images in the future.

+1 - every digital image has been 'manipulated' to some degree or another whether by the processing in the most basic point & shoot camera, the camera in your phone or the most sophistcated DSLR.

Phil

Used with discernment post processing using any suitable program is no more cheating than assessing a negative on an enlarger baseboard and deciding how hard to print it.

I never, ever post or save a photograph without at least looking at it in Photoshop.

Take lots of different types of pictures. Experiment with camera settings and enjoy yourself.

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry, cheat ????

The camera is only a tool to realise an image you see in your mind.

If you accept only what comes from you camera image you are wasting your time.

Do you really think images from "the greats" didn't feature 'dodge and burn' etc. in the dark room ?

I sat and watched this lass when I was having a sandwich and a beer, she was being passed stuff to cook all the time, I was waiting for her to look up and smile, just once, but no she didn't, I could tell she hated it.

The image I posted could not have been taken by any camera known to man. I processed it so that it was what I saw im my mind and how I imagined how she felt, not what the camera took.

When I see, " straight out of the camera " I always think, 'how sad', did the photographer's imagination and creativity have no input, did he actually leave it all to a machine ???

link

These look good to me

Exactly my point, if you bother to raed what I said. Learn what the camera does. Also I am not alone with what I think about Photoshop, it had its place in the early days of digital photography but not anymore except to cheat. Get real.

So you suggest that you learn what decisions the camera can make for you, and then limit yourself to those options only?

Interestingly I think the OP was hoping for some comments on his images. He's received very little feedback on his output, just on the method of achieving that output. What about compesition, DOF, point of focus, etc?

Well I haven't used Photoshop yet, still content with Lightroom for now
But I certainly don't want my first real post to degenerate into a Photoshop debate.

Thanks Alan, any feedback is always welcome....Especially until I'm good enough to only have to shoot JPG

Welcome to the forum, a good set of photos to start with. The one of your nephew should be kept for embarrasing him with his future partner .

walkeja - did Ansel Adams cheat when making his photos? Or Man Ray, or David Bailey? They didn't have Photoshop, but they certainly manipulated their photos in the dark room. Absolutely no difference to using Photoshop or any other processing program today.

Thanks Nigel... I haven't applied any software sharpening yet, so I may have a try and see what effect that has. To date my Lightroom changes have been limited to histogram and white balance adjustments (and cropping).

I read your other topic with interest and fully concur with your thoughts.

Andrew, regarding processing the image of your nephew - have you considered brightening up the little chap a bit, and calming down the background, particularly the strong blue in the window and the bright yellowish object on his left?

Cheers.
Philip

Thanks for posting the images - it is commendable for you to do this if they are your first ones and is probably the first step to you learning rapidly as it shows you have an open mind, unlike one of the contributors on this thread!

Regarding the images, the 'moon' ones look a bit soft and would definitely benefit from some sharpening.

The one of your nephew is lovely, you have caught his pose very well. It could do with a little more contrast and is also a little bit over-exposed, but this could be due to the difficult lighting which has caused some burn-out on the hair. I always aim for a touch of under-exposure; with the K30 you have there should be no difficulty in retrieving shadow details once you have learned the processing basics and this would avoid areas of the image being devoid of details due to over-exposure.

I hope this is helpful and don't be afraid of post processing!

Regards
David