Before And After Pictures

In an effort to improve my photography skills, I've been experimenting and practicing a little bit with my camera settings. I like the pictures I've been taking, but I have felt the need to improve them. This is my first camera, and I think I've done pretty well with the basic stuff up 'til now. But I want the pictures to come out a little better.

If you look at the top picture, you can see that it's a good representation of what I saw on the nature trail. The problem for me, and the problem I've had from the beginning, is that the colors just aren't as vivid and the lighting is too bright. When I am deep in the forest, like I was here, it's pretty dark, even on a sunny day. And while you can see the green in the top picture, it's a little washed out. The reality is much greener.

I went through several different suggested settings on the camera, and settled on the one I used for the picture below for now. It works good for pictures like this, but not others. I'm still obviously in the learning process, but I think I'm on the right track.

This picture represents what I actually saw, much better than the top one. You can see that the scene looks a little darker, the greens of the plants looks much richer, and you can now see that the dirt on the trail has a lot more brown in it. The older pictures only showed a light gray for the dirt. For me, the new setting that brings out the brown is a huge improvement, but of course there is still more improvement to be had. I had a lot of clunkers on this trip, but some encouraging pictures too.

I have also been working on my pictures of plants and animals, with settings that will make what you see much better, and more representative of what I saw with my own eyes. Again, I think I'm headed in the right direction.

From now and into the future, I will be experimenting with more and more changes, and I think it will improve things greatly. The good thing is that there is always room for improvement, and I will always constantly be trying to get better with everything I do. This blog is of course about everyday adventures and pictures like these, but it is more about improving myself. Let me know what you think of this new improvement, when you look at these two pictures.

...Oh, I almost forgot. If anyone is interested in giving me a few photography tips, I'd really appreciate it. I look forward to your suggestions and even critiques. Just go to the comments link below, it's really easy.