How much editing do you all do? Some photos I can clearly see are edited to change the effect... others, I'm not so sure. How did you learn editing? I'm not sure if I'm wanting to edit yet. I'm still working on just getting a decent photo to start with. I am interested in what others are doing.
It depends on the photo I think. Some days I allow nature to take the lead and the shot I upload is SOOC and other days I use loads of editing but really try and make sure the type/amount is appropriate. For instance my profile pic is heavily edited but I think it suits the image I was trying to achieve. I use Picnik. It's free and easy to use as I'm a complete amateur but I am considering paying for an upgrade so I can use other things they have to offer x
i agree...it depends on the photo and/or the story you want to convey...some of my photos beg to be edited and the effect is closer to what my vision is. there have been moments where i have changed a photo through an edit and a whole new feeling is put out there:)
I edit a lot on most photos .... lots are obvious edits like colour change but some are just enhancing the colour a bit and stuff like that so not as obvious.
Editing wise im self taught , i downloaded paint shop pro 4 years ago to use for web design work and taught myself how to use it from tutorials online :) Personally i love to edit i get a lot of joy from seeing how i can improve and change a photo that im not happy with :)
I love a bit of editing, although some pictures require very little, some really look better for a little "tickle" and some pictures need nothing at all.
Not being an instruction reader it has been trial and error for me, I just make sure I have two copies of my photo on file so that if I really cock it up I have another one to move too. Picnik is very easy to use and kind of "makes sense" whereas photoshop is far more complicated but actually great if you have the time to play (which mostly I don't). I tend to just "play" until I like it.... Not much help I know but probably the best way to learn.
The kids did try and "teach me" photoshop and were just horribly frustrated by my stupidity!! LOL.
Most of my photos have at least some editing on them - although, some much more than others, obviously! But it's just become a part of taking photographs, for me...
Like @flamez, I'm entirely self-taught when it comes to editing, so I'm no expert... I have found some tutorials helpful, but on the whole, it's just about experimenting with the software, and not expecting everything to go right the first time!
If you're interested, I use Adobe Lightroom, and I also use Photoshop CS5 - sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes a combination of both!
I use almost no editing.. occasionally just brighten it up a bit if it's a tad dark.. I didn't even used to be able to crop/rotate at all, since most of my photos went straight from my phone camera to here and I don't know how to rotate photos on my phone! Even after I started using a point & shoot I still didn't know how.. so up until about 2 weeks ago my photos had no editing. Now they still don't have much because I am so very bad at it! :/
I do a lot, and sometimes none.
Editing you learn doing it.
One someone asked me if i would teach her Photoshop, I said no. Photoshop you don't teach, you learn. I learned everything on my own, it is easy to ready a book or follow a tutorial than listen to people talk about it. Of course I always do some advices and teach key things to learn in editing, but I myself have a lot to learn, I still reading and researching about editing.
No offense to anybody, but SOOC is like saying you wanna win the Daytona 500 while keeping to the speed limit. Even the great photographers such as Ansel Adams would edit his film photos in the lab.
However, I do strive to get the photo shot as best as I can in the camera. I do not shoot RAW, because a properly-shot JPG is better than the best tweaking of a RAW file any day of the week.
My standard editing workflow looks like this:
1. Adjust Levels (corrects for white balance and exposure in one step)
2. Crop (at 3,000 pixels on the long side)
3. Use an Unsharp Mask (typically amount=85, radius=1, threshold=4)
That's it. That's all the editing I do. However, at times, I will also use a Burn and Dodge Tool to create a better mood.
If I am shooting portraits, I will also put a bit more effort into the photo. When editing portriats, this is my standard workflow:
1. Adjust Levels
2. Use the Sponge Tool on Desaturate to whiten teeth
3. Use a selective Unsharp Mask to sharp the eyes only
4. Use the Brush Tool to remove blemishes (opacity=30%, flow=30%)
5. Crop
6. Use an Unsharp Mask
That's about all the editing I ever do. On average, I'll spend 3-5 minutes editing each photo. Which is still a lot of editing for me, considering that from a single event or assignment I will shoot up to 300 photos, of which I'll keep and use 100.
Like others have said it all depends on the photo and the desired finished look you want. I'm not very good at editing and use picnik mostly when I do edit although I do have GIMP which I sometimes use.
@psychographer - I find it interesting that you say you use only the basic Picnik yet you get such good results. How did you get the effect in your profile pic? I'm new at Picnik and can't really seem to do anything.
@kjarn Thankyou Kathy, that's very kind of you to say. I am definitely no expert when it comes to photography or using processing but I do have the ability to "fanny around" as my boss puts it :o)
When I started using Picnik I really had no idea what I was doing either but it's just a matter of playing around with it to discover what each effect can do. The more you use it the more you'll get used to what is best suited for each photo. I don't spend as long as I used to because I have more of an idea now what will be good editing and when I don't need it. Give it a go and have fun with it. If you make a mistake it's very easy to undo. Also when I save an edited photo I name it differently so that I always have the original if I need it xx
@kjarn I also use picknik a lot of our edits are a process of trial and error via all the piknik features and the more we experiment the better we are pulling out edits
There is a difference between editing and photo manipulation, to edit to sharpen, lighten, darken, and or crop is pretty much necessary for some photos, but when things are put into a photo that aren't there to begin with is more manipulation pretty why some photography can't be used in the court of law. Speaking of this type of manipulation how do people that don't have the tools compete with those that do in a (true) photo competition if over the top manipulation is used. I expect those of you that use the (photo shop) chop it up stuff won't like this, but that is ok,
After all you are the one in charge of what you do
I edit it all of my photos as I shoot in raw. But all I do it adjust the brightness/contrast/saturation etc slightly in Adobe Bridge. Occasionally I go a little crazy on the editing, but it's all part of the fun!
@mizikei I guess I will have to shot in raw to see what the diff. is. My cannon is a new one to me, so I haven't tried it in that mode as of yet. I guess I fear that I won't understand what to do with it, but I guess if I don't try I will never know. What are the advantages anyway
@rrt I believe one of the differences is that raw always stays the same, but jpg will deteriorate the more it is opened. And jpg is the camera doing some editing to your photo, in raw you have to do it yourself. I haven't been brave enough to make the jump yet though.
Most of the time I only do a little editing - levels etc, but right now I'm doing a free mini course that is teaching me about textures, which is interesting. I only tend to do a lot of editing if I am trying to rescue a shot.
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Editing wise im self taught , i downloaded paint shop pro 4 years ago to use for web design work and taught myself how to use it from tutorials online :) Personally i love to edit i get a lot of joy from seeing how i can improve and change a photo that im not happy with :)
Not being an instruction reader it has been trial and error for me, I just make sure I have two copies of my photo on file so that if I really cock it up I have another one to move too. Picnik is very easy to use and kind of "makes sense" whereas photoshop is far more complicated but actually great if you have the time to play (which mostly I don't). I tend to just "play" until I like it.... Not much help I know but probably the best way to learn.
The kids did try and "teach me" photoshop and were just horribly frustrated by my stupidity!! LOL.
Like @flamez, I'm entirely self-taught when it comes to editing, so I'm no expert... I have found some tutorials helpful, but on the whole, it's just about experimenting with the software, and not expecting everything to go right the first time!
If you're interested, I use Adobe Lightroom, and I also use Photoshop CS5 - sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes a combination of both!
Editing you learn doing it.
One someone asked me if i would teach her Photoshop, I said no. Photoshop you don't teach, you learn. I learned everything on my own, it is easy to ready a book or follow a tutorial than listen to people talk about it. Of course I always do some advices and teach key things to learn in editing, but I myself have a lot to learn, I still reading and researching about editing.
However, I do strive to get the photo shot as best as I can in the camera. I do not shoot RAW, because a properly-shot JPG is better than the best tweaking of a RAW file any day of the week.
My standard editing workflow looks like this:
1. Adjust Levels (corrects for white balance and exposure in one step)
2. Crop (at 3,000 pixels on the long side)
3. Use an Unsharp Mask (typically amount=85, radius=1, threshold=4)
That's it. That's all the editing I do. However, at times, I will also use a Burn and Dodge Tool to create a better mood.
If I am shooting portraits, I will also put a bit more effort into the photo. When editing portriats, this is my standard workflow:
1. Adjust Levels
2. Use the Sponge Tool on Desaturate to whiten teeth
3. Use a selective Unsharp Mask to sharp the eyes only
4. Use the Brush Tool to remove blemishes (opacity=30%, flow=30%)
5. Crop
6. Use an Unsharp Mask
That's about all the editing I ever do. On average, I'll spend 3-5 minutes editing each photo. Which is still a lot of editing for me, considering that from a single event or assignment I will shoot up to 300 photos, of which I'll keep and use 100.
When I started using Picnik I really had no idea what I was doing either but it's just a matter of playing around with it to discover what each effect can do. The more you use it the more you'll get used to what is best suited for each photo. I don't spend as long as I used to because I have more of an idea now what will be good editing and when I don't need it. Give it a go and have fun with it. If you make a mistake it's very easy to undo. Also when I save an edited photo I name it differently so that I always have the original if I need it xx
After all you are the one in charge of what you do
@rrt Good point about editing vs. manipulation. I've not thought about that.
Most of the time I only do a little editing - levels etc, but right now I'm doing a free mini course that is teaching me about textures, which is interesting. I only tend to do a lot of editing if I am trying to rescue a shot.