Confused by PP, landscape photos

DrPips

DrPips

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Name
Dom
Edit My Images
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Hi all,

I'm fairly new to photography, but even newer to PP. I have used the free software that I got with my Canon 30D, but only really use it for the curve tone assist, then play around a little with the curves, WB if needed, and contrast / brightness / sharpness.

I have CS2, but to be honest, I'm put off from using it by the sheer amount of things that can be done. What sort of things should I be looking at playing with in CS2? Or would I be better off with something between the two (Canon software, and CS2) I've been reading some stuff about Lightroom.

I would really appreciate some tips on this, even if it's a good instructional book on the software.

Thanks,

Dom
 
Probably the main things to ajust are the levels or curves and the colours (if needed) finished by a bit of sharpening.
Are you working with raw or jpeg?
Lightroom is good if your dealing with lots of images.
 
I shoot in RAW. The reason I ask is that looking through the C&C forum, people talk about so many different things to do to photos to improve them. Gibberish to me!

Dom
 
Lightroom is an excellent place to start. Not only will it give you a lot of the common adjustments you might want, but they are applied non destructivly, so you can play away to your heart's content without affecting the originals. That's often the best way to learn what things do.

It's also a great cataloging and printing package. Why don;t you download the trial from Adobe and see if you like it?
 
Get yourself a book on Photoshop. CS2 will do a huge amount of stuff - I do prefer Lightroom but you can do as much with the software you have.
 
HI,

you could do worse to look over the post-processing tips here:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

ALso, if you want to give yourself a mni-course in photoshop, then books by scott kelby are well regarded by beginners:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scott-Kelbys-7-Point-System-Photoshop/dp/0321501926

shows the in-depth steps taken and why for a few selected images. think also the images are available for download so you can work on the same image as in the book to get same results, and then learn what you did and why.

basically though, using levels to get strong white and black points (this helps with contrast).

different methods of adjusting colour saturation and balance

then sharpening.
at the start-off, you might end up playing around with lots of filters and effects, i'd urge caution and at least a backup of each image without all the fancy stuff :)

have fun!
 
Have to agree with the recommendations above. I've gotten a couple of Scott Kelby's books as I've upgraded from Photoshop Elements 6 to 8, and strongly recommend anything from him. His writing style is clear, a bit tongue-in-cheek, and the instructions are complete.

Don't let the sheer number of things that can be done deter you from learning what you want to do. At first, just making an average photo better is rewarding enough. At some point you may want to do very complex things, or you may not. That'll be up to you, and when you are ready.

I also really believe that PP helped make me a much better photographer, so my original images now need "less fixing" than did the ones taken a few years ago. I've cropped so many photos in PSE to get rid of unwanted objects, etc., that I've finally learned to actually see those things in the viewfinder. :lol: The same can be said for focus, DOF, seeing flare, and so forth.

If you can PP, then your computer is your darkroom, and you have far more creative control than what your camera alone can give you.

Best wishes.
 
Thanks a lot for the tips. I'll get one of those books and check out Lightroom.

Thanks again,

Dom
 
I found that watching utube and videos from digital photo taught me a lot. With videos you can watch what they do stop it do the process to your photo and start the vid up again for the next bit.
 
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