Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Why isn't there more interest in sharing Aperture PP tips/tricks?

VirtualRain

VirtualRain

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
6,304
118
Vancouver, BC
I'm not sure what's going on here but I've posted numerous threads in the last couple of weeks aimed at getting some insights into how other people are utilizing Aperture to improve their photos in post and the response has been very limited in every case.

Is there a better place to be posting threads about Aperture PP? (This is the Apple Digital Photography forum right? :p)

Is there a better Aperture community elsewhere?

Why are people so shy to share their workflow?

Am I seeking advice in the wrong way?

Here are the threads I'm talking about...

Sharpening RAW in Aperture

Noise reduction in Aperture

Level's, curves, highlights, shadows, dodge, burn...

Help with RAW editing in Aperture

:confused:
 
D

designguy79

macrumors 6502
Sep 24, 2009
306
2
Michigan
Well, I use LR... but my guess is that people just do what I do -- experiment with the sliders and adjustments until it "looks right."

Yes, it is subjective, but so is photography and art in general anyway!
 
MattSepeta

MattSepeta

macrumors 65816
Jul 9, 2009
1,255
0
375th St. Y
Well...

Its different for every photo.

In general, here are the things I do in

Aperture: Black levels, minor sharpening, minor noise removal, crop/rotate.
Photoshop: Curves, very light shadow/highlight correction, noise ninja, cone stamp out any dust or specks, then sometimes I add some sort of topaz detail layer with pretty low opacity. Or If I am feeling gutsy I use a topaz adjust layer.

In general. I am too used to photoshop to bother with aperture much, except for organization mainly.
 
VirtualRain

VirtualRain

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
6,304
118
Vancouver, BC
designguy79 said:
Well, I use LR... but my guess is that people just do what I do -- experiment with the sliders and adjustments until it "looks right."

Yes, it is subjective, but so is photography and art in general anyway!
Click to expand...

Surely, people must apply a similar amount of sharpening to most of their photos... What's just right? What's too much?

What about noise reduction on high-ISO shots?

Saturation?

While these are subjective, some folks here submit their work to stock photo libraries and must have some tips to share on how to prep photos for the ideal professional look.
 
E

Edge100

macrumors 68000
May 14, 2002
1,562
13
Where am I???
VirtualRain said:
Surely, people must apply a similar amount of sharpening to most of their photos... What's just right? What's too much?

What about noise reduction on high-ISO shots?

Saturation?

While these are subjective, some folks here submit their work to stock photo libraries and must have some tips to share on how to prep photos for the ideal professional look.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of it IS subjective, to be honest.

I have some sharpening presets that I use over and over, and I mask out as needed (for skin, mainly, which doesn't take kindly to too much sharpening).

I hardly ever adjust saturation (and if I do, it's usually to take some out); LR has a 'Vibrance' slider which does a better job of boosting colours that really need it, IMHO.

Noise is nearly irrelevant to me. I have Noiseware for CS4, but I hardly ever use it. To me, retaining detail is much more important than lowering the little bit of noise that gets into my images, though I recognize that for some people (stock shooters, for instance), noise is more of a concern than it is for me (where noise/grain can add to the character of the photograph).
 
VirtualRain

VirtualRain

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
6,304
118
Vancouver, BC
Is anyone aware of any other Aperture focused forums or even forums that have critical mass on the topic of post production?
 
NeGRit0

NeGRit0

macrumors 6502a
Apr 19, 2008
941
185
Las Vegas, Nv
I wonder how many people are actually even using Aperture. I use iPhoto for organizing, and do all my editing in CS3.

FWIW, my workflow... Import photos to iPhoto > organize into sets, groups > Open RAW files for keepers in 'external editor' (CS3) > Check WB, Play with sliders as needed > open image in CS3 > check curves, contrast > clone out nuances as need > see if topaz will help at all > save the psd > change to 8-bit > save jpg > then into flickr uploader to finish off the process.

I'm far from a pro, just an enthusiastic hobbyist. Trying to get my skills up. :)
 
C

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,837
2,043
Redondo Beach, California
VirtualRain said:
Surely, people must apply a similar amount of sharpening to most of their photos... What's just right? What's too much?

What about noise reduction on high-ISO shots?

Saturation?

While these are subjective, some folks here submit their work to stock photo libraries and must have some tips to share on how to prep photos for the ideal professional look.
Click to expand...

It all depends on the end use of the photo. Certainly sharpening should never be done before the image is re-sized (re-sampled) the the desired number of pixels. Same for noise too. The re-sample process itself is the best de-noise method.

Cropping and color correction can be done as first steps but even then who you use the phot determines how it is cropped.

Like many other things, there is not "best" but only a "best match to inteded use".

Also it kind of silly to confine a thread about post processing to just Aperture. and of the many photo editors can do the exact same thing. Best to talk about just "post processing"
 
VirtualRain

VirtualRain

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
6,304
118
Vancouver, BC
ChrisA said:
Also it kind of silly to confine a thread about post processing to just Aperture. and of the many photo editors can do the exact same thing. Best to talk about just "post processing"
Click to expand...

I agree when it comes to general best practices... However, when discussing sharpening settings for example, can LR users contribute to a discussion on whether to use the edge sharpen or overall sharpening tool and what the best settings are for each to mimic in-camera sharpening? For example, I usually set my Intensity slider to 90 and my edges slider to 0.3 - 0.4... does that mean anything to a LR user?
 
akdj

akdj

macrumors 65816
Mar 10, 2008
1,190
89
62.88°N/-151.28°W
Virtual Rain...

I kind of agree with this question from NeGRit0..."I wonder how many people are actually even using Aperture. I use iPhoto for organizing, and do all my editing in CS3."

I've been an Aperture user for a couple years...but most of my heavy lifting for PP is done in PhotoShop. I've also starting using Bridge as my organizer of choice and stepping further away from Aperture...simply because until this latest update...it's been left in the rear view mirror by many cheaper, even free editing suites. A3 is an extensive upgrade but buggy as hell right now (Typical of first releases, so I'm not discounting it yet). It very well could foster an online community of rabid fans...but as you've found, they are few and far between right now. Plug-ins are vastly available for PS...not so much with Aperture. Adobe has a host of other media creation elements in their suites...which easily flow with PS, which makes the Pro's life easier if he/she is working between programs.

There are, however, places for you to visit. In fact, one of the busier and more educational sites is Apple's own-Apple-Support-Discussions-Aperture.

Other sites with some Aperture following....check out Luminous Landscape, Creative Cow, Photo.net's Digital Darkroom, and my favorite (as mentioned earlier...and as a Canon shooter) POTN. POTN is a phenomenal site for all types of photography and an extensive discussion area for Canon shooters. Also, for post processing you'll find a very knowledgable group of folks.

Sometimes, this site is a bit "slow" for the working photog, IMO. I love MR, don't get me wrong...but in the more specific interest areas...Photo, Video, Audio, etc...we seem to see a lot more basic camera/audio advice and questions. Not that there aren't pros that frequent the site and answer with great wisdom....just that the topics don't generally get as deeply technical as other "Photo-Specific" sites.

More on MR, we see "What camera should I buy?" "Canon or Nikon?" "What Lens?", et al. You get the point, I'm sure.

Even though MR is a Mac Lover's paradise...many pro and working photographers (the ones that frequent this site) have either gone to PS, Lightroom, or any one of the cheaper/free editors available....as well as the software that accompanies cameras these days.

Hopefully....again, I'm an Aperture fan...Hopefully V-3's bugs will get sorted out with a quick update and more folks will jump on board. Inevitably, that'll be what increases the dynamic conversation on this board and others...

If folks start actually using the program;)

Jer

PS...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MacRumors!!!!
 
L

leandroc76

macrumors regular
Oct 27, 2003
152
0
VirtualRain said:
Thanks... I'll check those out. It's sad that this forum doesn't seem to have many folks interested in talking Aperture PP.
Click to expand...


I use Aperture 2.0 at the moment. It is what I use 80% of the time.

I think the main reason that there are so few "technique" forums or websites, is that Aperture can stand on its own two feet. Kind of like asking for more salt for the potato chips.

Aperture makes post-processing so much easier that all the little shortcuts are built in.
 
akdj

akdj

macrumors 65816
Mar 10, 2008
1,190
89
62.88°N/-151.28°W
Great Shots! Love Demitra's winning shot...Great puck catch

I just flew out of Seattle this past weekend....kicking myself for not missing the flight and meandering up the road a bit;)

I am a junkie...Up til 4am every night watching Curling and Ice Dancing. I LOVE the Olympics! I'm envious.

BTW...I mentioned it in the update thread as well...as you've seen, Aperture 3.0.1 has been released...this is excellent news for Ap geeks!

Thanks for sharing

J
 
S

SimD

macrumors regular
Apr 15, 2008
151
0
With A3, I see almost no reason to leave for PS anymore. I can do everything in A3 for my work. This is my personal experience though.

I used to send to PS for more precise brush work and curves, but alas, A3 does it all in-house so I my workflow is now 2x faster!

I'm a happy camper.

My general PP includes, WB, Exposure, Black Point, Contrast, Saturation, Vibrancy, Curves, B&W (if desired), Levels, brushes and vignette. So simple!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom