I have pretty much taught myself so far using google the internet posting pictures asking questions and for the most part taking pictures. I sometimes think i might be missing a few tricks my aim is to produce a technicaly acruate pictures composed correctly and executed well. But i guess its just a case of keep shooting.
A wise man once told me that the difference between professionals and amateurs is professionals take more pictures and show fewer of them. And that was 30 years ago, before anybody other than the NRO had digital cameras. Your landscapes need foregrounds, unless you intend them to be desktops. Humans are suckers for depth of field. Also motion. Still wheat always loses to blurry wheat.
Make the effort. Remember - photography is the knack of turning perspective into art. Finding foreground is often simply a matter of getting on the ground: As an artist, the object of invoking perspective is to place the audience in the viewpoint you have chosen. When you omit foreground, you are saying "there is something far away, distant and remote from you." When you instead put it up to your feet: You are saying "you stand before a vista. Look." The waterfall images you've got are great. Personal preference only, I only go B&W when the coloration is heinously boring AND the texture really pops. And, if you're going to go B&W, crank the shit out of the contrast in Lightroom so that you can really see it. But that's just my take on it. Anybody can teach you how to take pictures. Nobody can teach you how to take your pictures.
what kind of filters are you using to block light ? I've been pretty happy with a Singh Ray 5 stop filter which works pretty well for getting longer daylight exposures
http://www.singh-ray.com/morslo.html I think they just released a 10 stop version not too long ago as well.
yes you would normally set your exposure based on stops etc...
does your camera have "bulb mode"? as for calculating manually - you can work out stops and shutter speed increments
or use something like this chart
http://www.alexwisephotography.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2...
Thanks. Contrast i hear you iam cautious of over working things. As i got some heavy critisism about Dark waters after i put it in an art exhibition but i think i didnt explain the picture enough but then if people don't get it then i guesss i failed to show it properly.
I think you are right. I just want to take good photos that iam satisfied with myself and develope my own ability to determine if i have taken a good shot or not. Posting online has helped as i can read between the lines, not all feedback is constructive but I analyse it the best I can. I try to let myself look at my own work from without my objectivty if thats posible. When I take a picture i want it to be good this isnt the same as it being good i hope one day the two can be aligned. - I think thats called self actualisation but iam nto sure.