Tell me what you do after you take the pictures?

[Jax1023]

Tell me about your post processing. What do you do when you get home with your images? Nothing? Change contrast? How to do convert to JPEG?

This part is confusing to me. I have a handle on the camera, just not what to do with the pictures after I take them.

Thanks!

[PixieTl]

hmm not sure about the converting to JPG part, I kinda thought my program did that for me!
I usually go though them and clear out the ones that didn't shoot the way i thought they did, blury, werid movements, ones the kids did something odd to... then I crop and adjust and try and save others from my own mistakes, usually lighting issues. I use Photoshop. Unfortunately it seems I take more pictures then I really get around to fixing!:rotfl:
Oh and i make slideshows of my favorites to rotate as my desktop background!

[NateNLogansDad]

I've been shooting alot in RAW lately and am loving it so far.

The first thing I do is separate them into folders of about 25 pictures each.

Then I drag one folder at a time into Adobe Elements which opens up Adobe Camera RAW.

I might make some adjustments myself but I'm finding that the AUTO settings come out really nice. After auto, I might tweak the Exposure, Blacks, and/or the Saturation.

In Camera Raw, if I don't like the picture or the outcome I'll hit the delete button which puts a red X on the picture.

When I'm done all the files, I'll click on Select All (Top Left) and Open Images (bottom Right) This step opens each one in Photoshop and deletes the ones I tagged with the X.

From there, I'll crop if need be or if I want to convert all the pictures to JPG I'll click File-Organize Open Files. This converts all open files to JPG and puts them in the same folder I've been using and also keeps the original RAW files.

After that they go into "My pictures" just because I'm use to Windows managing my pictures.


I'm sure there is a much simpler way to do it, but I've been having too much fun playing with everything else to streamline it better.

Honestly, if I learned how to take better pictures I wouldn't need to do 1/2 of this! :lmao:

[Master Mason]

1. Import and convert to dng file with standard modifications, this is a batch process in Lightroom.

2. go through each photo tossing the ones that are not going to be saved. As I do this I make other minor changes in Lightroom and crop.

3. Covert to jpegs and upload to smugmug

4. Anthing that I want to do in Photoshop then happens and I save and upload to smugmug.

5. I then think about all the mistakes I made while doing the above and taking the pictures in the first place hoping to not repeat those same mistakes in the future.

Currently on lightroom 1.x and will be upgrading soon, just moved from CS2 to CS5 meaning two days ago so really need to figure out cs5

[zackiedawg]

I absolutely love photography, and really don't like processing at all. So my primary goal is always to limit mistakes when possible, work hard to get all the camera settings right in camera, and shoot in jpeg so I don't have to convert or process anything. Mostly, I weed out the shots I don't like or duplicates, then enjoy. Out of a batch of 100, I might process 5-10 shots, with a minor tweak of color, clone brush for a dust spot, noise removal for very high ISO, or crop for recompose. Just my personal preference - there's no right or wrong, though many feel it is wrong or at least somehow less 'professional' to not shoot raw. I disagree - each person should shoot, and process, in a way that helps them enjoy photography and get the most from it. I have shot some RAW, but derive little enjoyment from processing them, and in general get the results I need from jpeg as long as I'm careful to set up and nail the exposure right when I take the photo.

Do what makes you happy, and gives you the results you need or want. If you're happy taking photos and viewing them with no processing, great! If you feel your photos are lacking something straight from the camera, tweak them. If you need more latitude for tweaking, shoot raw. If you absolutely love processing photos as much as taking them, then go to work and tweak and rework to your heart's content!

[C&B Young]

I'm starting to learn my way around Lightroom. I like it a lot more than using Photoshop to adjust pictures, because you can do non-destructive edits, and apply changes (eg. white balance, levels) to a whole batch of pictures. Plus it also functions as a database to manage your photo library. And if you need to do more advanced retouching you can always jump into Photoshop when you need to.

[DVC Mike]

I'm lazy. While my Nikon D5000 can shoot in RAW, I just use JPEG Fine and never do any post-processing of my photos.

[NateNLogansDad]

I'm lazy. While my Nikon D5000 can shoot in RAW, I just use JPEG Fine and never do any post-processing of my photos.

It does have a RAW + JPG setting if you ever change your mind but still want to be lazy. :thumbsup2

[rtphokie]

Tell me about your post processing. What do you do when you get home with your images? Nothing? Change contrast? How to do convert to JPEG?

This part is confusing to me. I have a handle on the camera, just not what to do with the pictures after I take them.

Thanks!

I bring the photos into my computer using Picassa, I go through each and star the ones that are worth keeping, select by starred photos, invert that selection and delete the rest (my HD would be full many times over if I didn't remove the cruft on a regular basis). I then do basic brightness and color correction where necessary in Picassa and the more intense stuff in Photoshop. Upload them to SmugMug (and maybe Facebook for a couple) and thats it.

I dont bother shooting raw for family snapshots but do it sometimes when shooting something more interesting where I know I'll need the flexibility to do a lot of adjustment of white ballance, sharpening, etc. Otherwise JPG is fine. I dont want to forget to convert a RAW image to something a bit more permanent like JPG and lose access to that image in 10 years after countless updates to RAW format.

[Frantasmic]

I offer a sacrifice to the camera gods and pray that my pictures look half as good as the artistes on this board. So far, my sacrifices seem to be for naught.

But, be of good courage!

Shoot in Raw.
Mess around with the software that Canon ships with their XSi camera for raw conversion.
If high iso shots, I will de-noise them. Otherwise, I'll play with them in Elements with my Topaz software.

I need the camera gods to get me a few more L lenses I think.

[SrisonS]

I used to use the software that came with my Canon. Mainly because of its organization, and the fact that it was free. I also thought it could handle all I really wanted to do with processing. But then I discovered Lightroom; and it does all of that, and more.

Like others have mentioned, I delete all of the flat out bad shots, and others that might be too similar to each other. I wish I would've made more of an effort to do that in the past. So now that I'm getting lower on my memory (I do have 2 back-up hard drives though), I'm steadily going through 3 years of pictures to clear out some space (those same bad ones, and repeats).

I used to never be into processing shots, until I started doing it more and more. It's amazing how great you can get pictures to look, and still be natural. And note, most pictures out there that totally captivate you have probably been processed in some manner. I've also been shooting in RAW. It's great to see how much color information you can pull out sometimes. So needless to say, if I ever even think I might upload a picture to Flickr, I'll do some post-processing to it.

@ the OP: When you want to convert to JPEG, if it's not called 'Convert', then look for 'Export'. You should then see options to export as JPEG, TIFF, DNG.... etc.....

[ratlenhum]

The only thing I ever do to my pictures is clear up marks on my son's face. He's autistic and sometimes scratches himself when frustrated. I pretty much have to fix that in every picture but other than that, I leave them as I take them. I like them better that way. I hate pictures that look "fake"

[DawnM]

So far I have only done minor adjustments, first with either Flickr or Picassa.....but my new goal is to get a more advanced program and LEARN IT!

I got my first Mac computer in March and am transferring a lot of my pictures over to iphoto and have downloaded a 30 day free trial of Aperture 3. I really like it and may go ahead and order that. It does most of what I want it to do. Some things I would love to do really require a $600 program and that is 5 times more than I am willing to spend!

Dawn

[Master Mason]

So far I have only done minor adjustments, first with either Flickr or Picassa.....but my new goal is to get a more advanced program and LEARN IT!

I got my first Mac computer in March and am transferring a lot of my pictures over to iphoto and have downloaded a 30 day free trial of Aperture 3. I really like it and may go ahead and order that. It does most of what I want it to do. Some things I would love to do really require a $600 program and that is 5 times more than I am willing to spend!

Dawn

What program are you wanting? You have kids in school, so you could get the academic version and save a ton of money, and I'm sure your kid would let you use their program.

[disneyboy2003]

So far I have only done minor adjustments, first with either Flickr or Picassa.....but my new goal is to get a more advanced program and LEARN IT!

I got my first Mac computer in March and am transferring a lot of my pictures over to iphoto and have downloaded a 30 day free trial of Aperture 3. I really like it and may go ahead and order that. It does most of what I want it to do. Some things I would love to do really require a $600 program and that is 5 times more than I am willing to spend!

Dawn

What are some of the things you need to do with your photos?

I have a feeling that a lot of what you want to do with your photos you can probably do with Photoshop Elements, which is about $79.

Or, if you really really *need* the full version of Photoshop, you can get the Academic Version for $199.99 or slightly less.

[dmccarty]

I shoot RAW/NEF. I did not trust RAW/NEF at first but after seeing what I could do to an image in RAW/NEF I was sold on the format.

I use Nikon Transfer(Free) to well transfer the images from the camera to the computer. If I have more than one card to transfer they go into different directories.

The I use Nikon View(Free) to make a first pass on the images. View is nice it that is quick to enlarge, rate and provide a id for the image. If the image is junk it gets deleted.

Finally the images are fully processed in NX 2.

Usually this means a simple fast lighting adjustment which takes about two seconds. If the lighting is the same for all photos then it can be batched. Then I check to see if the image needs to be straightened. Followed by a crop which is usually 4x6 but it depends. Lastly I might tweak something which is mostly changing the light on a face. I took some photos over the weekend in bright sunlight. Even with a flash there was some shadowing in the subject's face. A quick little tweak and all was fixed.

The face tweak does not happen often. Usually it is just the light adjustment, check image for being straight and crop. Takes less than a minute usually unless the crop is complicated. And most of the minute is loading and saving.

Then the images are converted to JPG in a batch job.

The images are used on:

Paper
Magnets
Coffee mugs
Clingers aka Fatheads
XMAS decorations
Puzzles


I also make DVD slide shows.

Later,
Dan

[squee!! disney!!]

1. Upload into a Folder
2. Open Bridge
3. Batch Rename
4. Give 5-Star Ratings to the best ones.
5. Open all 5-Stars in Camera Raw through Photoshop CS4
- I do basic editing here, sharpening, adding a vignette, bring my blacks up..
6. Select a few to Edit further in photoshop.
7. Batch save was jpgs.

and that's about it. :D

[Quicklabs]

First thing I usually do when I get them up on PSE 5 and then NX2 is to silently curse myself for all the stupid mistakes I made....(like having my ISO set on 2000 when I thought the display said 200).

[ssanders79]

Import from SD card to laptop via Lightroom.
Convert to .dng during import and apply copyright metadata.
Preview and flag the keepers/rejects.
Delete rejects
Over keyword the images (it is a sickness)

Now this is were I am either done for now or continue.

Lets Continue.
Edit the keepers.
Export if desired

[Funball]

I take mine in black and white. Upload them from my memory card. Make either postcards or greetings cards from them if they are good enough and sell online, then I also take those same images and make wallpapers from them. Not all my photos are Disney related either.. :)