Can someone help me out on post processing of photos.

I was told my pictures are over done on the editing by a member eclap. Actually sometimes i'm just tempted to move every slide on adobe lightroom which is the software i use to edit all my pictures. I move the clarity and also i increase the sharpness and detail function and my pictures tend to have a grainy look on close up i don't like it but i just feel it looks better than if i didn't use the sharpness function. Anyway here's my 2 edited pictures.

Here's what eclap commented about my pictures.

So i uploaded the 2 unedited pictures. I am going to post them at the full size of 5472 x 3080 which is 16:9 res.

I hope you guys could edit my pictures for me so that it looks better than the ones that i have shown.

Both pictures were taken at low ISO fyi at 160 which is the lowest iso my camera could go. On the close up of the dragonfly the original looks a bit dark that is why on my edited picture i made it brighter.

Spoiler

 

there is a lot of stuff on the web on how to use lightroom etc which is probably easier than getting someone to explain to you over the net and just fiddle with it, i learn to use lightroom mostly by trial and error

everyone has their own style in terms of how they take and edit photos, some people are going to like how you do it and some people won't, just the way it is

in saying that your problem right now is you are not even taking good photos to begin with, to be blunt (and i apologise if i offend) edit garbage all you like you'll still end up with garbage (maybe if you are magic with photoshop, i know i'm not)

i'll try to list a few things that hopefully can help you get better photos

understand the basics - how to get the right exposure, the functions on your camera, what settings to use in what situations and how to maximise your gear etc

understanding light - know how to read light, understand what is good quality light vs bad, what time of the day to shoot etc, a lot of that is just comes down to going out shooting a lot and gaining the experience

preparation - know what gear you need for what kind of shots you want, if i go out with the intention to shoot landscapes i will always bring with me a tripod, cable release, wide angle lens and my many filters, whether or not i end up using them is one thing, but i know i am ready for whatever the situation throws at me, know when sunrise/set first/last light is, if you shoot seascape know what the tides going to be like etc, get to the location early so you can scout the place and compose the shots in your head before go time

composition - that can be subjective, but there are some general rules you can follow such as rules of thirds etc, look for objects of interest, leading lines etc

get inspiration - go on the many photography forums and sites and look at other people's work, try to understand and deconstruct the shots that you admire, i'm sure most people are willing to share their techniques and equipments used if you ask nicely

and ultimately just shoot, shoot and shoot again, sit down and try to understand why the shots you took did/not come out the way you wanted it to, my first camera (Canon 500D) the shutter count was over 20000 by the end of my first year shooting, it was mostly garbage but i gained heaps of experience

hope this helps

 

Remember when I said "looks like you found the HDR phase"? everyone goes through a "phase" where they are raping the clarity slider, the sharpness slider, the saturation slider etc.

Biggest tip I can give you is that, never use the clarity slider unless you know when it suitable and even then, in moderation.
Saturation is the same, in moderation. just think of colors in real life, and how you see it, and adjust from there. for now, just try to do things in moderation, you don't need to sharpen the photo or use clarity slider.

Also remember that your pictures are jpg, and jpg's are worthless to try and edit good. RAW files is where it's at for that.

 

Thanks for the input here. I don't know it just looked good to me whenever i turned up clarity.

Anyway it seems that my original pictures don't look too good according to bballfreak so i guess what he means is that no matter what i do with the pictures it won't look good. Camera cannot produce raw images only jpeg. Do i really need to go dslr? I heard the old saying about it's the person using the camera not the camera which means a good photograper should be able to take a good picture with any camera.

 

About the gear. I don't own a dslr so it doesn't produce raw images. I own the qx100 sony lens that goes along with a cell phone. The lens itself is shaped like a dslr lens. You can attach a tripod stand on it. There are filters for it but so far i only know you can buy them from lensmate. I don't own any filters just the camera and the tripod so in terms of equipment department i am far behind you.

What is left for me to do is improve my skill and the time to take the picture. Like you mentioned the exposure, good and bad light and the time of the day. The shots i took at as you can see was in the dead of night. Not much light shining especially on the dragonfly. I think my timing was not good. I should have shot in the day or before the sun sets what do you think?

Can you also shoot using the same camera or a similar camera to mine which is the rx100 or rx100II i think. The quality of the pictures from these 2 cameras should be similar to the qx100.

You know i feel i might be flamed for this but i think my pictures might have been better if i used a better camera and many ppl disagree on other forums.

 

i dunno much about qx100 so can't say much there, getting a dslr would make the image technically nicer (in terms of sharpness, noise performance etc) and not being able to shoot raw does limit your ability to edit but it still doesn't change the fact that your shots have poor composition and just generally not interesting etc (sorry to be blunt), as matter of fact only looking at the web size photos i wouldn't know you didn't shoot with a dslr

getting a dslr does offer more controls and settings (i'd imagine against whichever camera you are using right now) to get your shot, so maybe start saving and look into getting a decent dslr kit if you want to get serious about photography? in saying that again, getting a dslr does not mean your photos won't keep looking like the ones you have now with your qx100, it will continue to do so until you understand photography better

 

^ pretty much that. a DSLR will only make you able to edit your photos better, and give you better control when taking pictures due to manual settings and also wide array of lenses to fit your need.

But like bball said, photos won't get "magically" better in terms of it ACTUALLY being a good photo. and by that I mean something that is composed/exposed/edited well that is pleasing to look at etc.
Not trying to be a dick, but everything you posted has pretty much looked like test shots or touristy photos around the city, not much thought into and trying to push boundaries when you really can't.
Like the recent photo with the dragonfly, the lighting in that place is ****, so trying to make it not **** is pretty damn hard. sometimes you gotta realize that even though you
Want to make it work, it just won't and move on.

Of course though, this is speaking from a photography standpoint. if you just want a nice camera to take photos around the city etc, then that's another thing.

 

I see thanks for this input. Lighting is important in photography and therefore night shots are like a totally different ball game from day ones.

 

Can u recall all the pictures i have taken? I have posted a huge numbe of pictures

 

Some these pics are really good. I think you could get away with a little more localized sharpening, and I would boost the contrast a little... But really good pics still.