Post-processing


Marcus7

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2011
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Chinatown
Hi guys,I am still veri new to the "dslr"age;ard 10 months ago & it has been veri exciting & fun for mi.But for now,i feel that there is one area that i would like to explore & learn more abt it;which is the editing part.I have seen shots taken at night.Then after some post editing,it looks really fantastic.As i am still a NOOB,i would like the gurus of CS to give mi a pointer as to how shd i begin my "journey" into the word of "post-processing"...what shd i be doing first of all...??? Thanks for the Enlightenment!:light:
 

you should have an image in your head of what you want your photo to look like. THEN you can start the post-processing

different genres have different workflows in PP, just as there are many subjects and styles of photographer. the workflow for a landscape is not the same for portrait. but the goal is the same; to achieve that image you see in your mind. :)

p.s: "shots taken at night" is vague, it could mean landscape (long exposure) or portrait (strobist) or street at night. without information on your shooting style, it's kinda hard to give advise how to post-process your pictures
 

Are you happy with your current photo... after doing the post editing? If yes, then what is there to post process anymore. if no... why are you not happy? Only after finding out which part of the photo that you are not happy, would you actually know what you want to process so as to make the picture better.
 

Oh...sori,I meant nights shots (long exposure).Cheers!
 

Firstly, get a software that suits your needs. Before you process you should already have a rough idea what you want your image to look like. Once you know what you want, YouTube is your best friend. Just search for what you want to do with the software and follow the video tutorials
 

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First of all, before you begin, you will need a software. You intend to download it for free? Or you don't mind paying money for it?
 

Download first lo...if not then go look for software.Any recommendation?
 

Marcus7 said:
Download first lo...if not then go look for software.Any recommendation?

Free one, Gimp not bad n Picasa basic pp
 

Download first lo...if not then go look for software.Any recommendation?

We have a whole "freewares for photographers" sticky thread in the Digital Darkroom section.

Really, if you want to grow, you need to first learn how to look for stuff on your own instead of relying on others.
 

I use Adobe lightroom for PP (not free though). Just dont do too much processing (unless absolutely necessary), nor rely too much as it might give you a false sense of security that might give you an idea that you dont need to mind proper exposure because "I can photoshop it later". At that point starts the slippery slope.
 

I use Adobe lightroom for PP (not free though). Just dont do too much processing (unless absolutely necessary), nor rely too much as it might give you a false sense of security that might give you an idea that you dont need to mind proper exposure because "I can photoshop it later".

Yeah that's true. Always focus on your photography skills first. :D
 

Every camera comes with a CD full of tools. What's wrong with using this software first before trying others?
 

Every camera comes with a CD full of tools. What's wrong with using this software first before trying others?

Maybe TS feels that those are not as reliable as CS 5, lightroom, etc..
 

good point. Although I never used it before myself. Though Im not sure if Nikon's free editor is any good.

You won't know till you try...
 

I also recommend lightroom ... a lot of tutorial in youtube for self learning...
 

Maybe TS feels that those are not as reliable as CS 5, lightroom, etc..
Reliable? What are you talking about? For a newbie and light user of post processing the included programs are a better choice than a professional image editing suite that costs more than SGD 1k and requires a steep learning curve. TS should learn to walk before he runs.