Post processing

  • Thread starter Thread starter RobbieW
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RobbieW

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Hi

After shooting in RAW for the past couple of years, I have found that I really struggle in the post processing part of photography. This sometimes leads me to start questioning my ability to take decent pictures and on several occasions I have nearly given up.

Everytime you open a magazine the images are always perfectly crisp, sharp and contain great colours. Where as on more than one occasion I have been told mine are flat, and lack sharpness and contrast,

Does anyone else find this with their images?

I currently use photoshop 7 as my pc isn;t the fastest, so I am probably missing out on the latest help that cs2/3 would provide. I am tempted to try elements 6 to see if that can help me.

Failing that, I may just go back to jpg and let the camera do its stuff :(

Rob
 
try canon's DPP. It seems to be the best option for canon raw files giving clean, crisp conversions with much less effort than using ACR
 
I have stopped looking at magazine pictures and to a point things on here as being what I "should" be producing as when I tried to get the same sort of results I was getting frustrated and almost depressed about things. My processing is crap but I am getting better after getting some help from people on here.
I now take pictures that I like and only do what I enjoy. I may never get to the standard of people on here but I would rather enjoy what I am doing than feel like throwing things when I compare them!!

For me processing is incredibly frustrating, but I recently discovered that by keeping it very simple I got better results than when I spent hours going round in ever decreasing circles. If you find you are getting to the point where you want to give up then relax and shoot in jpeg for a while - it is supposed to be fun after all.
 
To be honest Rob I think you're actually being overly self critical. I've just had a glance through the photos in your gallery and there's nothing in there that says to me that your shots are in any wall dull, flat or lacking in sharpness. Possibly a couple could do with a tweak here or there but nothing major. Certainly your studio work seems to improve all the time imo.

It might be interesting to post up a shot that you're not happy with the processing on and let someone else have a go and see if they can get a result that you prefer. If so, knowing how they achieved it might help with your workflow. I'd be happy to volunteer if you want to link to a RAW file :)
 
I feel your pain, but I put it down to lack of knowledge on my part. I like maybe 5% of my shots, the rest I really don't enjoy. I have yet to get an image I think has everything, whether it be colour depth, or sharpness - always seems to be something bugging me.

On my flickr, I have created a top 40 set, I only have 15 or so in it, and even then I can spot problems with all of them.

In my opinion, experience will bring better results. At least I hope!

Gary.
 
Post-processing is art. It requires lots and lots of practice; I always have a problem with it, thinking that I suck at it - that's a good stimulator for more experimentation ;)

Important thing to remember is that you cannot turn bad source material into splendid image, even with the best post-processing... ;) There is a common myth that you can Photoshop anything, while if picture lacks sharpness, composition and does not have a general "vibe" - the best you can do is to shoot it again. :)

At least that's how I see it... :)
 
RobbieW said:
After shooting in RAW for the past couple of years, I have found that I really struggle in the post processing part of photography. This sometimes leads me to start questioning my ability to take decent pictures and on several occasions I have nearly given up.
Click to expand...

And today you're about to throw in the towel again?

Everytime you open a magazine the images are always perfectly crisp, sharp and contain great colours. Where as on more than one occasion I have been told mine are flat, and lack sharpness and contrast,
Click to expand...

How about posting a couple of those photos of yours? So that we can SEE what's going on!

Does anyone else find this with their images?
Click to expand...

All the time.
It simply means your photos need more work.

I currently use photoshop 7 as my pc isn;t the fastest, so I am probably missing out on the latest help that cs2/3 would provide. I am tempted to try elements 6 to see if that can help me.
Click to expand...

If you can try it for free, then do it, and see which one you like better. If not, stick with PS7. It's got more features.

Failing that, I may just go back to jpg and let the camera do its stuff :(
Click to expand...

Are you a quitter, Rob?
 
RobbieW said:
I currently use photoshop 7 as my pc isn;t the fastest, so I am probably missing out on the latest help that cs2/3 would provide. I am tempted to try elements 6 to see if that can help me.
Click to expand...

Photoshop 7 is fully capable of doing all the stuff you can do with later versions. :) It's not Photoshop which fails... Experiment more and read about the matter of the subject - and you will be fine! :)
 
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