Post Processing...

[canon23]

Hello fellow Photogs,

I'm practically new to forums but I'm beginning to become more serious in photography. Whenever I go on sites such as Flickr, Photonet, or the likes, I have mix feelings of excitment and discouragement when I see awesome pictures! A lot of the pictures, if not all, have rich colors and sharp images. I'd like to know as a rule of thumb or in general, how many of these pictures people post on these sites have gone through post processing w/Photoshop, Aperture, or similar programs? Your feedbacks are appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Axilrod]

Almost every photo you're seeing on there certainly has been processed to some degree. People uploading pictures straight from the camera is very rare, there is almost always something that could be improved. I can't think of a single image I've uploaded that didn't have some type of adjustment. Some of the stuff you see may have minor adjustments (but even the minor adjustments can make a major difference) and some have more. Slight changes in white balance, contrast, sharpness and exposure can help tremendously and don't take much time at all.

Don't be discouraged, the internet has so many resources to learn post-processing it's insane, you can seriously learn just about anything via tutorials. Lynda.com is my favorite, but there are plenty of free tutorials out there as well.

 

[AmbientLight]

I don't want to appear like an Adobe sales person, but Photoshop Lightroom for example is easily useable. You can start with changing some basic settings and then you can slowly work your way through the options. If post-processing is done in a reasonably subtle manner, I don't believe there is anything that can be said against it.

In many cases you need to do it anyway, for example in case your camera was not exactly level when you took a shot, but you are desperate for the shot to show a straight horizon or correct vertical lines. You can also correct your exposure to a certain degree, which is often quicker in post-processing than experimenting with different exposures or using bracketing, while you are shooting. Still, I feel to a certain extent it is a must have.