|
| Author | Thread |
|
|
04/15/2009 03:59:16 AM · #26 |
Let me ask:
How many images do you take, when you are
i). On a trip to a new city, for the first time.
ii). On an exotic beach.
iii). On a visit to a famous monument, like Taj, Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty...
iv). A still life elaborately arranged by you.
v). A Portrait set up, especially arranged by you.
I am sure, most photographers will quote the figures between 50 to 500. Do you think they're lazy? Or they simply don't want to take chances!
Let me correct myself:
Take 500 shot.
Create a duplicate folder and name it "Selected Images". (Leave the original folder untouched).
Run a slide show of this folder to mark 100 good images. Delete the 400 bad ones.
Run another slideshow after a couple of days. Select 50 really good ones.
Edit 20-30 best images.
Run a slideshow of edited images, and select best 5.
If you are lucky, you may get a real outstanding one!
This formula has not been given by me. Even the masters have been stressing this point from ages, in some form or the other.
Message edited by author 2009-04-15 04:07:06. |
|
|
|
04/15/2009 09:17:05 AM · #27 |
I dont understand people that shoot 20-30 images of the same subject. I take one picture. Maybe two, if i am not sure about the framing, maybe I think it looks better in portrait so I take another one with the camera in portrait.
I prefer to know what I am doing, think before I take the image and then do it properly. Like we do with film. |
|
|
|
04/15/2009 02:00:00 PM · #28 |
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
I am surprised at so many people telling that working in RAW is less cumbersome. Makes me rethink. |
Well, the more I've been able to shift over to RAW processing, the less I have to manage later (or even re-create) in Photoshop. My typical (recently updated) workflow:
- Shoot until I'm tired, usually at least two to five shots per subject.
- Go home.
- Copy images to my PC with DIM, automatically sorting into folders by "yyyy/yyyymmdd - " and marking read-only.
- Pull up Bridge.
- Select the best photos (usually ~10%) for processing.
- Unlock, label (using the 'select' label), and re-lock the pictures so I can filter out the ones I don't care about.
- Open every last labeled file in ACR at the same time.
- Batch white balance them all at once to some reasonable value.
- Batch adjust exposure them all at once to some reasonable value.
Then, I make separate passes for each of the following edits, fixing one image at a time:
- Rotate/crop each to size.
- (Sometimes) Fine-tune the white balance and exposure for the main subject in each image, and tweak the saturation/vibrance from the default values if needed.
- (Usually) Correct any underexposed/overexposed areas with the adjustment brush (occasionally tweaking hue and saturation at the same time), usually only adding one lighter (+50 to 75) and one darker (-50 to 75) mask before finishing.
- Spot edit small flaws.
Close ACR, go back to Bridge, then about four pictures at a time (for memory reasons):
- Open the files in ACR, select all files, and open in Photoshop at 16 bit.
- (Rarely) Clone/heal large flaws.
- Smart sharpen.
- Save as JPG.
Because I shoot manually and my settings are fairly consistent from image to image, this workflow provides HUGE savings from economies of scale. When you do the same edits to image after image, like toning down an over-bright sky, you can really grind through them, never switching brushes, darkening the sky, selecting the next image, darkening the sky, selecting the next image, darkening the sky... you get the idea. The same goes for zits... you know right where they all are by the third image in a row.
Another advantage is that if you ever need to go back and adjust your images, or re-print them at a new size, since the majority of the edits are non-destructively saved with the RAW file, you can just re-open it, tweak it, scale it, sharpen it, and print it at 16-bit in no time, without leaving a stupid huge PSD file laying around your hard-drive.
Since the RAWs have been adjusted entirely non-destructively, I can even go back in and tweak them later to better suit a printer or my intended output.
ACR's a pretty nifty tool, and I could even skip the sharpening step in Photoshop completely if I did it in ACR, but I like to sharpen only after resizing an image using my Photoshop macros.
Take another look at RAW! The more manual your process, the more control you have!
Message edited by author 2009-04-15 14:01:09. |
|
|
|
04/15/2009 02:51:51 PM · #29 |
Originally posted by lky623:
I think most amateur photographers are in your shoes. It's the lazy man's way... take hundred's of pictures, put less thought in the composition, lighting, etc., look at them later to see what's "good." The "work" is to transition into learning composition, how to use lighting, how to adjust the camera settings, etc. You'll either keep taking hundred's of snaps, or put more thought on how you want the end result to be prior to pressing the shutter.
Here's a suggestion. On your next jaunt, limit the number of exposures/pictures you take like if you only had a few rolls of film. See if that forces you to put more thought into the photo. My 2 cents. (I'm still lazy most of the time, running out of HD space.)
I just re-read all the posts, everyone has good opinions. But it sounds like you're tired of filtering through hundreds of pics, so I would say, more thought into the image before pressing the shutter=less pics to filter through. [To all the veteran DPCers, don't beat me up, I'm just a newbie amateur :) ] |
You may be a "newbie amateur", but that's some excellent advice. Adding to your suggestions, switch off the LCD review and don't look until you get home. That will force you to think about what you're doing before you press the shutter. |
|
|
|
04/16/2009 12:48:00 AM · #30 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
...switch off the LCD review and don't look until you get home. That will force you to think about what you're doing before you press the shutter. |
Makes me think! |
|
|
|
04/16/2009 02:11:38 AM · #31 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
... switch off the LCD review and don't look until you get home. That will force you to think about what you're doing before you press the shutter. |
One of the reasons I may take a substantial number of similar shots (especially if set up for a challenge or intended for stock) is that the LCD preview lies all the time, about focus, blown/blocked areas, etc. I most often have to shoot handheld, often one-handed, sometimes moving. I'd rather shoot the extra frames than have to re-shoot. |
|
|
|
04/17/2009 12:56:05 AM · #32 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
... switch off the LCD review and don't look until you get home. That will force you to think about what you're doing before you press the shutter. |
One of the reasons I may take a substantial number of similar shots (especially if set up for a challenge or intended for stock) is that the LCD preview lies all the time, about focus, blown/blocked areas, etc. I most often have to shoot handheld, often one-handed, sometimes moving. I'd rather shoot the extra frames than have to re-shoot. |
Is that the reason we are Six Point Someones? |
|
|
|
Current Server Time: 06/13/2025 06:17:59 AM  |
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 06/13/2025 06:17:59 AM EDT.
|
