Photographers: How much do you rely on your editing software?

I am trying to learn photography at the moment but still stuggle even with the basics such as lighting %26amp; contrast. Yet when I use an editing program with the shots I have taken they look great.





As a photographer do you try to get the perfect shot manually or do you 'cheat' in a way by using your editing software?

Photographers: How much do you rely on your editing software?
From my end of it, as a graphic designer, I have to prepare a photographic image for duplication in a form other than a stand alone photograph. My assignments will end up on anything from a flyer to a slick magazine or catalogue. Each kind of media will need the image to duplicate in ways suitable to the process. A photo on newsprint paper, for example, will require a higher contrast and a less subtle gradiation, becuse the paper tends to bleed and soak in some ink from the printing process. Images on coated paper stock will bleed less and can reproduce a lot more subtle effects. Adjustments to things like the size of inkjet dots and sceen resolutions can be made in Photoshop. Images to be reproduced by a photocopy process cannot have, virtually ANY gradations, unless they are prepared with half tone screens.





Many of these adjustment may require extensive manipulations in Photoshop. And this is not to even mention the technical mistakes that I make through the camera lens, like a too busy background, accidental red eye, and, just plain bad exposures. Like "fhotoace" descibes, I'm not a professional "shooter." I depend a LOT on my skills in Photoshop to produce the best results for my clients.





Of COURSE I try to take the best shot I can, on site. The fact that I have ANY success is due to the years of practice, as a casual shooter, and even now, as a pro in the design field. But, as with my darkroom, in the past, digital post camera applications help guarantee a good result.
Reply:ah, the grumpy old shooters haven't gotten here yet... i play around with the editing programs, but for real i think less is more, the less i have to do in the computer the better... learn your camera and composition and all the basics and practice practice practice with the camera, a great shot is a great shot and a bad shot is still a bad shot, no matter how much it is edited...


the less i have to edit a shot the better chance i have of selling it and of people liking it


this shot is totally unedited:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/giltwerks/2...


(except for the watermark)
Reply:The truth is, photoshop is a very important tool for photographers today, it makes one more competitive and eases the transition from amatuer to professional. however, no matter how good your photoshop skills are, they can never produce a great photo unless you have great photography skills.
Reply:I use it mainly to process RAW files, converting them to TIFF files or to jpg files. I try to get the shot to be correct, right out of the camera.
Reply:For my hobby work I know no bounds as to how much editing I'll use. As far as my professional work, portraits, weddings , etc. I use what is needed sparingly...but NEVER to replace the basics like focus, lighting, etc.. Love it for removing exit signs at wedding receptions and glamming up people a touch.
Reply:I do abstract work, and I do rely on photoshop a lot, but it is more for the crazy effects rather than technical editing.





If there is a community college or something near by, you could take a photography class. A lot of times you can find them without prereqs. You will probably have to get permission before you can sign up though to make sure you have the proper equipment for the class.





But, they will go over the technicals. You will learn how photography started. You will do really cool projects. If you are taking a film class, you will learn developing the film and printing the negatives. If it is a digital class, you will learn how to do all the stuff you can do in the dark room on the comp.





Its a great way to learn how to take the photos the way you like them. That way, when you are editing, you can be more creative with what you do rather than trying to fix technical errors, because you often cant do both at the same time on the same pic.
Reply:o.k.
Reply:I use the Bridge portion of Photoshop to append my EXIF information on all my images as soon as I copy them to my computer. I add the copyright notice, my contact information, the clients contact information and/or the subjects and put in some key words and then I batch append all the images.





Then, using my file manager I edit (sort) all the JPEG images . Missed shots (slightly out of focus, wrong part of the image in focus, oe/ue shots and ones with poor composition) go into a junk file folder. The rest are edited into file folders that represent the various subjects photographed during the shoot.





I then do a final edit and choose the 20 or 30 images I am going to present to the client and put them in a special file folder. I reduce the JPEG files to an email size (renaming them with a little "i" in front of the actual file name) and send them to the client.





Once the client chooses the images they want, I then open the corresponding RAW file and convert it to either a high resolution JPEG or TIFF, depending upon their preference. I then burn those to a disk and send them to the client with my bill. All the other images (except the trash) are burned to two backup CD's or DVD's (depending upon the size of the total remaining images). One goes into my library and the other is put in a fire-proof safe offsite.





If I want to make a black and white image from any existing image, I just (again using the RAW file) make a high resolution JPEG image, de-saturate it and use the levels tool to set the black threshold, white threshold and mid-tones to my liking and save it as the same file name, but with BW added on the end if its existing name.





That is just about as much as I ever use Photoshop. All the exposure, composition and backgrounds are handled in the camera. This keeps me out shooting instead of sitting in front of my computer using my digital darkroom to "fix" any mistakes. I (except in rare instances) re-shoot any images that are not up to the specifications of the client or mine.
Reply:Not much. I know how to use a camera. :-)





Seriously I would recommend you take a basic photo class at a community college or adult school. They usually are not expensive. You will start out in B%26amp;W using a fully manual camera. That is the best way to learn the basics.





If you try to jump into the advanced cameras without covering the basics first you will get frustrated quickly.





There is verey few things that you can do on a photo editor that can not be done on film. At the lens or in the darkroom,





Another good sources is online sites or books, but again start at the basics.





Good Luck ;-)