Evening Sky

[Kiya]

The nicest evening sky I've seen in ages, I just used auto sharpen on these & still maybe its too much

Also today I saw the first robin perched on my window sill outside my kitchen, its always said here " its the first sign of snow to come" brrrrrrrr

[Horus]

They look pretty good to me Kiya, some great colour shades in those clouds.

[Ruby Slippers]

Lovely photos, Kiya!

[LovelyLadyLux]

Lovely photos Kiya...........and........guess what? I was outside, same time (well ok - my own time) last night also taking photos of the sky and sunset too! Soon as I get them off the camera I'll post.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Last night when I was on the BC Ferries crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca I didn't go 'up' onto the passenger deck but opted to sit in the car with Friday (my dog) and after he fell asleep I went walk about the deck and then decided to grab my camera and take a photo of the sunset.

I didn't capture the sky like Kiya but did get these two photos of the setting sun



I think thought I'd take a photo of 'where I was' and so snapped this one off the back of the ferry



Soooo - this has brought me questions.......1) how come the back of the ferry photo is so much "lighter" than the sunset? And 2) How come I was getting circle 'dots' about one third up from the bottom of the sunset photo? Reflections?

I've seen some sunset photos that are absolutely gorgeous. These are OK but how do you get those sunset photos that have a bizzillion colours in them and WITHOUT circle reflections?

[Horus]

Nice to see some of your pictures LLL and there is not much wrong with any of them.
A few questions from you to answer and others may have a different opinion, but the reason for the lightness on the water on the back of the last ferry picture is down to your camera taking a light reading off the reflective surface, the blob on your picture is a light flare caused by looking at the sun, lens hoods can reduce this risk, but not in your case. They can vary from being coloured blobs to being orbs and are often the source of UFO pictures, they can however be used to make a picture look more interesting. The big range of colours is usually the result of having the camera set to one of the 'custom' modes and many cameras will have a Sunset setting that gives vibrant pictures.

I have taken the liberty of copying your original and (1) removing the blob. (2) duplicating the picture in Photoshop and 'overlaying' it on the original to boost the colours then adding a slight 'Unsharp Mask' to give it some definition. (3) Finally added a false 'lens flare' in the sky to demonstrate about using it artistically.

[LovelyLadyLux]

WOW H did I ever take a Terrific Photo!! Nahhhhhh - Your editing H is FANTASTIC!! You've really improved the shot. (Note to self - GET into an editing class asap)

I really do like how you've improved it and moved the orb which has given a really neat artistic effect to this photo. It IS a photo of the Vancouver Island coastal mountain range.

I've seen some really spectacular sunrise/sunset photos. Kiya's photos have captured some really nice colours.

[Ruby Slippers]

Maybe it's about time to start talking about the pros and cons of various editing suites! What say you, Horus? Game for a few pointers and opinions?

[Horus]

Good point RS, I’m always available to help or offer some advice on anything from computers, general tips and tricks, photography, software, editing or whatever people want to talk about, if I know the answer I will gladly share it with you, if not we can always find out about it together and there are lots of other knowledgeable people here if they just speak up. So fire away and pick something you want to know more about and lets see if we can get some interest generated, even the Egyptian stuff I have lots of pictures old and new and visited many of the sites as I’m sure a lot of you folks have, so there are things there of general interest. We know about your own interest in quilting and you have shared some great examples with us and I know that the ladies in particular find that interesting, photography also seems to be a common hobby amongst the regulars and a few pictures makes any thread more interesting, topics such as where have you been lately, what do you like doing in your spare time, general observations of life in general, all make for goods threads.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Good suggestion RS. H is an excellent resource, teacher, explainer as are the other guys on here.

My own personal 'need' in photography is editing and enhancing, fixing, spiffing up the photos I've taken. I need to know how to eliminate those little odd shadows, power lines, blemishes etc.

I have purchsed Adobe Photoshop but I'm too 'dim' to figure it out.

Actually my problem is I'm a hands on learner. Physically actually 'show me' once and I've got it - BUT - I can read the instructions until I've memorized them and it means nothing to me. I often quite frustrate myself and often annoy myself when I can't figure out (from instructions) something so simple once I see it and am able to do it 'hands on.'

Overall 'hobbies, what are you reading, what are you doing' seem to be popular topics that attract quite a few participants.

[Horus]

OK then, hands on is no big deal, a few pictures is as they say worth a thousand words, so what version of Photoshop do you have? and does anyone else want to know how to get rid of telephone wires and lighten those dark areas?

[Ruby Slippers]

I'll have to have a look at my PC, Horus, to find out just WHAT I have got in the way of photo editing software. (Honestly, my PC is disgracefully untidy! ) One I have had for a looooong time and still use is MGI Photosuite - which dates back to the year dot! I'll get back to you on it when I've gone on a voyage of discovery! Removing telephone wires etc. - are you talking about cloning or is there another way?

[Kiya]

I have Elements7 & willing to learn anything you suggest in photography

I lost the CS3 program with new computer

[LovelyLadyLux]

Me too - eager to learn ANYTHING related to photography. I have Abode Photoshop Elements 9..........and although I've had this for a while I'm really not too well versed in it as I can't figure it out.

[Horus]

OK folks I have an idea, but will post more later.

[LovelyLadyLux]

This is an example of one of my primary problems........see the extra 'hand' in the photo? I've already cropped this photo down to eliminate half a child (which no head or face) but I'm still left with a mysterious HAND at the edge........How do I get rid of this?

Okkkkkkkkkk - E4U isn't working and won't OPEN Gallery so I can insert the photo in here. When I click on Gallery it opens with a message the Gallery is "blank." Will try to put the picture with example in tomorrow.

I also have Picasa and I also use a program built into my laptop - Microsoft Office Picture Manager. It does rudimentary editing - cropping, brightness, contrast, resizing but I don't think either Picasa or MOPManager does any level of editing where a chunk of a picture can be taken out........(course this observation is NOT coming from a PRO by any extent )

HEY 7th try at CHARM!! This is the picture I was talking about above with the mystery 'hand' on the right hand side.......

[DJKeefy]

I think most people would use a clone brush, I used a smudge brush and just smudged the red from the T-Shirt over the hand and shadow (using paint shop pro) It took me about a minute to do cause I just rushed it for an example, if you spend time on it then it would look good.



Im sure Horus can give you better direction, im just an amature who likes to play

[LovelyLadyLux]

A clone brush? A smudge brush? And where might one find these? Sounds good Keefy but I dinna hae a clue..........The photo does look much improved and you've achieved the result I want - just don't understand about cloning and smudging.......actually smudging to me is when you light a smudge pot to keep the frost off the greenhouse plants AND cloning is when you get two sheep named Dolly.

[Kiya]

I also have built in like LLL.....Picture Manager, Paint etc but rarely use them.

LLL have you taken to my Scottish Doric

[Grandad]

I use Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Elements 7. I find Picasa is very good for quick fixes like 'straighten, crop, clone, lighten, contrast etc' but for anything requiring layers or selections I go straight to Elements 7.

I agree with everything Horus has said about LLL's sunset pictures. The orbs can be caused by moisture particles in the atmosphere but more likely from the surface of the lens elements. To test that, if you see a blob or flare when composing a picture justturn the angle of the camera slightly and the blob will move or dissapear from the frame completely.

Just a 'safety' comment about your sunset pics LLL. Everyone be very careful if using a DSLR when shooting into the sun....use your screen and not the viewfinder to protect your eyes. A zoom through an eye level viewfinder can cause serious damage to your eye.....