Photo Processing . . . Where to Start??

casademurphy

casademurphy

New member
I don't even know where to begin. It's very overwhelming to me, so I have yet to edit any of my photos. Can you guys point me in the right direction?

What program? How do I figure it out? Etc. :)
 
Patience, experimentation, trial and error...

Good for you for wanting to get into post processing.

It depends on what you want to accomplish. If you're just wanting to do some basic cropping or resizing, you can do that on Photobucket or a number of other websites that offer basic image manipulation.

If you are looking for accurate colors under high color temp lighting, then you'll want to shoot in RAW mode and use software that came with your camera, Photoshop or equivalent to set the white balance.
 
If you are looking for accurate colors under high color temp lighting, then you'll want to shoot in RAW mode and use software that came with your camera, Photoshop or equivalent to set the white balance.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm looking to do. My camera came with Capture NX 2, but I'm not quite sure if I like it yet.
 
This is a huge question and a very different answer depending on who you ask. There are as many different workflows as there are photographers. You should really get a book on the subject but here's an overview.

Basically, there are about 4 tasks that we're trying to accomplish when we process an image.

1. Black and White point. The contrast of your image depends on having a proper black and white point set. Modern digital cameras rarely give you a true black in your image unless you're horribly underexposed. The sensor is designed to give as much detail as possible and "true black" is a casualty. In most editing programs you use a "Levels" tool to set black and white.

2. Clean up. Removing dust, the flatworm from your acro, the beer can in the lower left...... We generally use a clone or stamp tool for removing that stuff.

3. Color correction. Aquarium photography is difficult in that we use very high color temperatures. Ideally we correct for that with a RAW image, in whatever tool that you have, but curves, selective color and channel mixer can be used as well.

4. Sharpening. Your camera actually blurs the image slightly to determine color. That needs to be corrected at the capture level, either in your camera if you shoot JPG or in software if you shoot RAW. Sharpening should also be applied once the image has been resized to it's target output size. We use "unsharp mask" or "Smart Sharpen" for that. There are also dedicated sharpening programs available.

Head spinning yet?

:)
 
Re: Photo Processing . . . Where to Start??

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15335460#post15335460 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by casademurphy
I don't even know where to begin. It's very overwhelming to me, so I have yet to edit any of my photos. Can you guys point me in the right direction?

What program? How do I figure it out? Etc. :)
Click to expand...

After shooting, basically you want to start downloading your photos and start the cataloguing process. A great program that (most of us) use is Adobe Lightroom 2. So basically the first step for me is cataloguing and keywording.

After that, I go through the photos in thumbnail mode and tag the "rejects". These are the blurred, out of focus, unwanted shots. I delete these photos from the catalog AND from the disk.

Then I go through them again - this time I spend a little more time on the overexposed and underexposed pics - I start correcting them. Since I shoot 100% RAW (Nikon: NEF) It's easy to do corrections. I set the correct WB, remove dust spots, enhance tones, HSL, dodging and burning, etc.

*IF* I want to do further editing, like for example remove a flatworm on an acro or remove a beercan from the beach, I do [command+E] to export the TIF to CS3... from there I can do a clone stamp or healing brush or maybe do an adjustment layer (learned this from beerguy on his Yosemite thread). After the cleanup is complete, I hit Save and go back to Lightroom.

Finally, I backup my catalog and photos on a backup drive, print some photos I want, maybe export JPEG to post in RC, email photos to freiends, etc. This completes my "workflow".

Hope that gives you an idea. It's actually a fun process ;)
 
Last edited:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15335529#post15335529 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by casademurphy
This is what I'm looking to do. My camera came with Capture NX 2, but I'm not quite sure if I like it yet.
Click to expand...

NX2 is a very good editing program. I use it for all of my processing except for cloning and a few other things. Get Jason O'Dell's e-book on NX2 and learn the basics. You can also go here:

http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14234

There are a lot of good articles on NX2 and how to acheive the results you want. The learning curve can be a bit steep at times, but be patient and you will not be disappointed.
 
I actually agree on the Lightroom suggestions. (I teach Lightroom and use it in my workflow but it doesn't entirely limit the need for another editor like PS.)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15335529#post15335529 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by casademurphy
This is what I'm looking to do. My camera came with Capture NX 2, but I'm not quite sure if I like it yet.
Click to expand...

Capture NX 2 is a great program, but unfortunately it's SUPER slow. The control points take time to get used to, but powerful once you learn it. I highly recommend Lightroom 2 or Aperture if you have a Mac.
 
I really wanted to like Aperture but it lags on image quality vs Lightroom.

At a workshop last fall we had a Apple VP from one of their educational divisions. He used Lightroom too. ;)
 
Do not mean to Hijack your thread but have been looking at "Gimp" does anyone on hear use it?

For free it sure looks promising??
 
Gimp works. My only real issue with it is that color management on Gimp is still a work in progress. If you're not printing, that's not usually a show stopper.
 
Re: Re: Photo Processing . . . Where to Start??

Re: Re: Photo Processing . . . Where to Start??

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15336581#post15336581 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xtm
After shooting, basically you want to start downloading your photos and start the cataloguing process. A great program that (most of us) use is Adobe Lightroom 2. So basically the first step for me is cataloguing and keywording.

After that, I go through the photos in thumbnail mode and tag the "rejects". These are the blurred, out of focus, unwanted shots. I delete these photos from the catalog AND from the disk.

Then I go through them again - this time I spend a little more time on the overexposed and underexposed pics - I start correcting them. Since I shoot 100% RAW (Nikon: NEF) It's easy to do corrections. I set the correct WB, remove dust spots, enhance tones, HSL, dodging and burning, etc.

*IF* I want to do further editing, like for example remove a flatworm on an acro or remove a beercan from the beach, I do [command+E] to export the TIF to CS3... from there I can do a clone stamp or healing brush or maybe do an adjustment layer (learned this from beerguy on his Yosemite thread). After the cleanup is complete, I hit Save and go back to Lightroom.

Finally, I backup my catalog and photos on a backup drive, print some photos I want, maybe export JPEG to post in RC, email photos to freiends, etc. This completes my "workflow".

Hope that gives you an idea. It's actually a fun process ;)
Click to expand...

This has definitely helped me to be more patient . . . My head is still spinning! :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15340911#post15340911 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by beerguy
I really wanted to like Aperture but it lags on image quality vs Lightroom.

At a workshop last fall we had a Apple VP from one of their educational divisions. He used Lightroom too. ;)
Click to expand...

I've been trying Aperture for a couple of days now. I haven't quite gotten comfortable with it. I'm going to try Lightroom just to see what the differences are.
 
I've been told by other photogs to check out the way other people PP, and define how I want my end results...then generate my workflow from there.


Also, I highly recommend lightroom 2.....it lessens workflow greatly.
 
Something to keep in mind is that Lightroom(and Aperture) don't compete directly with PS(or Elements), they're different beasts.

Lightroom and Aperture are both primarily RAW convertors and cataloging applicaitons (yes they do other things but that's their main function). They work on the image globally with some rudimentary localized editing capabilities.

PS, and Elements (and a slew of others) are pixel editors. They shine when you need to make precise localized and targeted adjustments.

There is a ton of overlap between them but there are still things that I do, on a regular basis, in PS because LR doesn't have the same functionality. My recommendation would be to develop a workflow that starts in LR (or Aperture) but also includes a pixel editor like PS Elements or PS.

Cheers
 
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