Photo Trip Report -- Dec. 17-23

[td1129]

Hey Everyone, I wanted to share some pictures from our recent trip to WDW! I am a beginner with my Nikon D300 and this is my first time traveling with it. I have not taken any lessons or classes, just picked up information online through this site and Pioneer Woman Photography (great resource).

Anyway, I really enjoy everyone's photos and I hope you enjoy mine as well. I welcome any and all feedback as I am very new at this and am looking to learn and grow. Thanks in advance!

 

[ukcatfan]

Your composition is good, but it looks like every shot is underexposed. Did you do some post processing? I suspect that you did because it looks like you added some vignetting to some of the shots. It could be that your monitor is not properly calibrated or something.

 

[td1129]

Your composition is good, but it looks like every shot is underexposed. Did you do some post processing? I suspect that you did because it looks like you added some vignetting to some of the shots. It could be that your monitor is not properly calibrated or something.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I used a few different photoshop actions, including the edge burn. While they brought out the colors, they did seem to darken them up quite a bit.

 

[klmall]

I agree about the composition; interesting shots and angles. The colors seem off and quite dark although I like the 'vintage' look of the close-up Mickey.

I'm assuming that you are newlyweds so congratulations!

Were you shooting in raw? If so, you'll be able to work with your shots. Let us see any editing you do.

 

[td1129]

I agree about the composition; interesting shots and angles. The colors seem off and quite dark although I like the 'vintage' look of the close-up Mickey.

I'm assuming that you are newlyweds so congratulations!

Were you shooting in raw? If so, you'll be able to work with your shots. Let us see any editing you do.

Okay here are some of the same shots without the Photoshop actions that darkened them. Please let me know if these still seem underexposed. Thanks!

 

[td1129]

I agree about the composition; interesting shots and angles. The colors seem off and quite dark although I like the 'vintage' look of the close-up Mickey.

I'm assuming that you are newlyweds so congratulations!

Were you shooting in raw? If so, you'll be able to work with your shots. Let us see any editing you do.

Oh and thank you for the congrats

 

[klmall]

Okay here are some of the same shots without the Photoshop actions that darkened them. Please let me know if these still seem underexposed. Thanks!

This one still has exposure problems

Light versus dark exposure problems

Fuzzy focus....

This one is perfect to me! I like it!

Great shot!

I really like this one now!

Looks good to me!

Looks fine to me!

Just my 2cents worth!
I'm sure others will give you more specific help!

 

[Groucho]

Congratulations on the wedding!

There are some good, interesting compositions here. Most are not cookiecutter shots, which is always a good thing IMHO.

One thing I noticed looking at the exif (thank you Photobucket for leaving it intact!) is that every shot has a 1/3rd stop exposure compensation - were you having issues with the camera overexposing normally? The "untouched" photos look more or less fine as far as exposure goes (1/3rd isn't that big of a change), I just found that a bit curious.

I see most have auto white balance but one or two have manual... if you're shooting raw, it's easiest to just leave it in auto and adjust it later. If you're after color "pop", white balance can make a big difference there. If it were my shot, I would cool down the colors a bit on the "thumbs up Mickey" in the store; that could give the photo a much different (and probably more vibrant) look.

I'm trying to figure out what's going on in the Magical Express shot... the Mickey looks fairly sharp but the text below seems a bit blurry. I wonder if you moved between the camera grabbing focus and taking the shot? If not, I wonder if there's a focus calibration issue with the camera or the lens (especially with a couple of the other . I think the D300 has the ability to adjust such things; if sharpness has been a recurring issue, it may be worth doing some test to see if it's misfocusing.

 

[td1129]

Congratulations on the wedding!

There are some good, interesting compositions here. Most are not cookiecutter shots, which is always a good thing IMHO.

One thing I noticed looking at the exif (thank you Photobucket for leaving it intact!) is that every shot has a 1/3rd stop exposure compensation - were you having issues with the camera overexposing normally? The "untouched" photos look more or less fine as far as exposure goes (1/3rd isn't that big of a change), I just found that a bit curious.

I see most have auto white balance but one or two have manual... if you're shooting raw, it's easiest to just leave it in auto and adjust it later. If you're after color "pop", white balance can make a big difference there. If it were my shot, I would cool down the colors a bit on the "thumbs up Mickey" in the store; that could give the photo a much different (and probably more vibrant) look.

I'm trying to figure out what's going on in the Magical Express shot... the Mickey looks fairly sharp but the text below seems a bit blurry. I wonder if you moved between the camera grabbing focus and taking the shot? If not, I wonder if there's a focus calibration issue with the camera or the lens (especially with a couple of the other . I think the D300 has the ability to adjust such things; if sharpness has been a recurring issue, it may be worth doing some test to see if it's misfocusing.

This is very helpful. I just noticed the exposure composition and corrected it. Thank you! This was unintentional.

Also, how does one adjust the white balance on a RAW photo? Thanks in advance.

 

[td1129]

Congratulations on the wedding!

There are some good, interesting compositions here. Most are not cookiecutter shots, which is always a good thing IMHO.

One thing I noticed looking at the exif (thank you Photobucket for leaving it intact!) is that every shot has a 1/3rd stop exposure compensation - were you having issues with the camera overexposing normally? The "untouched" photos look more or less fine as far as exposure goes (1/3rd isn't that big of a change), I just found that a bit curious.

I see most have auto white balance but one or two have manual... if you're shooting raw, it's easiest to just leave it in auto and adjust it later. If you're after color "pop", white balance can make a big difference there. If it were my shot, I would cool down the colors a bit on the "thumbs up Mickey" in the store; that could give the photo a much different (and probably more vibrant) look.

I'm trying to figure out what's going on in the Magical Express shot... the Mickey looks fairly sharp but the text below seems a bit blurry. I wonder if you moved between the camera grabbing focus and taking the shot? If not, I wonder if there's a focus calibration issue with the camera or the lens (especially with a couple of the other . I think the D300 has the ability to adjust such things; if sharpness has been a recurring issue, it may be worth doing some test to see if it's misfocusing.

This is very helpful. I just noticed the exposure composition and corrected it. Thank you! This was unintentional.

Also, how does one adjust the white balance on a RAW photo? Thanks in advance.

 

[ukcatfan]

This is very helpful. I just noticed the exposure composition and corrected it. Thank you! This was unintentional.

Also, how does one adjust the white balance on a RAW photo? Thanks in advance.

You use RAW processing software such as Lightroom, Bibble, or what came with the camera.

 

[MBKELmom]

I think your photos are wonderful. I am new to DSLR photography myself, so I have a lot of learning to do as well.

 

[iggbees]

i actually like the post processing look of the vignetting and the dark and saturated photos on most of your shots. although, i would use that particular post processing technique on every single photo i have if i could (i'm just too lazy to do it!). it's definitely my favorite look! that mickey one is especially cool, as is the american idol one.

 

[ukcatfan]

i actually like the post processing look of the vignetting and the dark and saturated photos on most of your shots. although, i would use that particular post processing technique on every single photo i have if i could (i'm just too lazy to do it!). it's definitely my favorite look! that mickey one is especially cool, as is the american idol one.

You should look into RAW processing as well. You can apply vignetting, saturation, etc. to every one of your shots in a matter of seconds. It does take time to then process, but that is not time actively working on them. Also, the vignetting and saturation can be applied without lowering the exposure, which IMO would give better results.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I enjoyed your photos. You have a good eye. Let's see some more.

 

[PhotographyDR]

As far as raw photos. It really does not matter what the WB is set to when taking raw. The raw photo is the actaul "raw" data sent from the sensor. WB is actually applied when the camera "creates" the jpg. If your in raw then it does not matter. All adjustments can be done in post. If your using photoshop then when you open a raw you will go directly into ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) and it is a quick slider that you can adjust before the file opens in Photoshop. ACR is a great and easy way to make adjustments to the raw before ever using Photoshop. I use Lightroom (basically a mirror program to ACR) and I do 90 - 95% of my editing in this. I quickens up the work flow a lot.