PP Workflow

[Ed Matuod]

Could our moderator share a bit of his technique(workflow) in processing his photos? (even the basic ones). So, what comes first, is it the cropping/resizing then the color/sharpening rendition? Is SRGB better than Adobe RGB? Is it right to change RAW files to jpeg thru DPP(Canon software) then do the rest on Photoshop? Or start right away in Photoshop thru the RAW plug-in? How about sharpening technique, which is better USM or Smart Sharpen? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ed M.

[Romy Ocon]

edmatuod said:

Could our moderator share a bit of his technique(workflow) in processing his photos? (even the basic ones). So, what comes first, is it the cropping/resizing then the color/sharpening rendition? Is SRGB better than Adobe RGB? Is it right to change RAW files to jpeg thru DPP(Canon software) then do the rest on Photoshop? Or start right away in Photoshop thru the RAW plug-in? How about sharpening technique, which is better USM or Smart Sharpen? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ed M.

Welcome to the forums, Ed!

1. I normally crop (no resizing yet) as the first step so I can minimize the file size, particularly when using multiple layers. Then I adjust the levels/contrast/saturation etc. After this, I apply sharpening, then resizing, then another round of sharpening.

2. Adobe RGB is for pro-printing use and has a larger color gamut than sRGB. But if one is not yet well versed on color management, I recommend to stick with sRGB in the meantime for web displays and prints. There are a lot of excellent resources in the net regarding which color space is better for each application (just google "Adobe RGB or sRGB").

3. I always convert to 16-bit TIFF from RAW so the file can withstand more PP manipulation before artifacts develop. When PP is done, I save as jpeg (quality 8-10) for web display, or 8-bit TIFF for printing.

4. I'm more familiar with USM routines than smart sharpening. I do a combination of global USM (applied to the whole pic), as well as local USM (applied to certain areas only). This technique requires the use of layers and eraser tool. I don't apply USM to out of focus areas.

Romy

[Eric Patdu]

Wow! I learned a lot from these tips. Hoping to learn more in the future. ;D

By the way, which is better? TIFF or DNG?

Suggestion: maybe we can move this thread to Bird Photography Techniques

[Romy Ocon]

ericpatdu said:

Wow! I learned a lot from these tips. Hoping to learn more in the future. ;D

By the way, which is better? TIFF or DNG?

Suggestion: maybe we can move this thread to Bird Photography Techniques

Hi Eric,

I'm not very familiar on DNG files, but 16-bit TIFF files are great for PP. If one needs to save before PP is completed, or one intends to PP the file in the future, it should be saved as a *.psd file (this is also 16-bit) so layers are intact and compatibility is maximized.

BTW, just moved this thread to the proper board...

Romy

[Ed Matuod]

Thanks, Romy. At least, I have an idea now. One more thing, how to get rid of this halo thing?(around the subject) Has it something to do with too much sharpening? Another thing, Can I use a mirror lock-up/monopod/remote switch combination on far away subject(Is it reliable?) Again, thanks Romy, I owe you one.

Ed Matuod

[Romy Ocon]

edmatuod said:

Thanks, Romy. At least, I have an idea now. One more thing, how to get rid of this halo thing?(around the subject) Has it something to do with too much sharpening? Another thing, Can I use a mirror lock-up/monopod/remote switch combination on far away subject(Is it reliable?) Again, thanks Romy, I owe you one.

Ed Matuod

Hi Ed,

Yes, haloes normally are a result of too much sharpening. I normally sharpen to the point when haloes/noise start to be unacceptable, then I back off a bit, or alternatively reduce the opacity of the sharpened layer.

MLU is very effective at shutter speeds of about 1 sec - 1/60 sec, especially at far subjects using long lengths.

BTW, here's a link to excellent PP tutorials by Ron Bigelow, he's a great photographer, graphic artist and writer:

www.ronbigelow.com/articles/articles.htm

Romy

[Neon Rosell II]

I also use mostly USM sharpening. If I want to increase the edge sharpness and micro contrast I use a low Amount and High radius setting. My usual setting is 40, 5, 1. If halos appear I just reduce the radius until it's just barely noticeable. I do this at the end after an initial high amount and low radius sharpening.

Cheers,

Neon

[Ding Carpio]

Thought I’d contribute my workflow for whatever it’s worth.

First off, I shoot in RAW. After uploading into my PC, I then view each one in full-screen to assign ratings (stars) based on clarity. I progressively weed out the bad ones until I have a bunch of passable/keepers. I then convert these keepers into Adobe DNG format which is my preferred format for RAW archival.

For each DNG file, I then do RAW PP, usually adjusting colors, contrast, curves, bright/dark; but not applying any sharpening or noise reduction. At this point, I may further weed out undesirables. I then apply metadata (keywords) . These would be Copyright, location, bird ID.

Next, I run an action to convert the DNGs into TIFFs with Layers. My preferred layers are Levels, Curves, and a Channel Mixer Layer where I set RGB values to boost each color by about 150% but set opacity of this layer down to 25%. I learned this technique simulates the Fuji Velvia color saturation of the good old film days. The action also creates a copy of the background layer which is where I do more PP later. If I make a mistake too far to undo, I still have the untouched image in the background. The TIFFs are also generated in 16-bit (maybe I should go 32?) and in Prophoto RGB colorspace because I read somewhere that it has a wider gamut than SRGB or ARGB.

Now I work with the TIFFs. I do PP on each photo by adjusting levels, curves, and the channel mixer (usually changing opacity). On the background copy layer, I apply NeatImage noise reduction. I normally include some sharpening within NeatImage. After NeatImage, I then crop. The reason why I only crop at this point is that I want to preserve the entire picture for NeatImage so that there’s more of the photo I can sample from when creating a noise profile for the specific image.

If the resulting image still needs sharpening, I first duplicate the image layer and perform sharpening on that new layer. I usually use USM but, on occasion, use Smart Sharpen’s Motion Blur which I find useful when there are lots of parallel edges I want to sharpen (e.g. layers of wing feathers). If the image’s background (e.g. leaves and sky behind the bird) gets sharpened too much, I create a layer mask and brush black onto this area; in effect, making the unsharpened-but-noise-reduced image behind this layer peek through.

When I’m happy with the result, I save it and move on to the next TIFF file.

When done with all the TIFFs, I run an action that converts the TIFFs into JPEGs (8-bit, SRGB). The JPEGs are what I upload into my website but I keep the TIFFs and DNGs for archival.

I have a 250gb disk where I keep my photos but back up onto another portable hard disk. Whenever I can find the time, I burn backups also onto DVDs. The DVDs and backup hard disk are all kept in different locations (I’m a paranoid).

The process is not continuous, BTW, as wife and kids offer the most pleasant distractions.

Hope this helps. I’d be happy to answer questions and, by all means, please criticize or suggest. Cross-pollination is a great way to learn.

[Agerico M. De Villa]

Regarding back-ups on CDs or DVDs, since these media use some amount of silver and similar metals which easily oxidize, I recommend that one uses the rewritable media which are adjusted to compensate for this shortcoming of silver and similar media used; BETTER TO RELY ON REWRITABLE MEDIA.

[wannabird]

Wow ! They all sound super great and way above my head. I currently do the best I can PP'ing but I am no where near these work flow. I hope someday mga sirs you can spend time showing us newbies these work flows...?

Thanks so much