Do most professional's photoshop?

thanks for all your comments! Its great to find a place where I can ask pros questions as i go!!

barkingspud wrote in post #11266120
That's where I draw the line...It's the art of composition and mastery of using light for me.

I don't want to toot my own horn here, but I consider this at least being adept at composition and lighting

https://photography-on-the.net …?p=11257571&pos​tcount=534

mikekelley wrote in post #11266285
I don't want to toot my own horn here, but I consider this at least being adept at composition and lighting

https://photography-on-the.net …?p=11257571&pos​tcount=534

LOL...Ok...I will agree that your PP is actually pretty decent. Not overdriven as is typical here. Very tasteful and makes the image much more interesting. I guess I'm just jealous of all the Photoshop wizards who can take even a ****ty iPhone pic and make it a work of art. I'm just not that good.

I can (and do) have the ability to do exactly what you did with that pic but, that's about the extent of my PS ability.

Every shot I take is edited in some way, sometimes a simple color correction or crop and other times I will heavily edit using actions. I don't think either way is "right or wrong" but largely depends on the type of work you do and your branding.

If I shoot an equestrian event, there's very little editing done beyond crop. If it's a Senior session, the shots will be heavily edited because the clients in that part of my business come to me for that look that can only be delivered via PP.

Personally, I think both "getting it right in camera" and PP work go hand in hand and knowing how to use both effectively will make you very successful in the photography business.

www.ysstudios.com

"Getting it right in the camera" frequently means getting the optimum image that can be post processed to reach a vision that is not possible in the camera.

If I do a composite group photograph of a set of people who can never be at the same place at the same time, "getting it right in the camera" means setting up separate sessions with precise enough composition and lighting to create that "bulletproof" composite in PhotoShop.

When you're talking about beauty and fashion photography, I have spent over 6 hours on one image before. Of course, this is not completely focused work (17, ADD, what can you expect? :P ). But yeah, for everything else, it is usually just a few adjustments in RAW

Answer is yes. Post-processing is part of workflow if we like it or not. I'm shooting jpeg only, but PS is still part of my work. Only difference is, that we normally don't use Photoshop in such extent as people would think. At least with sport and news photography PS use is very very limited. Basically only tools I use are unsharp mask, crop tool and levels/curves to some extent. So if you want to get good photos, you still need to do it in camera not later on in PS.

I spent decades getting it right in camera with no post processing & what a PITA it was compared to having RAW & PS now. And if I didn't pay attention to what I was doing... Why I love RAW - '53 Ford Sunliner

PhotosGuy wrote in post #11275235
I spent decades getting it right in camera with no post processing & what a PITA it was compared to having RAW & PS now. And if I didn't pay attention to what I was doing... Why I love RAW - '53 Ford Sunliner

OTOH, I hand developed and printed the first roll of film I ever shot back in the sixties...post processing. I've been "post processing" my work for forty years.

Getting everything perfect in the camera is often too expensive or time consuming. It depends on the job of course. All I care about is the final image, I don't care how I get there.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11260451
First off, WELCOME to POTN!

Shooting RAW, you simply must do some processing on your images. Sometimes it's only adding a little sharpening but usually, I need to do a little saturation and contrast tweak as well.

In JPEG, you can get great stuff straight out of the camera but most will still tweak their images at least a little. Even news or sports shooters on tight deadlines (and even tighter ethics) will occassionaly crop slightly or rotate a little for level if necessary (although the receiving publication will often prefer to do all of this.)

Are you shooting RAW or JPEG? If JPEG, what picture style are you using and are you processing your work on a calibrated monitor?

Hello,

Quick question... calibrated monitor? Can you elaborate?

G.. wrote in post #11265434
I am old school and prefer to get it right in the camera.

However, I always shoot in RAW and must tweak images in LR or Bridge.

Only sometimes do I need to use P.S

I too am old school, and used to spend a fair amount of time in the darkroom turning a good shot into how I actually remembered. Lens and film as well as lens and digital media doesn't have the dynamic range of my eye and brain.

So for landscape and fine art work I tend to "work" that digital negative in PS in the spirit of Ansel's efforts . I see a lot of extreme "overcooking" here - IMO - and that's just not my style. I want the viewer to still appreciate the image as something they could encounter on a pleasant walk or hike in a National Park without the aid of CG . - Stu

Get it right in camera and using photoshop is just like getting right in camera and working in the dark room both have equal importance in getting your vision to its final state.

sapearl wrote in post #11283054
I too am old school, and used to spend a fair amount of time in the darkroom turning a good shot into how I actually remembered. Lens and film as well as lens and digital media doesn't have the dynamic range of my eye and brain.

So for landscape and fine art work I tend to "work" that digital negative in PS in the spirit of Ansel's efforts . I see a lot of extreme "overcooking" here - IMO - and that's just not my style. I want the viewer to still appreciate the image as something they could encounter on a pleasant walk or hike in a National Park without the aid of CG . - Stu

Well said Stu...

airfrogusmc wrote in post #11283109
Well said Stu...

Thanks Allen - appreciate it .

The nice thing too about today's "digital darkroom" is that it's not as antisocial as the chemical laden, smelly and claustrophobic cave of the past. I'm not PLANNING on getting divorced, but if things ever get that bad (which they certainly are NOT) she won't be able to blame it on my disappearance into the basement darkroom .