(Part 2) Top products from r/itookapicture

Honestly, they're more likely to check out driving to/from the climb than from climbing itself.

When properly trained and performed, climbing is extremely safe (minimally dangerous?) and encourages good habits (problem solving, improvisation, calm demeanor) and provides inexpensive leisure that contributes to physical fitness and health.

Let me suggest, however, some required reading:

• First
  
  
• Second
  
  
• Third
  
  
• Fourth
  
  
• Fifth
  
  
• If looking to broaden horizons beyond just rock climbing, This is a good start. There are many good texts, particularly those published by The Mountaineers Books that go in depth on Ice Climbing, Snowfield and Glacier travel, and Alpine Climbing techniques.
  
  
  Once familiar with the theory and application of these texts, mentorship and apprenticeship in the field by competent parties is recommended. Reading and doing are different skills.

You might want to consider the rule of thirds when taking photos. In this case the most noticeable part of the image appears to be the cat's leg, which is pretty much centered. Ideally you would like to have something of interest in other areas of the photo so that the viewer's eye is drawn away from the center.

If you enjoy taking photos then pick-up a beginner's book on photography, preferably one with a lot of photos you can examine and learn from. I've recommended Digital Art Photography For Dummies to a few friends and it seems like a good place to start, though you could also just peruse the shelves of your favorite bookstore for something which appeals to you.

I think the second photo is better than the first. The first photo's composition is a bit off to me. The subject takes up so little in the frame, she almost seems to be a distraction or an after thought in comparison to the rest of the photo.

I think Striker's crop is probably the best one I've seen here and what I would do if I were to make any adjustments. The color enhancement is good, too.

In the second photo, I think you could probably crop the left side and top away. One thing a lot of people do when they start taking portraits is leave a ton of room at the top of the photo. To me, all that area above her head is distracting, as well as the red junk under the pier to her left. You don't want your eye to wander that much, especially when it doesn't come back to the subject. You don't always have to crop the top out of the photo, but I think it would help in this case.

David Ziser has a lot of cool composition tips in his blog Digital Pro Talk as well as his book, Captured by the Light. He's mainly a wedding photographer, but a lot of what he discusses in his blog and book are applicable to any portrait type photography.

If you're looking for software, I would recommend Photoshop or Lightroom. Personally, I prefer Photoshop because it has more options just in case you need them. You get a lot wider range of actions options if you ever go that way, too.

I'd also recommend checking out books or videos on Adobe Camera RAW. I never realized how powerful that software is until I watched Scott Kelby's video series on it on his online training.

You could also check out Totally Rad Actions. I have the first batch and plan to buy the second at some point. I'm also a huge fan of Alien Skin's Exposure 3 program.

There is. I shoot with a Canon, so I'm not going to be too much help on the specifics, but my camera has color/scene modes that tweak the resulting image based on the settings (I think, for example, the landscape scene - the mountain icon - drops the blues, which is essentially what Paint.net did when it leveled your photo).

Take a look at Alexandre Buisse's website - He compiled a 30-part photography course on Reddit in /r/photoclass, and has since moved it all to his website for easy reading.

If you're more interested in books, I highly recommend Scott Kelby's "Digital Photography Book". There are three volumes in total, and they cover all sorts of photography scenarios in very easy to understand language, and he includes instructions for both Canons and Nikons. I refer back to my copies all the time.

What we see here is a nice solid formation of altocumulus clouds, similar but not to be confused with altostratus clouds. These are puffy water droplet clouds that occur at mid elevations from 6,500ft to 16,000ft, as denoted by the prefix "alto" meaning middle. These clouds are somewhat common and usually accompany larger weather systems and pockets of moisture across long journeys, often lasting for 100s of miles, and are seen year round regardless of season. Here we see altocumulus undulatus, or mackerel sky as other redditors have pointed out. This is a result of really consistent wind patterns across the sky, which leads to this nice patterning of clouds we see here. If they take up a large portion of the sky, that indicates that a fair amount of moisture is present, and if they occur simultaneously with other clouds, that may indicate a large system is inbound, and to possibly expect a significant change in weather.

They form as a result of varying pockets of pressure, primarily with horizontal wind currents. Vertical currents are not present or significant if these clouds are overhead. When pressure changes, it can cause water vapor in the atmosphere to condense on CCN (cloud condensation nuclei, pretty much just reealllyyy fine dust) and form clouds. Because these clouds form at mid elevations they are water droplet clouds, as opposed to colder ice crystal clouds, however if they become too cold they can freeze and turn into an ice based cloud.

If you're interested, I would suggest getting a book/guide similar to this. I have it and use it daily to identify clouds that are over me, how they form, and what they mean. I can now predict the weather fairly accurately just based on clouds a lone (only within the next 24 hrs, but still that's a cool skill to have). Clouds are very complex, but they can be really cool and incredibly foretelling and predicting. If you're outdoors a lot, it's really in invaluable skill to have.

Haha, yeah, it is. It's actually a journal, my gf bought it for me, I believe at urban outfitters. It's pretty fun to go back through and reminicse. here it is on amazon

Toward this end, I always recommend Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure. Lots of people recommend shooting in aperture priority, but I also say manual mode is best.

Oooh, this is lovely! Very nice, OP! Here's a bigger version for your wallpaper needs, Avagantamos101. Here you can also better see what book it is that she's reading.

Haha that's a good one.


Relevant

The book Light: Science and Magic has all sorts of great stuff about this, flagging the lights for less bleed, preventing reflections, etc.

Did photos for my friends new book about trichotillomania. She's struggled, and I know she wants to help. Life is Trichy

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GNFSFN9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UxbwDb5CTZJ1B

Gone Bamboo https://www.amazon.com/dp/1582341036/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_y92ACbFMJ4132

This one?
http://www.amazon.com/Artists-Color-Manual-Complete-Working/dp/081184143X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462394645&sr=8-1&keywords=Artists+Color+Manual

That has a serious horror movie feel to it. Very cool!

It made me think of the cover of the book Xombies, that I read several years ago. https://www.amazon.com/Xombies-Walter-Greatshell/dp/0425197441