Where do you start in Post Processing?

[kenshinsan]

Hi! New Member here!! It was great to find this website and this forum and I hope I can stick around here for many years to come as I grow as a photographer. I've always been interested in photography but recently I decided to take it on as a more serious hobby and I bought a DSLR (Canon Rebel XSi to be specific).

I've devoured everything I could find about anything on photography and I feel I have a very good grasp on the basics of photography concerning exposure, composition, etc. at least in a technical sense (the changes I should make depending on my environment haven't become intuitive yet) but one thing still evades me.....

I shoot exclusively in RAW as I've read tons of information about RAW vs. JPG and shooting in it seems like the only way to make the changes that I need and to grow as a photographer.

When I open up Adobe Lightroom 2.3 or Photoshop CS4 Extended though, I find myself at a loss of what to do to my photos! To me, when I am sorting through the photos I automatically throw away the ones I deem trash or average and only keep the very best ones. The ones I keep though I deem to be more of the better ones so I don't see where there is much room for improvement. They aren't noticeably underexposed or overexposed (at least to me), the colors are pretty accurate, and the composition is decent-good.

They don't look like any of the multitude of amazing photos I've seen here on DPS, they're just "pleasing" to the eye. I've heard and seen of all the things post processing can do to a photo and I want mine to "pop" like other photographers.

So what do I do? What are the things I should change to make my "good" photos into amazing ones? There's tons of tutorials on here and on the rest of the web on how to do different post processing techniques but I haven't really found anything that says when these techniques should be applied. How Much/When should I bump the contrast? When should I stop sharpening? Is there a certain order some of these steps should be taken in? etc...

Can anyone help me?

[ocnsprt]

Ok to start, please clarify, when you say your photos dont look like the multitudes of photos on dps, is that because you feel they are better and dont need work or yours dont have the pop that dps members have??? Just curious.
Secondly, pp is about achieving the best look for your own photo. It varies depending on the shot and what needs to be adjusted. Its also a way of developing a personal style. Each photographer establishes a personal style they like for their photos, and this all depends on the type of photography your doing as well... there is not set recipe per say to achieve great work, you have to play and practice until you find what you like. If there is a certain effect your trying to achieve, or a style you like that you want help using on your pictures, post some samples or links and I will try to explain how they are achieved, if you are curious about how to pp a specific photo, post that and I will try to help, otherwise I have to say there isnt a specific time and place to do any one specific thing in pp, its all relevent to the shot your working on. Id recommend playing alot with whatever program you have, and practice editing other peoples shots, bc you wont be biased when looking at them the way you will be to your own, and the more you work on others shots, the easier it will be to see things that need editing in your own. I to had a hard time looking at my pictures and figuring out what to edit and how to go about it and when to stop, but I have learned alot going tthrough the critique section of this forum and editing others shots for them, when asked and when appropriate only of cource, and then applying the same techniques on my pictures...... hope this helps... pm me if you have a specific question

[kenshinsan]

Thanks for the reply!

Sorry for not being clear. What I meant is that my photos don't "pop" like the other photos that I see here on DPS. Not because I feel that they took pictures that needed no work on them, but because I believe there is no way there pictures came out of their camera looking so vivid and sharp, especially with a lot of members here shooting in RAW which tends to soften up pictures and have duller colors.

I know that most if not all pictures posted here have been touched in some way or another, and what I want to know is how did they know to make those touches to make their pictures look so amazing. I know how to use a lot of techniques or finding a tutorial on how to do different ones is easy; its just knowing when to do it is the problem.

I feel so lost when I'm in the PP programs. It's like having a video game and knowing all the controls and moves to it, but having no clear goal on what you're supposed to accomplish. You don't know where the Boss you're supposed to beat is, or even what the next mission is. You're just running around aimlessly.

I do understand what you said about finding your own style though. I guess everyone does different things to their photos to achieve a certain look that they want. Isn't there some basic PP techniques that most people apply to most if not all of their photos before they start personalizing their photos though? There has to be a starting point...

It could just be my equipment though. I do just have the basic kit lens (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS) with just a Rebel XSi. Should I only expect those great photos once I start building up a nice high end lens collection? I want my next lens to be a nice prime lens, but I want to spend some time with this camera and lens first though so I can know exactly what type of photographs I love to take and where I want to take my photography, so my next lens is exactly the type I want to buy and I don't waste near a $1000.

I have seen pictures with lower end cameras though churn out amazing pictures...

[AlphaBjerke]

Kenshisan:

I also just really jumped back into photography after not doing anything since my film days. I knew the basics of composition and exposure like you, but in the digital age, there is so much more to do with post production. I have photoshop, but I lacked direction.

There are a few things that helped me the most the past two months: 1. This website and related forums, my flicker group, and a book I got used off of Amazon, called Photoshop CS2 Workflow. This book took me step through step through the things I need to do or consider doing from the time I upload the pictures until I print them or post them. I highly recomend this book if you have photoshop. It relates to Elements too and not just the version I have.

[sybren]

Originally Posted by kenshinsan

I believe there is no way there pictures came out of their camera looking so vivid and sharp, especially with a lot of members here shooting in RAW which tends to soften up pictures and have duller colors.

It's the other way around. RAW is what your camera shoots - dull and soft. The camera already pops the colours a bit for you, which is why the JPEG versions can look better.

I know that most if not all pictures posted here have been touched in some way or another, and what I want to know is how did they know to make those touches to make their pictures look so amazing.

I'm not sure whether my shots qualify for the "so amazing" moniker, but I can explain a bit about my processing. Most of what I do is done with curves. I often use an S-curve to start with, ensuring that what I want to be black is really black (draw a point at the dark colours down) and the bright colours really pop (draw a point at the light colours up). By applying such a curve you not only change the contrast in luminance (brightness), but also in chrominance - also known as increasing saturation.

Personally I like a higher contrast in luminance more than in chrominance, so often I use the saturation slider to get a more pleasing result. It's amazing how much contrast you can pack in a picture if you keep the saturation under control!

I've made a set demonstrating this technique.

It could just be my equipment though. I do just have the basic kit lens (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS) with just a Rebel XSi. Should I only expect those great photos once I start building up a nice high end lens collection?

It's a bit of both I guess. Being able to post process helps a lot, and good glass can also help. All the photos in the above set were taken with a Canon EOS 350D and some good quality glass.

[kenshinsan]

Thanks for the all of the advice. I guess I'll have to look into getting a good workflow book.

Sybren, your pictures are something I definitely consider amazing. The colors are very nice and your blacks are very black. I like what you've done.

I guess what I like is highly saturated colors where the skin tones are still very natural. I guess I'll just have to play around with different settings and see what happens and see what I like and don't like. I just wish I could find some or any kind of direction on what do instead of just randomly pressing things. But I guess that's just the way it is...

[windrider86]

everyones work flow is different. First thing is first tho, always and I mean always work from a duplicate image. Crop first (its what I do anyway) on adjustment layers work on saturation and contrast and levels.noise reduction and last do your sharpening

[RoyL]

As you use Lightroom and Photoshop then you most likely use Camera Raw to work your Raw images. What you want to do before starting anything is to make the image flat.

First, in the Basic tab set all settings to 0, WB to As Shot.
In the Tone Curve tab go to the Point tab and set to Linear.
In the Detail tab turn off sharpening. Adjust Luminence and Color Noise as required.

Now you should have a flat image, what it looks like shot. I use this setup a lot so I have saved it as a Preset.

Now go back to the Tone Curve tab, and then the Point tab. This Curves adjustment works just like Lightroom and Photoshop, you can set points and adjust the tone. Normally what you are after is an S-curve which increases the contrast in the image. Adjust the tone until you have no clipping showing in the histogram.

Once this has been done you can now set about finishing the image. Use the Basic tab and adjust only the sliders that require adjusting.

Finally finish by going to the Detail tab and applying sharpness if wanted. Or pull the image into Photoshop.

[sybren]

Originally Posted by kenshinsan

Sybren, your pictures are something I definitely consider amazing. The colors are very nice and your blacks are very black. I like what you've done.

Thanks!

I guess what I like is highly saturated colors where the skin tones are still very natural.

I use Bibble Pro for my processing, which makes the distinction between Saturation and Vibrance. Vibrance makes for a more saturated image while keeping skin tones more natural. Perhaps you should check out Bibble?