do you post process your images

I was just wondering if most people post process your images or do you get your camera dialed in to the point that you don't need to. I find that even the pictures I am happy with when I first look at them then I fire up PSCS and find I almot always need levels. I look at my histogram and find that Inever get a perfict looking histogram image even when the camera says that I have a good exposre. Is this normal or i it ust me? Do you people find you need to post process? I would like to insert a photo but I don't know how to shrink them small enough to post how do you shrink themI tried photoshop and even at 0 on the size scale they are 300KB plrase tell me.

I find that when shooting RAW, even well exposed images need post processing. It seems the trade off is either let the camera over process the jpg, or do your own post processing.

There is no such thing as a perfect histogram. It just is. A histogram simply shows you where the colors and/or shades exist in your image, nothing more.

Almost all images can benefit from some contrast, regardless of how perfect the exposure is, or how perfect the picture is. A few little post-processing tweaks here and there will generally make an image look better. The key (in my opinion) is to do the best you can do with the camera itself, and then to tweak it in post processing. If you do an excellent job with the camera you'll find that very little post-processing is needed.

But even a little will usually make things better.

I'm not very good at post-processing, but it's the only way I can fool people into thinking I'm good at photography.

I don't think I've ever printed an image that wasn't somehow "tweaked."

Every word he said is true. In my opinion, there is no photograph that can't benefit from some post processing however minor. And people that say post processing is cheating is denying themselves a whole other world of photography!

Scottes,

Show him the before & after of that coyote from the Omega park. That alone has pushed me towards focusing more on and refining my post processing abilities.

In regard to your question about sizing for posting.
Using PSCS, Image->Image Size and process with resampling enabled to a size no greater than 800 pixels in either dimension. Disregard all dpi values and dimensions in inches.
Save result as JPG using a compression quality of 4 to 6 - whatever it takes to reduce the image file to < 100 kB. The size of the file will be displayed as you change the quality slider control.

Warning: - when resizing and saving do not overwrite your master file. It is impossible to regain the original quality once it has been downsampled and compressed in JPG.

Oooh, bad example! That pic went beyond "a little post processing" and is a better example of how to save a pic when you screw up in the field. LOL! I loved the shot so I went through hell to save it, but I considered that shot a failure to be honest. (Yeah, a failure, yet still one of my keepers, go figure.)

I do as little PP as possible...mostly because I suck at it. Almost ALWAYS need to adjust contrast though. I usually cheat a little and see what auto contrast does first. If it screws it up, I undo that and tweak it on my own.

I don't get into that fancy wizardry like a lot of people can...it's trial and error for me when I try to get beyond the basics.

I shoot in RAW so that I have greater control over the processing. If I wasn't interested in post-processing, I probably would have went with a film camera. I find that I enjoy the challenge of processing almost as much as I enjoy shooting the photo.

The lens used also makes a difference. When I used the 24-70L it required almost no processing, the sharpness, color and contrast were that good. Usually a little levels would be all it needed.

ooohhh...i want to see it. can i see it please please pretty please? i have some pics of my niece i want to edit and frame so i'm interested in learning post processing better....just got CS2 also! out of money now!

OK, OK, here's the original:

Man I would love to beable to do stuff like that I always over do stuff when i'm working in the shop