What’s Your Preference?

WadeCourtney · #1 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 09:57 PM

I try really hard to get the shot in the camera, I really do. I don't think I have shabby equipment, I mean it's not pro quality, but it still is pretty good.

But I look at other people's photos and I drool at the quality...the POP!

Some pictures just look "shinier" than others, is that the HDR or is it something else?

What the heck is missing?

Sorry for the whining. Just frustrated...

Thanks

Wade

candleman · #2 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 10:07 PM

good exposure, good white balance and good processing..

Sterling · #3 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 10:10 PM

You can get good shots right out of the camera. But for the most part, if you want to move to the next level, post processing is a necessity. Processing in a darkroom has been a part of producing the best photos since the beginning of photography. Only now we have a digital darkroom. IMO, learning how to properly use your camera only takes you half way there.

WadeCourtney · #4 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sterling

You can get good shots right out of the camera. But for the most part, if you want to move to the next level, post processing is a necessity. Processing in a darkroom has been a part of producing the best photos since the beginning of photography. Only now we have a digital darkroom. IMO, learning how to properly use your camera only takes you half way there.

In that case, I think for me, trying to figure out what is wrong with a photo is what I'm missing. If I can figure out what to do, finding out how to do it is the easy part for me.

ravncat · #5 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 11:13 PM

Oops double posted. Silly me

ravncat · #6 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 11:20 PM

I don't think it's what's wrong with a photo you need to find, post processing shouldn't be about repairing an image ( at least in my mnd ) post is about completion and or transformation. It's essential to know what you wish to accomplish.

Manipulation of tones, bright and dark, sharpness, color, and cropping are all about controlling peoples eyes, how they look at images. They let you make a subject pop or recede.

Post processing helps achieve a pre conceived image, and bring it to fruition. Knowing what you want to present is the battle. I often struggle with subject matter/meaning and previsualization most.

If you don't know where you want to take the image, post processing options are debilitatingly multiplicitous.

To get there, I suggest the following questions

1 what is my photographs subject?
2 what do I want this image to be about?
3 how will the final image be displayed?
4 what elements need to have more or less presence

if you can figure those out, it's then about knowing how things like lines and brightness attract the eye - brighter and sharper things attract the eyes attention, red pushes forward, blue recedes etc

Photologyst · #7 (**permalink**) 10-12-2010, 12:02 AM

I LOVE PS processing! Used to hate it, because I only used Photoshop. I am rather proficient at PS, but, it’s tedious!

Perhaps it’s your software? Try using Lightroom or Aperture. They are fun and fast. Now I only use Photoshop for special things. General PS processing can be accomplished very quickly via LR.

Both LR and Ap. have a 30 day free trial. Check out the training videos.

Vagebond · #8 (**permalink**) 10-12-2010, 12:51 AM

Maybe a stupid question, but are you talking about your eyes seeing "pop" in a scene that you can't capture in a photo? Or do you only see pop in others' photos, post processed or not?

Light changes every minute of the day, the intensity, direction, reflections, even on an overcast day. Sometimes it's just a question of being in the right place at the right time. Some people swear by the "golden hours": the hour or so just after sunrise and the hour or so just after sunset.

I don't know what kind of camera you have, but sometimes it can just be a question of which light metering method you choose. Sometimes a type of center spot metering is better than evaluative, sometimes not.

As for post processing, LeeR posted a couple of tutorials a short time ago that may help get the pop you're looking for without too much effort: Levels: Getting the Professional 'Pop' and Curves: Levels on steroids. Any post processing program should have these two options. The GIMP is free, I use Paint Shop Pro, other programs have already been mentioned.