Newbie help with post-processing.

It occurs to me that a lot of people who are new to DSLR photography are experiencing varying levels of disappointment with their cameras/lenses and the quality of images they produce. In many cases, the image quality can be significantly enhanced with a modest amount of post-processing manipulation---levels, saturations, USM, etc. In almost every instance, this can be done if just a few seconds by someone experienced in such matters.

It would seem to me that perhaps we could make this a regular feature in the forum; people would post pictures they’re not happy with, and the more experienced members could take a shot at fixing it up along with a brief explanation of how they did it. It would certainly be educational for new users, and could even be useful for more experienced users. I did this several months ago with a twilight shot of a hot air balloon. The response was very impressive.

If nothing else, it would be helpful to new users to learn the difference between outright bad pictures and those that can be salvaged.


We could do this on the 'Share Photo' board. I only post this in the DSLR board because most of the people having problems are coming here for answers.

Just a thought.

Great idea Tom.
I will post a little sharpening guide as soon as I arrive home in a few hours ...

We did this a couple times a while back - it would be nice to see this as a more regular occurence. Of course, we need suitable images, so hopefully people would post them and ask - of course a couple tutorials/explanations might make that happen more often.

But is Share correct? Post Processing is more appropriate and is slow enough so that the post doesn't get bonked to page 2 within a day.

You're right, of course. This is one of the hazards of trying to use my brain in the morning before my third cup of coffee.

I certainly have more than a few photos I could contribute to any such undertaking--probably more than enough to outlast my lifetime.

When do we begin?

Post one over in Post Processing. Give it a good title like "Post Processing for Beginners #1", and quote or explain this thread, and ask how to post process your image. Oh, and ask people to explain what they did so that people can learn from it.

I'm about 5 hours from being able to work on an image but I will tackle it when I get home.

Good idea - PK Sharpener and Neat Image at the ready

This is a great Idea... too bad Tom didn't pm first so I could steal it from him..



It seems the title could include something like "How would you fix this" ...etc.

Definately do it in Post Processing.. that way it will stay on the board for a while.. and we can run thme for a semi set lenght of time (say a week) and if we are consistent with the titles and or someone drops me a message to remind.. I can make them sticky for the week they are running.


Question.. do we need a link to a full size (or at least high quality size) image as a requirement?

Some of us don't have servers we can put these things up on, so maybe we can email them to interested parties. That way, a 2-3 mb file wouldn't be a big problem as long as broadband is available.

Dunno. You're the guy that knows how to do all that stuff. Not me.

Well I'd love to keep it all full size, but for most things I don't think it's always necessary - one can at least put forth the idea on a small image. And this isn't to *do* the work but to *teach* the process right? And remember that some people have dial-up and others can't post a 6 meg RAW let alone a 36 meg TIFF.

But whenever possible, at the poster's preference, put a *LINK* to a full-sized image (RAW/TIFF/JPG) when possible. And please still post a JPG so people can see the start.

I'd love to see what various people can do starting with the RAW. Photoshopping is only half the process IMHO, and I'd love to see what can be done with C1 vs PS RAW vs BB....


In a nutshell, it's poster's preference.

I've just posted a little 'what I did to this photo' over on Post Processing to start the ball rolling.