I am no photographer but I like taking pictures. My favorite part is editing, I do it with my digital drawing software (Clip Studio Paint)! Right now I really love doing black background pictures! :

 

Stunning pictures!

 

Wow @Arteval those are great!!! I would love taking photos like that but I don't know how Could you share a bit of your tips and techniques?? What camera do you use? I use a Nikon D3500, which @DollyandAya already knows and I think @Ruth McClure too.
@Ruth McClure This is a SUPER idea, and we can also share recent photos that we thought are particularly good! And stuff like.... I have a picture that I like, and I touched it up a bit. Which one do you like better?

The one on the bottom I darkened just a tiny bit, and added the tenniest bit of color
Also on this one:

This one on the bottom, of course, I added black and white, lightened it a teeny bit, and I don't remember if I added the teenyiest bit of color or not.
Watermark or not?

 

younghorsetrainer Thank you! I use my mom's Nikon (they are too expensive for me to buy one for now!). I don't know what model it is... I have absolutly no technique! I just take a lot of pictures and have a few pretty ones by luck. I love your pictures too! I can't decide if I prefer the cats or the bird... For the moon, I think you should make the watermark smaller?

This one was taken with a cell phone, it's not as pretty but mister Troll looks great in it! And making Troll look good is such a hard thing...:

 

Nice!! about the cats pictures and the bird pictures, I was asking which variation of the two did ya'll like better?
And thanks for the advice on the moon picture. It is still new to me and I haven't got it under control yet 😆 😄😄
your kitty Troll is cute!! lol I love that cat-looking-at-an-interesting-object-up-above look. especially when they go... eeeee.ee...e.......eeeeeee... in the.. I see a bird and wanna eat it meow.

 

@younghorsetrainer now I'm all excited about this thread! 😆

The cats - I think the second photo is better, it is softer and nicer on the eyes. The first is brighter and white looking.

The bird - hmm that is a hard one. They are both quite nice. I can't seem to decide which one I like more; good job on them both!

The moon/watermark - as @Arteval said, the watermark should be smaller. But if there is a photo you have taken and want to put your name to, then I say go for it!

 

younghorsetrainer Oh! I prefer your second pictures of the kittens I love both version of the bird. For the watermark, why not try something like that? I like this because it is discreet but still tell poeple it's yours:

This picture was taken when Troll was a kitten. Now he is fat and LOVES bird hunting!

 

Thanks! Well lol it does sound silly but I am only putting the watermark on some of my photos for a try-out because I think that a good picture with a watermark like mine or like this:

makes the photo look more professional and pleasing to the eye if chosen carefully.
Awww Troll sounds nice.

 

@Ruth McClure lol me too 😆 😄😂😂
Thanks for info! I thought so too on the bottom cat picture. The problem with me, that I have only in the past 3 weeks been a bit more interested in, is normally I just take the pictures, trim them a bit if I want to and then show them or keep them, whatever lol etc..... but lately I have been interested in touching them up a bit. I think that it sometimes makes a world of difference and though I am horrible at it, and just have View Nx-I for the Nikon software and the photos app on the laptop it is working pretty well.

Same on the bird picture, I don't know which one that I like better. And yep I DEFINITELY need more practice on the watermarking thing!

 

This has been my only attempt at a watermark. I am going to change it in the near future for sure.

 

This has been my only attempt at a watermark. I am going to change it in the near future for sure.
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That's great!! I love the font! In my opinion it should be at least a tiny bit bigger, you either don't notice it or you have to look carefully to read it. What is the name of the font?

 

Yes, you're right, it should be larger. I believe the font type is "Snell Roundhand".

 

@Ruth McClure: great idea about this thread! Sort of like our puzzle one!

@younghorsetrainer: love your pixs, but you know that.

@Arteval: love the black on black horse. Also really appreciate the draft horse, but wasn't sure if that was yours or were you just pointing out the watermark?

 

Here's something from 2014 and a little bit of detail from the file. Totally unretouched. I still like it. We'll see if it comes across pixelated because I'm doing a screen capture of the image that's in my current phone's storage.

 

Did you take the photo at night?

 

Horse & Dog Mom It is me logging with my horse Nook (he is a Percheron). My mom took the picture.

 

Opinions on these photos please. I have edited them; anything need changing?

 

Opinions on these photos please. I have edited them; anything need changing?
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Ohh look at her attitude

 

Ruth McClure They are so pretty! I just love them! I think they are perfect as they are. What is the cat's name?

 

Thankyou @Arteval, that is nice to hear!

His name is Greywacke Jones. It is an odd name; I have given all 3 of my cats names from the Slinkey Malinki books by Lynley Dodd.

 

@Ruth McClure I don't know the reference, but it's cool! I have a cat named June after June Iparis from Legend by Marie Lu.

 

Look at my cutie

 

Your horse is gorgeous. Is it a mare, stallion or gelding? What breed?

 

@Ruth McClure: Yep, at night No touch up at all. Your pictures are gorgeous. Did you touch up the cat's eyes?

@Arteval: That is so cool about logging. I'm originally a city girl, but moved here from living in Wisconsin for a long time. Logging games are very big there. So are the paper mills.

 

@Horse & Dog Mom thankyou and no, I didn't touch up the cat's eyes specifically, but I did edit the photos as a whole. His eyes are bright yellow in person though, so it is perfectly accurate.

 

@younghorsetrainer: Thanks... Not too bad from smartphone back in 2014. 👍

 

It's very good from a smartphone back in 2014!

 

All of you take great pics--wow! I don't know much about photography but I also just love taking photos. What do you think of something like this--

It's my bf and I at the Scottish Highland games wearing our kilts. I like to get different angles and perspectives to keep things interesting.

 

@pasomountain that is exactly the type of photo I love! Same as you, I like getting different angles and perspectives. That is such a cool photo! Thanks so much for posting it!

 

Beautiful pics, everyone!
Has anyone else tried photographing planets? I've done Venus and Mars, and I'd like to try Saturn and Jupiter when they're around again, as they seem to be the easiest to photograph.
Here's Mars (zoomed in on the computer so it doesn't just look like a dot):

And Venus - admittedly, they look virtually the same and are very poor quality, but I'm pretty happy with them considering my setup:

I think the other dots are just noise from a higher ISO. For night sky pics I can use an ISO. of up to about 200 before getting too much noise.

 

@DollyandAya good job with those photos! I find it very hard to take photos of planets. I would like to give it another go though.

 

@DollyandAya : my current smartphone stinks at nighttime photography. I love the fact that you got the planets! Are you using your smartphone or using a DSLR or ???

@pasomountain: Love your plaids! I'm sure there's a term for what they are, but tell us a little bit about the pins you both are wearing on your kilts.

 

@DollyandAya : my current smartphone stinks at nighttime photography. I love the fact that you got the planets! Are you using your smartphone or using a DSLR or ???

@pasomountain: Love your plaids! I'm sure there's a term for what they are, but tell us a little bit about the pins you both are wearing on your kilts.

I took them with my Nikon D3000 - a beginner level DSLR - and a 55mm lens (the reason it's so hard to get good photos!).