Post production and photography

[ah123]

Originally Posted by St Loomis

Can anyone point to a good how to beginners guide for post production work?

I am just beginning in the world of post production - I picked up "Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac: The Missing Manual" a couple of days ago and so far it is seems like a very good book on the tool (i.e. Photoshop Elements). I am not sure if there are any good books on the "art" of post production

[Jayems]

Alright. How about some sports? Shot at a BMX track a few weeks ago. First picture is the raw file, absolutely 0 editing done to it. Notice all my damn dust spots. Because of the slow shutter speed, they were amplified 10 fold. When I shot with a fast shutter, they all but disappeared. Anyways.




Second one is very little editing. Little saturation, brighten it a bit, remove dust spots where applicable.



Third is one just for personal fun with the photo using photoshop and lightroom to give it some extra jump.

[Jayems]

Same as above:

[Incogneto]

Anyone know any good websites to teach post-production for dummies?

I have about 100 photos from a recent trip to Thailand that I would love to spruce up.

[Jimmy Stang]

Everyone is going to have a different threshold for this sort of thing. In my opinion, adjustments to exposure, colour, contrast, sharpness, tone, dust spots, etc. are always acceptable, whether it be in journalism or art. Those adjustments are really not any different than picking a certain type of film that is, for example, more saturated.

Other alterations (cloning, removing things, changing things, etc.) fall into an ethical grey area for journalism. As with any ethical question, the standard will change depending on who you ask. Some will say that no alterations should be done to maintain journalistic integrity. Others don't mind a few things as long as the context of the image remains intact.

And, as far as art is concerned - have at it. Go wild. If it is overdone, some people will call bull on it and some people will lap it up like it is going out of fashion.

Just my opinion though...

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Because of the slow shutter speed, they were amplified 10 fold. When I shot with a fast shutter, they all but disappeared.

Technically it has to do with the aperture you are shooting at. Small apertures really show off the dust spots.

In aperture priority mode, take a shot of the blue sky at something wide (f/2.8, 4, 5.6 or something like that. Then take a shot at your smallest (f/32 or whatever your lens goes to).

You will be horrified at what you'll see... I'm too much of a chicken to clean my sensor, but one of these days I'll get the courage.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

Technically it has to do with the aperture you are shooting at. Small apertures really show off the dust spots.

In aperture priority mode, take a shot of the blue sky at something wide (f/2.8, 4, 5.6 or something like that. Then take a shot at your smallest (f/32 or whatever your lens goes to).

You will be horrified at what you'll see... I'm too much of a chicken to clean my sensor, but one of these days I'll get the courage.

Oops. I knew that.