Photo's without post production

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I do edit my photos, especially those taken underwater, especially since the lighting underwater can be very deceiving. What you see and what your camera sees are two very different things. So I usually take my photo in RAW format, so that when I'm working with it on photoshop, I have all the information I had when taking the
photo.


Of course, there are instances, where I don't need to use any photoshopping. Those happen once in a blue moon though.

Example of that would be this photo I took of a Queen Angel Fish:

Queen Angel fish | Flickr - Photo Sharing!



The rest of my photos, however, are processed using photoshop.

http://www.go-scuba-dive.com/scuba-diving-pictures.html

Have you tried using Light Room? This software makes editing photos so much easier.
 
As a side question, am I correct in assuming that you cannot post process color correction in video taken with a digital video camera that does not have external lighting? I shoot in RAW with my Canon S-90 without external stobes, and color correct with white balance, and sometimes come up with a few passable shots (by my standards). I would love to take some underwater video, but do know if there is a way to easily correct the color in a video as I do with my DPP program. Thanks for any inputs.
 
I guessed this would be the answer as I struggle to get a decent, BMS's, UW shot without it. Mind you looking at Go-Scuba-dive's angel fish it starts to make me wonder.

Don't you get sick of it though? I come back from my 2 x a year dive trips into asia with about 1000 shots to be worked through and many discarded. Then there are the ones I work on for ages then decide they just ain't worth it and dump them. Therefore the post dive work goes into many hours of not much excitement compared to seeing them and taking them.

I find my best shots are those I have to do the least to. Maybe the next step is to have untouched photo's where you have got the lighting right, the subject is well placed and interesting, the action grabs you....... Sorry got a bit carried away there.

As ScubaSteve states we have all had the experience of trying to remove something and the end result is not right. The whole process takes too long and is a job for detail oriented people which I am not.:cool2:
 
One thing I will say......I do not object to people post processing their photos, however looking at processed photos can set the bar above reality with respect to setting expectations on dive destinations. Good thing for me my local diving pretty much sucks so any destination diving I do is bound to be better than home no matter where the bar is set.
 
@altamira - LR4 allows you to correct colour temp and tint as well as exposure. I've played with it very briefly but was very impressed with the results and how super easy it was.

@ardy - a few things:
1 - don't take so many photos if you don't like the culling process. I'm a speed demon on culling so I'd rather take extra frames and deal with it on land than potentially miss something I would have liked to have. I use Lightroom and can do 1000 photos fast - usually while doing something else. That said, spray & pray is a terrible practice, imho. Take more frames, but take good frames.

2 - if you're working more than a couple of minutes on a photo? It wasn't good enough to begin with and should have been dumped in the culling process. There are always going to be exceptions, but I find it a very good rule of thumb. Most of my editing is under a minute spent all up after the cull.

3 - I don't believe "out of the camera" is the be all end all. RAW wasn't really built to come out of the camera perfectly - RAW was built to allow the photographer to have full control from conception, to capture and through all stages of execution. Shooting RAW and leaving it as it for me is kinda like shooting film and viewing the negative that's been developed at the pharmacy or grocery store. The photograher is only doing part of the job.

4 - culling is one of the best skills you can develop. Not only will it save time on the rest of the editing process, but it will help you learn what works for you and what doesn't so next time you don't come back with GBs of the same frickin' mistakes. In my experience, culling is one of the skills that the vast majority of people lack in a major way.
 
Well worn subject but always interesting. Like many of course I strive for the best photo out of the camera. It is why I love shooting WA underwater, the challange of composition, exposure, interesting lighting..... But I have no problem with post processing for personal or gallery sales. If it is for a competition then their rules apply and should be followed.

For me the main issues underwater are Don't touch the reef, DON'T touch the creatures! On a recent trip I was very disipointed listining to a published photog talk about the "magic of being at the right place at the right time" and then watch them underwater physically manipulate creatures for a better shot. And yes I did "confront" him about it, very politely:wink:
 
1) Shot RAW
2) Import into Adobe Lightroom 3
3) depends...

- if UW - adjustments are required - always
- if studio work - I use color cards and a B&W scarf on my models - I get the shot right, right away, down to the WB.
Because in studio work you control the light sources, and you're paid to do a job, that usually involves 1,000 pics, they all have to be "perfect"...
...like that the "bad" shots are blamed on the model - not the photographer - to an extent.

Outside, landscape, unless it's windy with intermittent clouds, the lightsource - the Sun - shouldn't vary all that much. However if you do HDR (normal, overexpose & underexpose) then a program such a Photomatix, or manually in PS, to get the BEST of all three pics into one pic.

Then possibly "stitching" using PS, if you want a 100 MP landscape image, or panorama.

My dream is doing HDR video from HDR stills with a trolley, above & underwater.

---------- Post added April 16th, 2012 at 09:46 PM ----------

You know what cultivates humility about this subject?

You can be a pro on land, then find out you're a total newb UW in spite of your knowledge & equipment.

For me, the main difference, is UW things happen fast. Fish have a mind of their own.

On land, I can take my time, direct my subjects. I can zoom into my pics to see if they're ok or not. UW the screen is harder to read / discern.

That's why I'm so hooked on UW photography so far! You see one pic by another UW photographer that is absolutely stunning, and you want one to call your own. Even though you know hundreds or thousands of pics were probably taken to get those rare few.

Then there are those with double-nitrox or rebreathers that just up the game again...
 
about a year or so ago, one of the photography magazines had an article which was basically if Ansel Adams was alive would he use photo shop? the consensus is that he indeed would as he manipulated his shots in the darkroom in his time. I can take some decent landscaping shots which I have been very happy with in the settings I manually use. Unfortunately, I can't do the same UW. Talking with many other UW photographers who have outstanding UW shots, they tell me both they take many shots and cull the unwanted, and use photo software to get their photos as they want. As someone else stated, it's what RAW was designed for. I think of it this way, it's still knowing how to fine tune you photos in the software that is an "art" regardless of what some feel. Some people have the patience to play with settings while others don't. Some naturally and easily can use a software and someone else using the same software won't be able to. Sorry, it sounds like the friend who was complaining about the photographer that makes money off his shots might be a bit jealous. wish I could take some that someone would pay for
 
I guess to refresh this thread a bit.

How do you ensure that the very best comes out of your camera and yo do the least in PS. I try to achieve this and certainly I have met UW photographers who do this well BUT I don't see much of it, most UW shots I see on my 2 trips a year into Asia are happy snaps of interesting things and then they hope to fix it up in PS.
 
Maybe they are happy doing it that way? Concentrate on what makes you happy and forget what "everyone else" is doing :wink:

I ensure I get the best in camera by: knowing my subjects, reading the light, really knowing my equipment and how make it do what I want it to do and experimenting with different techniques & ideas. Practice, review, refine, practice -> repeat.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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