Whats your thought process while post processing?

5 years 6 months ago #606684 by Erik Bowen
Hello,

I am starting to edited photo in software. I cant really get a grasp of just looking at a photo and know what adjustments to make and how much to make it. I was wondering if anyone have any tips to help me out with this? I want to spend more time editing and less time overthinking about it. This is more about the process, not the style of which you do it. 


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5 years 6 months ago #606719 by KENT MELTON
I focus on contrast, and then focus (with colors and DOF), sharpness,  dodge and burn.  I try to search for ways to naturally bring more attention to the main focus point of the photo.


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The following user(s) said Thank You: Erik Bowen
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5 years 6 months ago #606740 by Nikon Shooter

ErikB13 wrote: …any tips to help me out with this? 


Hello Erik, this is what I practice and teach.

RAW post-processing is done in 3 steps: readout,
translation and artistic intent.

Step one
Pulling all data recorded in the RAW file through
proper DRL and WB.
Step two
Tweak to render an organic look to the appearan-
ce given by a mineral sensor through tonal taming.
Step three
Introduce artistic intent if that is the final aim.

I never use contrast nor vibrance.

Light is free… capturing it is not!
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5 years 6 months ago #606761 by G Vernon
Eric, always shoot in raw and the best place to start from is using an image that is well exposed in the camera and you obtain that by keeping an eye on the histogram. Make sure you are in a neutral profile in camera which reflects a more accurate histogram. Sometimes the scene has a dynamic range far wider than the sensor of your camera so you can either bracket of use a gradient filter to minimize blown highlights for example.
I do minimal editing in Lightroom, adjusting highlights, midtones and shadows / blacks then white balance and export to Photoshop as a lossless .tif / .PSD to retain detail at 16 bits.
The first thing to do here is perform a curves adjustment which if done correctly should nail the black and white points and correct any imbalance in the colour. From then on it´s subjective, you may want to recreate the image as you saw it with your eyes or render by using LUTS or other filters to create different tones and regional contrasts to change the mood. As sharpening is destructive it becomes the very last process after resizing for print / web etc.
It´s always a good idea to keep an un-sharpened .PSD master copy including layers as a reference for a future adjustments.
One last thing, what you see on your monitor may not be the same as others, but calibrating your screen regularly will guarantee that what you output is correct.


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The following user(s) said Thank You: Erik Bowen
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5 years 6 months ago #606866 by Pettigrew
Short answer:  doing what is needed to make the photo pop

Canon EOS 7D SLR | XT W/18-55 Kit Lens | Canon 50mm 1.8 | Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 | Canon 28-105mm | Canon 75-300mm | Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro | Canon 100-400
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5 years 6 months ago #606876 by G Vernon
Look at 1x.com specifically the critique section and analyze some of the comments from probably the best photographers in the world. There´s a lot of valuable information and guides as to what makes a photograph outstanding. On the editing side there are often tutorials on a specific image and the editing process applied from beginning to end..
1x.com/critique/faq you may need to join to get the full experience and there is a free plan.


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The following user(s) said Thank You: Erik Bowen
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5 years 6 months ago #607616 by Erik Bowen
Thank you for the reply, I will check it out and join.


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