I think I suck at photography lol.

[Colin.B]

So the other day I was browsing Facebook and happened upon my cousin-in-laws page and saw some pictures he took with his Canon T2i with the kit lens and the 55-250mm lens - The same lenses and body I currently have and use. His pictures looked, well, a lot better than most of mine. The colours seem more vibrant, the photos less grainy.

One thing that's irritating me is the colours in my pictures. Nothing seems to really make them stand out. When I first open an image in Picasa, the colours actually don't look all that bad. I understand any noise is due to high iso but then after a moment, when Picasa has finished loading the image, the colours appear dull and rather bland. In lighter photos they become darker, darker photos almost too light and washed out. Either way, the way they look for that second before they finish loading is great. Once the image finishes loading it's as I mentioned. Not sure if that's my doing or Picasa's. For all I know, it could just be a lack of knowledge causing my shots to be what I perceive as dull. It's pretty irritating however to open a photo, be happy with the lighting and then have picasa darken it and make it look a little worse.

Now, with Chconline's permission, I wanted to post a picture of his - It's just a picture of a T2i. No fast action shots, nothing crazy going on:

It's clean, crisp and vibrant. I don't know if any editing was done (I'll get to my editing woes in a moment :p) but it looks great. Granted, he may be using a better lens but I'm going off of the assumption it's not crazy expensive and super high end.

Here's an indoor shot from me:

Again, before fully loading in Picasa, it actually looks pretty good...And then..Washed out lol.

Outdoor shots are a different story. Outdoor day shots anyways. Those look pretty good! Colours are decent, lighting isn't bad. Still looks a little dull when I open them in Picasa. So maybe these lenses just aren't ideal for indoor shooting and I should just break down and buy a nifty fifty.

When it comes to editing, I have Lightroom 3 and well, at the risk of sounding like a total newbie...Have no idea how to do much of anything in there. I see the colour correction tools, some hue and saturation but...What do most people use when editing pictures? Is it simple colour correction and adjusting the saturation? I also haven't changed the exposure on my T2i it's pretty much stock. I might have switched it over to sRGB but that's about it. All the pictures have been in RAW for the most part. Should I be doing manual or auto shooting modes? (Focus I use a mixture depending on the situation.) Bokeh is another thing I'm having trouble capturing. I'm going out on a limb here and thinking it has to do with the limitations of the kit lens and the 55-250mm.

One thing I'm wondering is how do you determine, with reliable accuracy, what kind of aperture rating and f numbers you should be using in situations? I mean, it seems what live view shows is different than what the image actually is. Especially concerning low light, indoor shots...Or indoor shots in general. Same with night time shots.

Anyways, I'll be more than happy to hear any tips, tricks, constructive criticisms.

This probably should have just been a blog lol. I haven't updated my account yet...Speaking of which...

[Xahid]

I am not photographer either, but I don't see any "high quality graphic image" in "his" image comparing it with your's one, both looks great same quality.

[Colin.B]

Hmm...Well thank you. And if you really think so, maybe it's just Picasa that's making everything look dull. I just see pictures like this one, and wonder what they did to make it look so good.

I guess the issue isn't so much what I'm doing with the camera, but rather what I'm not doing in post processing.

[Owen W Veteran]

As a photographer, I can tell you the trick is Adobe Lightroom, practice and... more practice. Stop using Picasa, start shooting in RAW. It's worth it. Let me show you an example, be right back...

Edit: OK, here's a photo BEFORE Lightroom.

And here's what it looks like after I've post-processed it.

Neat, huh? This is why you need to shoot in RAW.

[UseLess]

That Owen, is a VERY neat trick indeed! Wonderful gem of a tip that =)

[Muhammad Farrukh]

Thats a neat trick there Owen

[a1ien]

The color change on load that you're describing suggests you might have some messed up color profile loaded in the Windows color management system. Poor monitor drivers for example can store a color profile that makes things look yellow. I had a samsung monitor where installing the driver caused a big yellowing problem but now I use a Dell IPS panel.

So look at Windows color management and set it to the default profile if needed. See if that makes a difference.

Color profiles aside, I perfer to get good color in my shots through good lighting. Lightbulbs are not good lighting. IMO the best color comes from negative films like Ektar or Portra shot in daylight.

[Another Canuck]

You just need to work on your composition.

There's really nothing wrong with the colours in your dinner shot, the problem is the shot itself (not to sound harsh). You simply aimed your camera at your plate and pressed the shutter. You need to compose your pictures to make them more interesting before you worry too much about post-processing.

Google "Rule of Thirds". This is one of the basics to composing nice photos. Basically it involves imagining a 9-cell grid over the scene and lining up key parts of the scene in that grid.

Colours and exposure aside, which of these two shots is more interesting to you?

And keep in mind that most people do post-process their photos, so don't worry if not all your shots come out looking perfect. That's why we have Photoshop :)

[Nashy]

Lightroom is God's gift to photos. I like to get shots I don't have to process though. In saying that, I do a lot of night photography.

On your food photo, it looks like your focus is on the asparagus and steak. Is the potato out of focus slightly?

This was with my Nikon D5100.

[perochan]

practice... practice...practice and practice using different settings. I personally use aperture setting a lot and sometimes Manual mode if i wanna control everything myself.

[Beyond Godlike]

Lightroom is God's gift to photos. I like to get shots I don't have to process though. In saying that, I do a lot of night photography.

On your food photo, it looks like your focus is on the asparagus and steak. Is the potato out of focus slightly?

This was with my Nikon D5100.

Thats beautiful. Makes me wish i was talented.

[HawkMan]

To start with I suggest using ANYTHING but Picasa, it's color handling of RAW files is terrible, and it's color adjustement tools are even worse. if you can't afford lightroom, use Windows Live Photo Gallery, it's much better. or use on of the non library tols to manage and adjust the photos, better control, but more work since you need to work the photos one by one.

As a photographer, I can tell you the trick is Adobe Lightroom, practice and... more practice. Stop using Picasa, start shooting in RAW. It's worth it. Let me show you an example, be right back...

Edit: OK, here's a photo BEFORE Lightroom.

And here's what it looks like after I've post-processed it.

Neat, huh? This is why you need to shoot in RAW.

Too much green in the clouds, and possibly the sea, should have used a gradient filter as well.

[Detection]

I don't think my camera can shoot RAW images, can I still use Lightroom to improve the photos ?

[Osiris]

Lightroom is God's gift to photos. I like to get shots I don't have to process though. In saying that, I do a lot of night photography.

On your food photo, it looks like your focus is on the asparagus and steak. Is the potato out of focus slightly?

This was with my Nikon D5100.

lol okay I've been to that place and spot a dozen times and it never looks that good, a big tip of the hat to you for that shot. Its interesting seeing a shot of somewhere you've been like that, there really is some magic in post processing (not to take away from the work that went into taking that pic of course)

[HawkMan]

Yes, but it's a bit of overkill, I'd stick with just WLPG.

lol okay I've been to that place and spot a dozen times and it never looks that good, a big tip of the hat to you for that shot. Its interesting seeing a shot of somewhere you've been like that, there really is some magic in post processing (not to take away from the work that went into taking that pic of course)

while post processing is part of what makes that image what it is. the way it was taken is also improtant. No matter what Post he did, he wouldn't get that result with the camera set to automatic and just point and shooting it :)

[djdanster]

Lightroom is God's gift to photos. I like to get shots I don't have to process though. In saying that, I do a lot of night photography.

On your food photo, it looks like your focus is on the asparagus and steak. Is the potato out of focus slightly?

This was with my Nikon D5100.

Could you upload a higher res on that photo? thanks :)

[tuckeratlarge]

This will make photographers laugh but all I need and use is Windows Live Photo Gallery as an alternative to Picasa. I am not professional or patient enough to use Lightroom.

[Detection]

This will make photographers laugh but all I need and use is Windows Live Photo Gallery as an alternative to Picasa. I am not professional or patient enough to use Lightroom.

You take a bad ass photo of cabbages ;)

[djdanster]

You take a bad ass photo of cabbages ;)

They're sprouts :laugh:

[Detection]

They're sprouts :laugh:

:laugh: :laugh: They are bad ass sprouts then :laugh:

[Buttus]

if you can't afford Bibble (now done by Corel), Lightroom, etc, the software that comes with canon cameras is 95% as good, Digital Photo Professional.

Install it off the CD that came with your camera and download the upgrade from the canon web site, it's almost all i use

[Owen W Veteran]

To start with I suggest using ANYTHING but Picasa, it's color handling of RAW files is terrible, and it's color adjustement tools are even worse. if you can't afford lightroom, use Windows Live Photo Gallery, it's much better. or use on of the non library tols to manage and adjust the photos, better control, but more work since you need to work the photos one by one.

Too much green in the clouds, and possibly the sea, should have used a gradient filter as well.

I know ;). There's lots of gradient filters in there, I was just giving a (quick) example anyway.

[chconline Veteran]

For indoor shots, the trick is the flash... when I took a picture of my T2i, I used my Canon EOS 60D, Canon 24-105 f/4L, and a Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash aimed at the ceiling. ISO 200 f/4 1/60. Used Photoshop and adjusted the white balance slightly.

[Guest]

Personally, if you want to achieve a sort of "lifestyle" look to your images, I'd avoid using flash and try to use natural light. As in, from a (ideally large) window. (unless you have access to a lot of studio lighting)

Your image is good and with lightroom a white balance shift and bit of exposure and contrast tweaking would look make it even better, but I think it'd look even better in daylight.

Btw, taking photos of food is tricky business, there's a load of stuff photographers do to make the food stay looking yummy while they're working.

Check this out:

http://www.pixiq.com/article/food-photo-tricks

[Argote]

I don't think my camera can shoot RAW images, can I still use Lightroom to improve the photos ?

Yes, though it won't be as effective.

To OP: If you don't want to spend too much on software right now you can use the software that came with your Canon camera, it'll allow you to do a plethora of adjustments and process the RAW files correctly.