Looking for honest opinions

[DarkHorse]

Yesterday i was told to play with my camera settings, to get a more vivid crisp pic,
so i did,,all friggen afternoon,
test shooting,,,and shooting,,,

i dont know if its my eyes, the dam laptop, or just me,
so im looking for opinions, you guys out there that do this stuff all the time,

this morning early outside, it was cloudy, i took these shots,
please, let me know what ones you like best,
"landscape " is the default camera,
and "user" is mine,

1st one, landscape,
2cd user settings,
3rd landscape
4th user settings

taken within a minute of each other, raw,
all i did was convert with DPP and resize them in photoshop6

thanks
johnp

[Concisus Cognatus]

John they're all ok. What specifically would you like comments on? Brightness, lighting, composition, etc.?

[DarkHorse]

i messed up, i had the thread,
Lighting, settings, camera one going,
i see alot of pics that look crisp and glossy, not flat, here,
it seems mine are all flat, dull, less vibrant, ect,

was wondering why,

[boxofrocks]

I saw auto white balance in the exif data. That's not always your friend, especially on cloudy days.

[DarkHorse]

first ones in landscape, camera settings,
second ones with my settings,


full daylight now,

[Concisus Cognatus]

The pros opinions will be more helpful than mine. FWIW, I think they are all underexposed, which is not all bad. If they are in raw format and you have raw processing software it's really easy to correct. That's what I'd start with

When setting up for a picture in low lighting, I like to shoot at least 1 practice shot, view the histogram, then, make the necessary adjustments to aperture, exposure, iso, whatever is relative to my goal for the picture I'll be taking.

With more practice and time you'll be able to eyeball a scene and make good guesstimates as to what settings to use.

[DarkHorse]

ive seen pics of birds, cars, ect ect, and the colors just jump out, there vibrant and crisp,

i read that the nikon D80 was better that way than the canon XTi, i got the canon,
because my girlfriend had some lens'es, and thats what i also used to use way back when,

i cant seem to get crisp,vivid, with this, it probably doenst help, that its an old kit-lense,
28-80, and i take alot of sunsets and sunrise pics, kinda dark,,grin,,,
but
the daylight ones i take just dont have that snap, that i see on alot of the treads here,

just wondering if its me, or the camera settings are on the dull side,

johnp

[boxofrocks]

Exactly which lens were you using?

[DarkHorse]

first ones my settings
second ones camera-landscape which one looks better??

[Concisus Cognatus]

Most likely an issue of learning your camera. The Canon XTi is a good camera and takes really nice looking pictures. What you are experiencing is simply an indication of a lack of knowledge about using the camera, again, something you will overcome in time. Don't be discouraged.

I was exactly where you are a year ago so I just shot in P&S mode until I started to feel more comfortable with making different adjustments. However, I have a long way to go to reach a level of proficiency seen so often on this and other sites. Just remember, practice, learn, practice, learn, Grow. You'll get there.

[Concisus Cognatus]

Yours has more vivid colors. So to answer your question, yours.

Originally Posted by DarkHorse

first ones my settings
second ones camera-landscape which one looks better??

[rockpics]

I think both scenes (the dog and the cedar) were taken in less than optimum lighting conditions related to the time of day. Also, to get more "pop" you could increase your contrast. However, since some photos might end up with too much contrast if you change your in camera settings, you would be better off improving the contrast in post-processing. In general I don't like Canon's landscape setting. I think it over-saturates in many situations, but I don't see that in these photos. For these scenes, your custom settings seem to give a more pleasing result, with more color and contrast.

[MC Images]

My go at it, just needed a little brightness/contrast adjustment and saturation boost. Also added smart sharpen, took 30sec. in Photoshop.

[rhoffart]

A newbie at it myself ... but I took a shot at the same pic ... took a little blue out with replace color ... added a touch of pop with a soft light layer at about 20%.

[DarkHorse]

just put on the 18-55 IS and took some shots,

I SEE COLOR

now im gonna do more testing between the lens'es,

thanks youall,,,,

johnp