This evening I was out for a walk but took a light and easy to carry camera along for the ride... just in case I saw something I liked: as it happened I came upon a landscape view of the forest that pleased me. What came out of the camera is the top picture, which didn't correspond with my memory of the scene at all. The bottom view is after processing and is exactly what I remember seeing and what prompted me to take the photo in the first place...
@graemestevens As you know Graeme, you could do exactly the same thing in lots of other retouching programs, so this comment is really for others who might happen on these two images. I was hoping that this might generate a discussion on post-processing! The point about this image and LR is that I only put my interpretation on what was already contained in the RAW file of this image that the camera captured: this is no different to what the in-camera software designer does.
@vignouse We only use Picassa, which is basic, and a little bit of Coral, which is more complicated than a Nigerian Princes annual tax return, so LR is on our list of definite "must haves". I'm always interested to see the different results that can be produced from it, and it seems to be very intuitive...
It aways intrigues me to see how people process their pictures. I am just starting out with LR, I find it quite intuitive but I still have so much to learn.
Amazing difference. Great to see both shots. So encouraging for aged people like me who are determined to get the hang of processing. I have just bought Pixelmator and am looking forward to being able to post something that isn't SOOC. Although at the present rate of progress this will be a while!
Richard do you always shoot RAW?
@thistle Hello Joyce - yes I always shoot RAW because only raw files contain all the original information captured by the sensor. If you shoot JPEG, it is the algorithm built into the camera that will decide what your image will look like and once the devision is made, the image will be compressed and much of the original image data will be discarded. In Lightroom, the original image data is kept intact and the result of the editing process is a script that is applied to the original image when viewing. You can save the edited image in another format as I have done here. For Lightroom tutorials, I recommend this site - http://photoserge.com/tutorials/podcasts/
@thistle Good for you Joyce, but you will need to process or develop your raw images because as they leave the camera they do not compare well with SOOC JPEGs... but the potential is so much more.
@janiskay Took me about 5 minutes in LR but I do know my way around it pretty well by now... wish I knew PS half as well! I think LR is the best for this sort of work, but you must start with a properly exposed RAW file.
Richard do you always shoot RAW?