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Digital workflow and post-production
processing
Colin WhiteWanneroo 2013
Shooting/processing goals -what makes a good image?
• Contrast - light against dark, sharp against blurred.
• Position and direction - rule of thirds, use of space
• Patterns - leading lines, shapes, colours
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Workflow best practice
• Camera - shoot in RAW (+ JPEG for quick results)
• Storage - Label, back up and store separately RAW files each day - laptop plus portable hard drive (cloud if jpeg)
• Process to web or print image
Camera
sensorLight RAW
JPEG
Processor adjustable
Computer
Post-production
Post production workflow
Original RAW or JPEG
Add metadata
Storage
Process
Output
WebPrintsBooks
PhotoshopLightroom
Capture OneAperturePicasa
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CS6 extended $1390CS6 student $185Lightroom $180
PS Elements 11 $130-190Capture One Pro 7 $299
Picasa $0Nik Software full collection $149
Processing for impact• KISS
• Straighten and crop to optimise the position or shape of key elements
• Adjust exposure range to highlight the key element
• Erase and/or reduce the impact of distractions with dodge and burn techniques
Image editing - 2 levels
• Level 1. Simple correction of exposure, contrast or white balance - old dark room
• Level 2. Manipulating elements to enhance the image or to create a completely new image. This involves digital manipulation, of which photoshop is king
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Photoshop adjustments
•Simple - whole image
• Adjust exposure, contrast, white balance
• Crop, straighten, sharpen
•Complex - parts of image
• Layers
• Selecting, adding, deleting, adjusting individual elements
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The main reason images are rejected is the presence of distracting elements
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Examples of simple adjustments using
RAW converter and photoshop on night
shots
Night shots are difficult because they
often have a high dynamic range
To get the correct exposure for the tower, the overall image was underexposed and the
flash was too weak
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Adjustexposure
Buildings are not straight, underexposed with dynamic range wider than the sensor
Dynamic range• Ratio between black (no light detected) and white (sensor saturated with light)
• Digital cameras have a dynamic range of about 1000 (10 f-stops). The human eye can detect a range of 1 million, or about 20 f-stops
• Size counts. Large detectors have less ‘noise’ and so a wider dynamic range. D3S iso 12,800
• Night shooting poses special problems with dynamic range. One solution is take multiple exposures and use HDR
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0 (black) 255 (white)
Buildings are not straight, underexposed with dynamic range wider than the sensor
Straighten, adjust exposure
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Converging lines, blown out areas
Straighten, adjust exposure
Underexposed areas, not straight
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Adjust exposure, straighten
Daylight and portrait adjustments
presence of distracting elements
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Cropand
blur thebackground
crop, vignette
Lack of contrast, key element not highlighted
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Vignette, increased contrast, sharpened
low contrast
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too many distractions
Crop, clone out and burn distracting highlights
High level photoshop -Art vs photography• Artists work with a blank canvas and
add light, elements and colours in patterns they wish you to see
• Photographers generally work with a cluttered world and remove, by framing or in the digital darkroom, unwanted (distracting) elements from the image.
• The advent of digital imagery and software such as photoshop has blurred the boundaries between art and photography
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Photography as art
• Start with a blank canvas
• Add elements to create an image
Example - create an image that
demonstrates “smoke and mirrors”
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Uncorrected raw files - image 1
Uncorrected raw files - image 2
Background wall
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Mirror frame
Mirror content
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Unlimited imagery- use of green screen
subject
Background
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Dave drives to work
Photoshop add-ins
• Add-ins such as Nik software (now from Google) can offer an easier route to using the power of Photoshop.
Consider panoramas
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Stitch with photoshop or PTGui
Add some clouds
Remove distractions, selectively adjust exposure
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Mono
starting point
Summary• Shoot in raw (+jpeg if you are in a
hurry)
• RAW images require some form of manipulation before printing or displaying on the web.
• KISS. Cropping, sharpening and adjustment of contrast and exposure are usually sufficient. These can be done using a range of software
• For complex adjustments, use Photoshop
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