Seconded! I found that this book helped me a lot with basic RAW processing in Aperture (or Lightroom I suppose) as well.
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How much post processing do you do?...
- Thread starter slick316
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Seconded! I found that this book helped me a lot with basic RAW processing in Aperture (or Lightroom I suppose) as well.
I very much want to learn how to make the most of Photoshop (at the moment I mostly use it to tweak pix and upsize them for picture library use). BUT... I only want to work a little on my BEST shots, maybe to improve them by an extra 5%. Trying to RECOVER pix that really weren't good enough seems like a big waste of my time. Pix that don't 'work' get deleted, not 'recovered'. This is just my way of working; it helps me impose some 'quality control' on my work.
I do enough processing until I get the image how I want it to look. Sometimes it only takes a few adjustments, other times it can be more extensive.
The OP indicated interest in books on how to take a better photograph to start with rather than relying on Photoshop to make a mediocre photograph better (for now)
slick316 said:
I think the moral of this thread is that all the photoshop in the world won't help you if you aren't aware of basic design, composition, and exposure guidelines.
The books I mentioned earlier (Understanding Exposure, Learning to See Creatively, Digital Photography Masterclass) all mostly teach how to take a good picture first... Photoshop can come later. I think those are the titles the OP is looking for.
Honestly, as little as possible.
I try to compose and expose so that, the most I should need to do is crop/resize depending on where the image is being used.
Always shoot in RAW format though, that way I have more options should I need to do more.
Occasionally I may do some cloning to get rid of an unwanted element in a corner or along an edge.
I try to compose and expose so that, the most I should need to do is crop/resize depending on where the image is being used.
Always shoot in RAW format though, that way I have more options should I need to do more.
Occasionally I may do some cloning to get rid of an unwanted element in a corner or along an edge.
I am sorry but to me this sounded like a little help with post processing, since he/she said they sucked at processing.
Hence my reference to the post processing.
The minimum possible to achieve the desired result...
Wise words indeed!
First, learn to use your camera, then how to compose and take a decent photograph!
Depends on what effect I want. Generally all I have to do is hit the "enhance" button in iPhoto.
I was just wondering how much post processing you guys normally do to your pics.
I am just learning how to take pics and then I realize that I suck at processing them (I tend to overdue it and the pic looks all messed up and grainy and I lose detail, etc.)
I took some pics yesterday and all I did was slightly adjust exposure and/or saturation, take a look and critique please.
http://web.mac.com/mitul316/Site/Photos_2.html
Please, any help would be appreciated
Nice pics. I have two site too. And I used the same two iweb templates. Weird, huh?. And it looks like we have the same taste in photography. I even have a bee on a flower. Very weird.
http://web.mac.com/ryemac3/RyeMAC3/Photography.html#grid
PS what camera are you using?
I use Post almost every time. When I shoot I make damn sure the composition is right, the lighting is correct and it captures some drama or narrative. After the shoot, I go straight into Lightroom, file the photos I like and being looking for imperfections.
In this day and age, Post is part of the process. I won't get into semantics but I strongly believe the camera is just part of it, not the whole.
Clients are very savvy to how the photography process works; they may not know how to use PS or any type of post software but they know it is very common.
In this day and age, Post is part of the process. I won't get into semantics but I strongly believe the camera is just part of it, not the whole.
Clients are very savvy to how the photography process works; they may not know how to use PS or any type of post software but they know it is very common.