The Photography Thread

[Herbalizer]

I always thought that post processing was frowned upon. It seems like everyone is cool with it though. I don't really do anything to mine*, its time to start experimenting.



*aside from making the odd photo black and white.

[Ish]

People have always post processed, always.

It's just so much easier now. Plus you're always post-processing whether you realise it or not. If you shoot in raw then when you converted to jpg (or whatever your final output is) then you're post processing along the way - white balance selection, sharpness etc. etc. If you shoot in jpeg then the same thing is happening but the camera is choosing for you (with a bit of help such as the cameras white balance settings).

Its always best to try and get as close to the shot you want with the camera though. In terms of the two I just posted - obviously I did a B&W conversion on one. The other was a simple crop and level correction.

[Herbalizer]

Thanks Ish. I'm pretty new to this and I'm learning all the time.

[Ish]

I'm learning all the time.

Likewise!

[Magnakai]

I'm well overdue for posting some images. Here's one:

Gotta love Parliament Hill on a sunny day.

Herb - if you were using film, the lab would do your processing. Nowadays, people process themselves. Most digital photos taken by someone who's really interested and passionate will, at the very least, have their brightness, contrast and colour balance adjusted. You don't have to though. Most modern cameras will process JPEGs pretty well.

[Ish]

Couple more from me.

[HaHaUK]

A few from me:

[eASY aDDICT]

Looking for a telephoto lens to compliment my 400D kit lens. Looking for recommendations as not sure whether to get 300mm or a better quality 200mm.

[funkydan]

So I've installed PS 5.5 and had a go at a bit channel mixing to do a b+w conversion. There's a before and after below. After clicking monochrome, I set Blue to 62, green to 30 and red to 8, so here's the before:





I'm not entirely convinced my RGB levels are correct, I read they should still add up to 100% so what are you thoughts? Thanks chaps

Also, PS is still removing the EXIF data - is there anything I can do to retain it when using PS 5.5?

[Ish]

For me it doesn't quite have enough "pop". But then I like high contrast B+W and its not to everyones taste.

I had a very quick go at it myself.



And this one does in CS3 using the channel mixer:



The second one was almost a straight red filter in the channel mixer. Just knocked it down a couple of notches.

And finally another. Again in CS3. This time I increased the brightness and then started with an orange filter and tweaked it a little from there (again in the channel mixer).



I think one of the reasons you're struggling with the B&Ws is that your photos are quite dark and when you convert to BW they look a little flat as a result. Try increasing the exposure a little when you convert from raw.

[funkydan]

Her head looks a bit floaty imo and you do lose a bit of definition but I'll try anything me until I find a look that works for me.

Did you think it was a better quality conversion though?

Also, is Flickr responsible for the missing EXIF data perhaps?

[Ish]

Take a look at the last one Mr. Dan - I just edited my post again. I think thats the one of the three I've done I would have posted.

I'd deffo try increasing the exposure a little when you convert from raw as I think its the darkness that is leading to them looking a little flat. On the last one I bumped it up in Photoshop before converting but working off the jpeg could see the image losing definition quite quickly.

I do find that B+W conversions take quite a while - I spend ages nudging contrast around and often leave a selection in Aperture and come back a few hours later for another peek with fresh eyes.

No idea where your EXIF data is going mate. I'm suspecting PS5.5 - flickr tends to show a tonne of data I find.

Oh and that lass - very sexy. I could work on her photos all night. Baddum.

[funkydan]

Thanks for the advice dude - I guess I best start taking some photos in RAW!

[Ish]

I'd always advise shooting in raw but for the kinds of photos you take I think it would be particularly useful - firstly you can generally recover a stop or two of exposure and secondly you can pick the white balance at conversion time. When I did indoor shots of bands at last years womad I found the white balance shifting quite a big due to all the crazy chamging lighting.

[funkydan]

Ok, I'll start experimenting with RAW I think. I hadn't been using it previously as I didn't have the correct tools with which to PP the shots, but I should do soon: I'll see if I can 'borrow' CS1 from work and use that instead