View Poll Results: Do you make your images in camera, on on the PC?
I never do post processing.
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Voters: 32. You may not vote on this poll
Post processing.
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From: Dry Branch
[quote name='nichigo' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:23 AM']Pretty much said everything I would have said...only better 
I would like to add though...depending on the intention of the photo, PP'ing can be used extensively (yet effectively) to turn one picture into something totally different.
I would like to add though...depending on the intention of the photo, PP'ing can be used extensively (yet effectively) to turn one picture into something totally different.
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I'll have to go out on a limb and disagree with "Well, of course they're snapshots; Most news photos are. At a big event like that you are far more concerned with getting the coverate than in creating fine art prints. wink.gif That's even more true when you are shooting for the Web rather than print."
There are snapshots, and then there are photographs. Snapshots is a mere record of an event. A photograph is a record of an event that evokes an emotional response from the audience. Most news stuff that I stop and look at aren't snapshots; I stop to look at them because it strikes me hard enough that I respond to it in some way while covering a story / event.
There are snapshots, and then there are photographs. Snapshots is a mere record of an event. A photograph is a record of an event that evokes an emotional response from the audience. Most news stuff that I stop and look at aren't snapshots; I stop to look at them because it strikes me hard enough that I respond to it in some way while covering a story / event.
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From: Dry Branch
[quote name='Borbor' date='Feb 1 2009, 01:33 AM']I'll have to go out on a limb and disagree with "Well, of course they're snapshots; Most news photos are. At a big event like that you are far more concerned with getting the coverate than in creating fine art prints. wink.gif That's even more true when you are shooting for the Web rather than print."
There are snapshots, and then there are photographs.
There are snapshots, and then there are photographs.
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From: Dry Branch
Oh dookie, I forgot the most important part.
Autofocus and other camera automation seem to promote the habit of shooting without thinking. That's all well and good when the wall falls on the firetruck, but a good print starts with a well thought out exposure. Assuming that you have the time, you really want to look at all of the information in your viewfinder, and think about how the image will look and how the camera's settings are going to affect it. You also want to take a look at the entire image, not just the main subject, and you want to consider how the image will be used, including the final display size. An image that looks great at 16x24 will look quite different when printed at 8x12 or 4x6. The truely wonderful thing about large format cameras is that they force you to take your time and consider the image more carefully. Once you get use to the inverted image, it makes it easier to seperate the image you're seeing as a future print from the image you have in your mind's eye, and you tend to spend a lot more time checking the image before you release the shutter. You have to use a meter to determine exposure, which makes you think about how you're reading the light and how that will affect the end product. You quickly learn the importance of taking multiple readings, and the whole process proceeds so slowly that taking the time doing all the right things is perfectly natural. In practice, the amount of time you have to compose and consider an image will vary, but if you want to capture the images you're seeing in your mind's eye, you have to take your time, and NOT simply let the camera make the decisions for you. Borbor's comments about thinking about what you are seeing in the viewfinder is a critical step in the process, and something that modern cameras can easily discourage.
Autofocus and other camera automation seem to promote the habit of shooting without thinking. That's all well and good when the wall falls on the firetruck, but a good print starts with a well thought out exposure. Assuming that you have the time, you really want to look at all of the information in your viewfinder, and think about how the image will look and how the camera's settings are going to affect it. You also want to take a look at the entire image, not just the main subject, and you want to consider how the image will be used, including the final display size. An image that looks great at 16x24 will look quite different when printed at 8x12 or 4x6. The truely wonderful thing about large format cameras is that they force you to take your time and consider the image more carefully. Once you get use to the inverted image, it makes it easier to seperate the image you're seeing as a future print from the image you have in your mind's eye, and you tend to spend a lot more time checking the image before you release the shutter. You have to use a meter to determine exposure, which makes you think about how you're reading the light and how that will affect the end product. You quickly learn the importance of taking multiple readings, and the whole process proceeds so slowly that taking the time doing all the right things is perfectly natural. In practice, the amount of time you have to compose and consider an image will vary, but if you want to capture the images you're seeing in your mind's eye, you have to take your time, and NOT simply let the camera make the decisions for you. Borbor's comments about thinking about what you are seeing in the viewfinder is a critical step in the process, and something that modern cameras can easily discourage.
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From: La Habra
Depends on what you call "post processing." If you shoot NEF (RAW) then you post process by definition. Meaning you have to choose an 'exposure' and color balance as a minimum. Otherwise you can't even view the image. That's a big difference from film, where you could judge the negative (or slide) on its own merits.
Sharpening is an absolute necessity for every digital image, unless your cameras don't have the AA filters than mine do. There are more or less subtle ways to sharpen and most novices are clumsy there.
Some lenses give color aberations (e.g. purple fringing) under some lighting and I don't consider it serious post to correct that in NEF conversion.
But if you mean blurring/darkening the background, cloning out stuff, or adjusting saturation then I reserve that for special effects. I do perspective-correct more images because if I shoot without a tripod I don't get those perfect every time and I think that improves most images.
Sharpening is an absolute necessity for every digital image, unless your cameras don't have the AA filters than mine do. There are more or less subtle ways to sharpen and most novices are clumsy there.
Some lenses give color aberations (e.g. purple fringing) under some lighting and I don't consider it serious post to correct that in NEF conversion.
But if you mean blurring/darkening the background, cloning out stuff, or adjusting saturation then I reserve that for special effects. I do perspective-correct more images because if I shoot without a tripod I don't get those perfect every time and I think that improves most images.
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Dear lord Red, stop writing so much!
j/k
I chose "I do lots of post processing because..."
... I am primarily a computer and graphic artist who used to shoot film some. Now I find it all to easy to fall back on photoshop to fix crops, exposures, etc..
Currently I am experimenting with digital photography and trying to push myself and my equipment to the max in every way I can think, to see how it reacts in different situations so that I can knock out some of the post.
j/k
I chose "I do lots of post processing because..."
... I am primarily a computer and graphic artist who used to shoot film some. Now I find it all to easy to fall back on photoshop to fix crops, exposures, etc..
Currently I am experimenting with digital photography and trying to push myself and my equipment to the max in every way I can think, to see how it reacts in different situations so that I can knock out some of the post.