Post process and the hobbyist

[Seanazz]

I am a hobbyist photographer - I started taking pictures for reference material for my illustration projects. And it just became a thing I enjoyed. Last year I powered up to D700, and did the GAS. I now have a 50 1.4, 14-24, 80-200.

Anyway the point is that I have taken thousands of photos, and I just can't process them all. I would like to post more on here, but if I just post SOOC then it's a waste of everyone's time.
How do people keep up a regular posting schedule ?

Just throwing this out there, Interested to see if this is an issue for others.

 

[TheBigYin]

I just take less pictures, but make sure they're better "in camera"

It's not compulsory to "machine gun" everything.

My last project took me maybe a week to source the props, a couple of days to get the arrangement and lighting right and 3 frames on digtial to get the picture nailed. 10 minutes more of swapping to the Film Camera and ensuring everything was in focus, transfer all the settings from the "digital polaroid" to the Bronica and 2 more frames on film. (one, and a spare, just in case I crease the film or otherwise knacker it while processing)

 

[Sharky]

There is nothing to say a SOOC shot can't be a great image! As for posting up images generally speaking people cherry pick their absolute best so 200 or 300 images from round the zoo becomes 4 shots that need processing before sharing.

Whittle down your best of your best and process those, if they are all amazing you're screwed

 

[Nod]

Personally, I've come to hate doing PP so have spent some time setting my cameras up to deliver what I want as an end result - an up to A3+ print. For the shots I share on here, I usually just resize in the camera. More time to get out and shoot!!! Of course, there are times when a bit of PP needs to be done but that's usually just a bit of dust spot cloning for me - if it needs rescuing, the shot was a failure, just like it was when I used to shoot slide film.

 

[LBJNBA]

I cant say the same, if anything I don't take enough photos and have too much time to process them.
Luckily I have job where I can sit and edit photos rather than do any work.

 

[Ed Sutton]

I have taken thousands of photos, and I just can't process them all.

Only process the good ones.

 

[DuncanDisorderly]

Have a look at Lightroom.
It's a good way to organise / grade / tweak your images.
I usually manage about 200 images an hour.

 

[Seanazz]

I just take less pictures, but make sure they're better "in camera"

It's not compulsory to "machine gun" everything.

My last project took me maybe a week to source the props, a couple of days to get the arrangement and lighting right and 3 frames on digtial to get the picture nailed. 10 minutes more of swapping to the Film Camera and ensuring everything was in focus, transfer all the settings from the "digital polaroid" to the Bronica and 2 more frames on film. (one, and a spare, just in case I crease the film or otherwise knacker it while processing)

I agree on this. When I said i've taken thousands of pictures, this is over a long period of time. My choice of subject matter doesn't require 'machine gunning', and I think my camera would go into meltdown
Generally my pp issues are straightening/cropping, something that doesn't lend itself to automation, or does it ?

I like reading about your film process, sounds like a lot of consideration goes into the set - up.

 

[Seanazz]

Have a look at Lightroom.
It's a good way to organise / grade / tweak your images.
I usually manage about 200 images an hour.

Duncan - I do use Lightroom, and I agree it is a great way to organise images and process. I am still feeling my way round getting it set up with suitable automation.

 

[Pookeyhead]

I am a hobbyist photographer - I started taking pictures for reference material for my illustration projects. And it just became a thing I enjoyed. Last year I powered up to D700, and did the GAS. I now have a 50 1.4, 14-24, 80-200.

Anyway the point is that I have taken thousands of photos, and I just can't process them all. I would like to post more on here, but if I just post SOOC then it's a waste of everyone's time.

Why? Are you saying images can't be good until they're post processed? Go back 20 years and we all managed it without any post processing.. straight onto slide film. Nothing has changed.

How do people keep up a regular posting schedule ?

I don't. I post when I feel like it. Why do you feel pressured to post stuff?

 

[HoppyUK]

Only process the good ones.

Good advice - and be ruthless. You haven't got time to process the others, and nobody else has time to look at anything second rate. Multiple shots of the same subject, choose the best one.

You may have thousands of images, like we all do, but let's be honest, they ain't all great.

 

[posiview]

Good advice - and be ruthless. You haven't got time to process the others, and nobody else has time to look at anything second rate. Multiple shots of the same subject, choose the best one.

You may have thousands of images, like we all do, but let's be honest, they ain't all great.

I'd agree with the above. I get attached to my photographs, and should do so, but after I import I quickly rate what I consider 5 star and only process the 5 stars. Can't see the point in rating 1, 2, 3 or 4.

Now and again I'll look again at the <5 start and sometimes change a few to 5

Cheers.

 

[Seanazz]

Why? Are you saying images can't be good until they're post processed? Go back 20 years and we all managed it without any post processing.. straight onto slide film. Nothing has changed.


I don't. I post when I feel like it. Why do you feel pressured to post stuff?

No, not at all.

 

[Seanazz]

Good advice - and be ruthless. You haven't got time to process the others, and nobody else has time to look at anything second rate. Multiple shots of the same subject, choose the best one.

You may have thousands of images, like we all do, but let's be honest, they ain't all great.

I agree with the last part

 

[Seanazz]

I think i should have been a bit clearer in so far as I don't want to process all my pics. That would be mad.
But I am interested in how people keep on top of choosing and processing on a regular basis.
A lot of the replies have already addressed this in different ways, which has helped.
Thanks

 

[Seanazz]

I'd agree with the above. I get attached to my photographs, and should do so, but after I import I quickly rate what I consider 5 star and only process the 5 stars. Can't see the point in rating 1, 2, 3 or 4.

Now and again I'll look again at the <5 start and sometimes change a few to 5

Cheers.

Yes this works for me in Lightroom, at least rating the ones I want to edit.

 

[DuncanDisorderly]

Yes this works for me in Lightroom, at least rating the ones I want to edit.

That's what I do too...
5 star - ready to print/publish
4 star - I like it, but it needs polish
3 star - want to keep as it tells the story of the evening
2 star - keeping for info; e.g. the a photo of the event's running order
1 star - an original image which has been colour corrected and a few basic tweaks before exporting to Photoshop for polish; the Photoshop file is in Lightroom too and will usually get 5 stars.

 

[StewartR]

Generally my pp issues are straightening/cropping, something that doesn't lend itself to automation, or does it ?

Not really, but it does lend itself to getting it right in camera!

 

[Seanazz]

There is nothing to say a SOOC shot can't be a great image! As for posting up images generally speaking people cherry pick their absolute best so 200 or 300 images from round the zoo becomes 4 shots that need processing before sharing.

Whittle down your best of your best and process those, if they are all amazing you're screwed

Thanks, Sharky. I don't think that an all amazing shoot will ever be an issue

 

[Seanazz]

I cant say the same, if anything I don't take enough photos and have too much time to process them.
Luckily I have job where I can sit and edit photos rather than do any work.

Sounds ideal

 

[TheBigYin]

Why? Are you saying images can't be good until they're post processed? Go back 20 years and we all managed it without any post processing.. straight onto slide film. Nothing has changed.

Some of us (okay, probably just me and you in this thread David) still do... Hence my description of how I work and the use of my 7D as a kind of "digital polaroid back" for shooting on the film camera. I hear it so often from people coming from a background of shooting only digital when they try shooting on film and realise that every frame they make, every time they press the shutter it costs real money (especially if you're shooting 5x4 or 10x8 on E6 transparency stock!) so it causes them to slow down and think about everything in the frame - or indeed if there's any point in actually hitting the shutter release at all. Most of them find that the more thoughtful process carries through to their digital shooting. Personally, I think I just spent so much time (more years than I wish to think about tbh) when film was the only option, that I actually find it difficult to step the other way.

 

[ChrisHeathcote]

I've tried varying systems over the years including the stars, my issue with the Stars was I would never remember which was which, I tried the same with colours. Now it's fairly simple, I go through and mark the pics as either "rejects" or "pick". I then delete the rejects and put the picks in a collection. I then mark the favourites as a five and edit those before putting in the final collection

 

[Seanazz]

Some of us (okay, probably just me and you in this thread David) still do... Hence my description of how I work and the use of my 7D as a kind of "digital polaroid back" for shooting on the film camera. I hear it so often from people coming from a background of shooting only digital when they try shooting on film and realise that every frame they make, every time they press the shutter it costs real money (especially if you're shooting 5x4 or 10x8 on E6 transparency stock!) so it causes them to slow down and think about everything in the frame - or indeed if there's any point in actually hitting the shutter release at all. Most of them find that the more thoughtful process carries through to their digital shooting. Personally, I think I just spent so much time (more years than I wish to think about tbh) when film was the only option, that I actually find it difficult to step the other way.

I am painfully aware of what using film was/is like from the years of using film when it was the only option
And the subsequent variable quality of my pictures.
I hadn't considered that digital is the only experience for a majority of people and there approach may be ( Spray and pray?) fire off a bunch.
This doesn't ( Generally ) lend itself to composition and other considerations.

 

[Deleted member 49549]

I've tried varying systems over the years including the stars, my issue with the Stars was I would never remember which was which, I tried the same with colours. Now it's fairly simple, I go through and mark the pics as either "rejects" or "pick". I then delete the rejects and put the picks in a collection. I then mark the favourites as a five and edit those before putting in the final collection

You can rename the colours in the lightroom to something meaningful. metadata > colour label set > edit.

EDIT
But I now use folders. From the initial shot I choose a 'longlist', these go into a longlist subfolder within the dated folder in lightroom. These are keyworded and quickly edited, and a selection of those is moved to another sub-folder 'picks'. I like that fact that if lightroom (or me...) screws up the rating / labels / pick status, I can rely on my folder structure to show me my good pictures. Just a level of redundancy, as I have in the past seen pictures that I have unintentionally rejected or rated as one star or applied the wrong label.

 

[Nod]

I follow a similar path to Phil's. Once I have all the images from a trip/event/whatever loaded onto the computer and backed up, I make a copy of the complete folder and label it "Weeded". I then go through it fairly ruthlessly in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer and hit the red X on the complete dross (OOF, photobombed etc.) which usually takes out around 50% of the original shots. I then go through them again and compare any duplicates (I'll often bracket a set to get the best I can as far as exposure goes) and dispose of the weakest, see if any need PP and make a judgement as to whether those that need it get it or get ignored/deleted. By this time, I'm probably down to between 1/4 and 1/3 of the original full set so if that's under 50 shots, I'll usually do a set of 6x4 proof prints - sometimes even more (for a full holiday, it can be 200 or so). These then get looked at more carefully and sorted into a pile for A4 printing. I'll then either go through and select those for A4 prints or delete those that didn't make the grade from the "Weeded" folder and do an A4 print run. These then get even closer inspection and a select few (often a nice round number 0!) get A3+ prints done. One or 2 might even deserve framing and these will get a careful resize to match the mounts I have. IF at any stage any of them need PP, they get it but it's as little as possible - the camera's done all the hard work for me! It's usually just a slight horizon tweak and a dust spot removal rather than a complete reworking - while it's possible to polish a turd (I have a coprolite to prove it!), I prefer to simply flush them!

 

[XA2inmypocket]

Recently I've been mainly shooting on 120 film, 6 x 6. That's 12 exposures per roll. Although I do use some budget film, and I process my own b/w film for scanning, each exposure not only has a price, but also needs plenty of input - my cameras are pretty manual everything, without light meters. Burst isn't really on my agenda.

Quite honestly, although I'm not the world's greatest photographer, on average, out of those 12 exposures, I probably save / upload (to Flickr) between two and five images, after scanning, then a little post scan software editing - dust healing, cropping, levels and the ilk.

 

[Nod]

Back when I shot film, I used to reckon on between 2 and 10 good keepers per 36 exposures depending on the subject. There were times when there were more keepers and also a few when I screwed up (well, it must have been the camera, honest guv'nor!) and got nowt! These days, with an exposure costing nothing until it's printed, I seem to get about the same ratio but I get a bit pickier when it's big print time!

 

[Diving Pete]

It's easy to deal with as long as you follow a process & are ruthless....

Mine is:

Copy into named folder on PC
open using FS Viewer.
Anything blurry / out of focus / missing bits / limbs - instant delete - I find it quicker to do this than import EVERYTHING into LR.
I'm not interested in processing these so why keep them... !

Import rest into Lightroom,
Get cup of tea.

Using grading process (stars 1, 2, or 3 (+ the x key for stuff I missed in FS Viewer) I rate all photos & apply exif.
All 3 stars are processed now & upgraded to 4.
All 2 stars are looked at again - any processed get also upgraded to 4.
All 1 stars also looked at - for something different.
Any unrated left alone - usually a few ( these may have grandpa joe in them & he might not be in any other pics...).
Any with x - deleted.

So I end up with 4 stars - processed, 1 stars & some unrated...

Be Ruthless..

 

[Sharky]

It's easy to deal with as long as you follow a process & are ruthless....

<snip>

Be Ruthless..

This is pretty much my workflow as well.

Cull in FS viewer prior to import (oof etc.)
Import through LR into \year\date - event\capture\ folder e.g. x:\photos\2015\20150417 - Garden play\capture\
Go through again, cull and assign stars

• no stars = needs to be reviewed
• 1 = keeper
• 2 = potential to be processed
• 3 = processed / finished.

Assign keywords to everything.

I don't use 4 or 5 stars to keep the workflow simple. Once processing is completed i should end up with just 1 or 3 starred images, stars also translate into other applications where as colour selections do not.

Processed images go in a \finished\ subfolder so i can find those images quickly outside of LR.

 

[rpsmith79]

I used to be terrible at this, i would take 50-100 shots of a similar subject, give them some quick PP, then upload them en-mass to Flickr

Then i took on a 365 project last year, this really made me have to think about, and be very selective over which shots to keep, and which to ditch, especially after visiting Zoo's/Wildlife Parks/Airshows etc, where it is easy to take hundreds of shots in a single day

But a years's worth of doing that has really honed my skills in selecting only the best half dozen shots when i now visit these same sort of places

Also, as i was trying to make sure i posted each shot of the 365 every single day, it also made me make sure i took, sorted, processed and uploaded the shots in the same day, this helped me make sure i never had a backlog of photos to sort though

 

[Diving Pete]

Processed images go in a \finished\ subfolder so i can find those images quickly outside of LR.

I leave them in the same folder (as well as export a LR catalog to it)
Everything to do with the shoot is in the same folder...

 

[woof woof]

Good advice - and be ruthless. You haven't got time to process the others, and nobody else has time to look at anything second rate. Multiple shots of the same subject, choose the best one.

You may have thousands of images, like we all do, but let's be honest, they ain't all great.

With disk space being relatively cheap I only delete the really bad and I keep the rest as sometimes I do go back and realise that I like that shot that I thought was rubbish on the day. You can always put the dubious shots in a different folder

 

[LCPete]

I shoot nature / wildlife so get quite a few rubbish ones I just pick 3 or 4 at the most of each subject and work on those
I don't delete anything until a week or so later when I will keep the few good raws and edited ones and delete the folder

 

[Brazo]

I review all the images and the ones that I like get a 1 star in Lightroom.

The others 90% get deleted!

From the 1's I then select the best few and mark these with a 2. These then get processed and exported to Flickr. If I really like an image it gets sent to 500px or posted on here. I haven't processed an image for over a year!! I've taken lots though!!!

 

[Harlequin565]

Ruthlessness works. Culling the herd is essential if you take a lot of shots. I went to the lakes last year and took over 300 shots of different locations. I imported, deleted the rubbish and just left the rest. I think I was truly happy with maybe a dozen which I "worked" on in post.

I had thousands of photos going back to 2006 which I never looked at. Finding anything was a royal pain, and so I went through and deleted lots of photos. Some I hadn't looked at in almost ten years and was unlikely to do so in the future.

My workflow...

After your day out/shoot/whatever, drop all images into a "bin" folder.

"Add" them in LR - takes less time than importing.

1st pass - delete all the junk (oof etc)

2nd pass. Multi select (ctrl+click) images that are similar or of the same subject and press "n". This takes you into a survey mode/contact sheet. This is where I get ruthless. By seeing all my shots of the same sort of thing, I can find maybe the best 2, or 3, or maybe 4 if it's an outstanding subject. Every photo that doesn't make the cut, I press "x" to reject it. I have a filter set up to remove rejected photos from the view, so it disappears and the remaining images shuffle around to fill the screen. I repeat this for all images from the shoot that are similar. This usually cuts out 50-80% of my photos. (I've written an article about this process here if you're interested in further reading)

These "rejected" photos are then filtered against and deleted. You could just delete them from the catalogue (if you really think you might go back to them and disk space isn't an issue), or if you're brave, delete them from disk.

The remaining photos are then converted to DNG and moved into a folder using LR. I have an additional step, which involves choosing my absolute best images (zero, one or two from any shoot) and exporting them to a Portfolio catalogue so that when I want to do some PP, I start with portfolio shots. These are my best work.

Lightroom is an amazing photo management tool and it's easy to have a huge catalogue with all your images because you can. Learning to differentiate your best work from the merely average is a really useful skill to learn.

 

[dan_yell]

Some of us (okay, probably just me and you in this thread David) still do... Hence my description of how I work and the use of my 7D as a kind of "digital polaroid back" for shooting on the film camera. I hear it so often from people coming from a background of shooting only digital when they try shooting on film and realise that every frame they make, every time they press the shutter it costs real money (especially if you're shooting 5x4 or 10x8 on E6 transparency stock!) so it causes them to slow down and think about everything in the frame - or indeed if there's any point in actually hitting the shutter release at all. Most of them find that the more thoughtful process carries through to their digital shooting. Personally, I think I just spent so much time (more years than I wish to think about tbh) when film was the only option, that I actually find it difficult to step the other way.

This is probably the largest reason why i've just bought a film SLR as i want to force myself to thikn about what im doing, rather than blagging it and relying on digital. I didnt spend long enough using film fully manual before i switched to digital so i think i need to go back to basics.

In terms of work flow - for a couple of years i was shooting a lot of gigs and turning around the same night - i wasnt culling the crap ones so filled up a lot of space so i was going back afterwards when i had more time and delting the crap that wasnt good enough to make the cut during the edit - and ended up with 1/3 of the original shots. I use lightroom but am not very organised so it could be sorted a lot better. it all gets a bit slow and painful on my PC as its old ...

 

[Seanazz]

Thanks for all the replies to this, lots of interesting and useful info. I will respond individually when Time allows

 

[Byker28i]

Only process the good ones.

Which is where lightroom really comes in.
Obviously theres the initial triage, removing the awful ones, the badly out of focus, then you go through them again, and use the rating system 1 or 2 for ones you want to process. The filter on those and only process the ones you are really interested in, then score according to your requirements/values 3-5.

 

[Creo]

I suppose a lot to do with this is how many pics you take each session. I do landscapes and generally only have 30-40 images from each shoot. I copy them all to my hard disk, take a quick look at the jpegs, and if there are a couple with potential merit I do a quick PP, cropping, lifting shadows etc, and decide if they are worth progressing. If so, I spend a few more minutes on them until I am happy. I did use to spend hours, even days messing with a single image PP, but have decided that isnt the way I prefer to go, a modest amount of "fine tuning/fixing" is ok in my eyes now, but as an amateur who just does this for fun, I now feel I would rather keep the image as close as possible to the one that came out of camera using PP to tweak but not to change, if that makes any kind of sense.
After a years landscape photography I have 100 GIG of photos on my HD, so isnt really an issue for me, I expect if you shoot a lot of photos then pruning and selecting what to keep becomes far more important.

 

[a1ex2001]

I too hate pp I want to take pictures not spend hours cooped up inside! My solution is a couple of custom picture style which mean 90% of my shots are fine in camera. I now only tweak further anything that is going on Flickr or being printed leaving me more time together take pics and a whole lot happier!