Snow's getting old

More snow, and I'm tired of it already. But it did give me a chance to try some more shots of snow, and this time I experimented a little bit with the skies.

So here's a few I took this morning before I went to work, just around our neighborhood:






















It was taken at ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec. Now, here's the original:





















As you can see, I lightened the trees quite a bit, but unfortunately, I think that brightened the skies too much. I know there's a way to brighten one part of a photo and keep the rest the same, but I think it has something to do with layers, or masks, and I don't know how to do that in processing yet.

I wonder if I'd bumped the ISO if that would have helped with the trees. Hmm. Probably would've hurt the tones in the sky, though. Something to try for another day.

So here's a few more.




































Now this one was interesting. It was taken at ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/320 sec. I took it because the sun was shining directly onto this tree, and it looked so awesome. But that doesn't show in the photo at all! In fact -- it looks kind of flat. The colors are all too close to the same hue. But I still think it's interesting, just in a different way.

Here's another with a somewhat interesting sky:



















I amped the colors in the sky in this photo a lot. It was taken at ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/400 sec. I have a hard time stopping myself when I'm editing sometimes -- how far is too far? When does it start to look unnatural? It's hard to be objective when you're in the throws of editing.

I think they all have a slightly blue-ish tint to them, but I kind of like it. I almost wish that someone else (someone more pro) would edit my photos with me at the same time, but totally separately. Then we could come together and see how our versions differ. I don't know how else to learn post-processing techniques other than trial and error. It can be a little frustrating at times, but I'll probably internalize it better this way.

Second big snow

We had our second big snow of the season yesterday. Snowed all day, from about 9 a.m. until 5 or 6 p.m. Only accumulated maybe four or five inches, though. I went out this morning to take a few shots -- the sun is really shining bright.

I have re-decided (ha!) to get the 85 f/1.8. So I did a little DOF experiment with the tree branch below. I wonder which f-stop the 1.8 of the 85mm will be comparable to on the 50mm. I'm sure there's an equation that would let me figure it out, but adding 35 mms will probably mean that the 85's 1.8 will look something like the 50's 1.6, or maybe 1.4?

So the four shots below were taken in sequence, the first at f/1.6, the second at f/2, the third at f/2.5, and the last one at f/3.2:










































































Obviously I like the bokeh in the first photo the best -- I think it's pretty gorgeous, actually. However, I think the tree limb looks best in the third and fourth photos. If I were to try this again, I'd stand so that the limb was a little more parallel to me and take it at f/1.6 (or even 1.4) again -- that should keep more of the limb in focus, but still produce the lovely bokeh in the first shot.

The 85mm 1.8 is $379.95 (with free shipping) at B&H, which is probably where I'll buy it from. I ordered the 50mm from them, and it arrived really quickly. Seems that only L lenses come with hoods, which is kind of annoying. I know I should probably start investing in accessories like that.

I am also starting to slowly learn about filters and polarizers; we'll be at the beach this June, and I want to (1) keep my glass protected from the sand/salt, and (2) learn to take better coastal photos!