ksz said:
1. Focus is off in just about all of the photos. Are you using a wide-open aperture for a shallow depth of field? Did the focus lock onto the wrong target? Are you using in-camera sharpening or doing any post-processing?
Almost all my photos were taken at f/8.
All photos were taken with my 12-24 mm Tokina f/4 and a Nikon D50.
Here's a link
LINK to Flickr (first time I ever used it) if you want to see a larger version of the photo.
2. Avoid shooting into the sun (3rd pic in first set, 2nd pic in second set) unless you've got a filter that can accentuate the reds, golds, and oranges of a sunrise or a sunset. These were taken in the midday sun, so shooting into the sun will not produce pleasing effects. You can, however, shoot into the sun to intentionally underexpose a foreground subject, turning it into a silhouette.
Cool.
Unfortunately (for my photos, anyway), the hike took 5-6 hours, so the sun was overhead most of the time. We hiked through like 13 km or something, and I didn't know what to expect. All the cool stuff, like the cliff, was taken earlier in the day when the sun would still be facing the cliffs a little. I should have at least used my lens hood, but I forgot it at home.
The shots near the water and the sand were later into the day when the sun was more westerly.
3. Because the sun is so strong here, use a polarizing filter to add contrast to the sky and the clouds. Use it also to heighten the drama in the last 2 pics of the water. You can also try a warming filter (or simply post-process the image by changing the color temperature). Use post-processing to reduce highlights and perhaps turn up the saturation; this will improve contrast and brighten the colors.
I'm not sure about circular polarisers. Ken Rockwell doesn't recommend using a circular polarizer with an "ultrawide" angle lens because the light is coming in from so many angles that skies are polarized by different amounts throughout the sky from left to right. Anyway, I do want one, but I planned on getting one for the "next" lens I get, whatever that is. Should I just get it for my Tokina 12-24 mm? I got a UV filter instead.
4. When shooting along coastlines, I find that the best light occurs in the morning hours. Try to exploit those morning rays.
Oh I know. Since the cliffs and coast are facing the east, it's the perfect place to shoot a sunrise, but by the time we got there, it was around 11am.