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Archive 2013 · An Informal Tutorial II
  
 
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · An Informal Tutorial II


Hello all! Its been a couple of years since I posted my original TUTORIAL. Some slight modifications have been added since then and I thought I'd share a fairly detailed tutorial to help those out who are having any trouble with post processing. I hope this helps you get the most of your files. I've always believed in giving back to the forum that's given me so much. Many will find these steps old, others might find them brand new! Some will disagree with the logic in a step or two, and to them I happily ask input for a better step in that place. I'm no Photoshop guru, I've only put this together from contributions from all the wonderful people who have given me a nugget of information here and there!

I found more and more people using Lightroom when I try to help them out. So I started this one using Lightroom to initially process my RAW file. The steps here work with Adobe Camera Raw as well if you don't have Lightroom.

1. First open in Lightroom
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8237/8474744995_8224144792_h.jpg

2. Then crop. I always try to follow as close as I can the rule of thirds, giving the subject room to look or fly into and not center the subject too much if at all possible.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8228/8474745103_7f1754bc18_h.jpg

3. Let's say you've over exposed your subject. This is probably what it looks like. Ouch... As you can see from the histogram, the right arrow is lit telling you you've got color values above 255 (Blown)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8475833670_1b4b1661d7_h.jpg

4. Or say you went the other way and underexposed it... Ouch again... This time the left arrow on the histogram is lit saying there are SUPER dark areas below 0.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8101/8474745239_59dda64902_h.jpg

5. Let's start with the overexposed version. Working on the underexposed is just a matter of using the BLACKS slider instead of the EXPOSURE or HIGHLIGHTS slider. If your photograph is only slightly overexposed then the HIGHLIGHTS slider should be sufficient to recover the details in the whites.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8387/8474745645_e995bf4f63_h.jpg

6. Again, either the HIGHLIGHTS or EXPOSURE sliders will allow this function to occur. Hold the ALT (Command on MAC) and slide the slider to the left until the whole image goes black.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8099/8475834320_6dc7ab4248_h.jpg

7. This is what you finally want to see. There are no more color values above 255 which equals zero blown whites.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8094/8475834506_82b6ec6b91_h.jpg

8. The following are steps if you have an underexposed image such as this exaggerated example.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8102/8475834554_5038c987a2_h.jpg

9. All manner of crazy colors happen at this step if you hold the ALT (Command for MAC) button! What you want when working with underexposed areas now is to use your BLACKS slider and move to the right, causing the whole image to go white.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8102/8474746273_ffd7f424ac_h.jpg

10. Again use the BLACKS slider until you see the beginnings of this
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8381/8474749025_3f2b658178_h.jpg

11. After this step, you'll see a completely white screen. This tells you you've got color values below 0 which translates to good exposure in the dark areas.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8243/8475834754_983072a279_h.jpg

12. Let go of the ALT (Command in MAC) and POOF! The image should be looking pretty good now. Here I play with the clarity, vibrance, color, white balance, contrast, saturation, all to my personal taste. Don't go crazy here, a little goes a long way.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8517/8474746423_70109db272_h.jpg

13. This section is an aside. As I was not in the most favorable position when I took this photo (sun to my right) it created a shadow to the left of the bird. The whole warm feeling of the photograph IMHO is ruined by the touch of blue in the shaded area of the bird. Many won't see this, or even care, or even like it, but for me, it drives me crazy. So...
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8475834878_345d5c5a9f_h.jpg

14. Poof! Gone!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/8474746557_71132310cb_h.jpg

15. Now this is an area of much debate. Some never do it, some over do it. This is my middle ground take of how it should be used.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8230/8475835042_b29e79c8be_h.jpg

16. Moving down to the DETAILS tab... This is to show the SHARPENING effect.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8098/8474746731_fcfbb0b525_h.jpg

17. This is an exaggerated version to show the RADIUS effect
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8532/8475837482_d108fc7e01_h.jpg

18. This is the RADIUS properly executed.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8096/8474749279_7cd7c96062_h.jpg

19. Now for the DETAIL slider
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8512/8474749389_13a1882826_h.jpg

20. Next is the maximum I like to use for the DETAIL
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8370/8474746865_df0f77dd0a_h.jpg

21. For some reason I love this step visually The MASKING slider, from what I understand, is used to remove noise. Read on.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8475837654_ca48b32fa7_h.jpg

22. Cool huh?
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8519/8474747105_2171c18af0_h.jpg

23. Now you're done with Lightroom! Time to right click on the image and open in Photoshop!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8475835592_3045e65e32_h.jpg

24. I don't enter my photos in many contests, so I choose to remove and and clone and alter parts in my images that I find distracting. The ones I have that I have entered in contests (and have never won) I don't do this step to. If you have the means, get the latest Photoshop, the spot healing tool is super easy to use.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8367/8475835650_c8830898d0_h.jpg

25. Now for Noise Removal. I used to have Noise Ninja for this step, but my computer crashed and I had to buy a new NR software and heard this was a good one.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8097/8474747293_20c4465dbf_h.jpg

26. The next few steps are entirely withing Neat Image, again you can use any noise removal plug-in at this level. Just run it with care not to wipe out the fine details in your subject! If you do, you can use a mask layer to reintroduce the detail back onto your subject. Those steps can be found in my OLD tutorial again
HERE

Neat Image does a terrific job of preserving the fine details so I don't have to do the old mask step in my old tutorial.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8375/8474747409_115617fc7f_h.jpg

27. The final NR tweak
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8510/8475835834_c66a353df5_h.jpg

28. Now for resizing for posting!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8111/8474747559_437234823a_h.jpg

29. Many like to post smaller sized for those who still have teeny tiny monitors. For those people I say, GET A BIGGER MONITOR!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8235/8475835956_0928ea1133_h.jpg

30. For the sharpening step to follow, I make sure I'm working with what everyone else is seeing. I cannot emphasize enough that you must have a color calibrated monitor of the highest resolution you can afford especially if you are eye balling all of this!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8094/8475836020_307afbfd7a_h.jpg

31. In my old tutorial, I used a global sharpening at this step using Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. This I learned would often create halos if over used. The following steps I've learned makes for a better way to sharpen without halos.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8387/8475836076_91e23db927_h.jpg

32. On the right lower area of your screen you'll see that you're on Layers. Click on Channels and follow the steps below.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8474747755_5476cd1be9_h.jpg

33. Now we are ready to sharpen the Lightness area only. Again if there are any Photoshop gurus out there that can explain why this step was necessary please enlighten us! I'm curious as to the logic.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8511/8475836168_e4648f54d8_h.jpg

34. Smartsharpen Window pops up. Use these values (or values you see fit until you get the results you like)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8245/8474747925_e7cb9876ac_h.jpg

35. Click back the little eyeballs so you can see the different channels again.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8365/8474747945_069293e4f7_h.jpg

36. No need for this step if you are not friends with Chad (72chevelle454), then you probably don't have this action he created. Please PM him if you would like to know more about it! Its a tool he calls Chad Action which lets you see blown whites (shaded in red) and underexposed darks (shaded in blue). I run the action at this step just as a check to make sure I'm on the right path. All I cared about is the whites, the darks didn't matter to me in this particular photograph.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8511/8474748283_bf9bc3b16e_h.jpg

37. Now to pretty it up! Fred Miranda sells this borders action I use in every one of my photos. I think it gives photographs on your screen a little pop! Thanks Fred!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8107/8475832690_d661d39f20_h.jpg

38. Don't forget this step, otherwise you won't be able to save it as a JPG for posting
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8107/8475837056_02fb36b226_h.jpg

39. I run my signature copy-write action and presto!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8231/8474744631_7716e485e6_h.jpg

40. The finished product!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8474749477_0b73c7ee59_o.jpg

For those who are interested, I've taken the liberty of turning this whole thing into a PDF for a download below. I hope you find it useful. Thanks again for being patient and reading through yet another huge post from me!


PDF for Download I

Also I've recently been asked by a magazine, what I do to get the photographs I do. So I wrote a little article about it and it was published in a far away land. (seriously) I am including this link for a download as well just for my FM friends!

PDF for Download II



Do please leave me feedback somehow. I hope to create a much more sophisticated and complex one someday based on your comments!





Edited on Feb 15, 2013 at 08:14 AM · View previous versions
Feb 15, 2013 at 06:04 AM
Duane N
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · An Informal Tutorial II


Great tutorial Conrad.


Feb 15, 2013 at 06:13 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · An Informal Tutorial II


Duane N wrote:
Great tutorial Conrad.



Are you kiddin me? You already read the whole thing Duane? It took me 6 hours to create this man!


Feb 15, 2013 at 06:19 AM
Duane N
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · An Informal Tutorial II


Actually, yes I did. I read your other one when it was originally posted. Most of the steps are the same as mine except the noise reduction steps (I use the blur filter in CS4) and how you crop the image. My cropping is done in CS4.....I might try your steps this weekend when it's raining.

I like the simplicity of your processing steps though....less is more. I know PS won't save a bad image but I would love to see one of your bad ones (if that exists ) turned into something presentable.

PS....I don't feel so bad about how much of an image I crop away to get my final results after seeing this one.

Edit: Oh, and my sharpening steps are different as well. I sharpen the print then just resize a copy of the print for the web and no sharpening is done to the smaller file.


Feb 15, 2013 at 06:25 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · An Informal Tutorial II


Duane N wrote:
Actually, yes I did. I read your other one when it was originally posted. Most of the steps are the same as mine except the noise reduction steps (I use the blur filter in CS4) and how you crop the image. My cropping is done in CS4.....I might try your steps this weekend when it's raining.

I like the simplicity of your processing steps though....less is more. I know PS won't save a bad image but I would love to see one of your bad ones (if that exists ) turned into something presentable.




HAHA!!! I've got tons of $hitty photos man. Here's one, its a 105% crop, yes 105%, that I never intended to post, but I used the same steps here to get the most out of it. The action was just too far away. I just loved seeing the Coot leg in the air The only thing is I had to do the sharpening step twice for this photo. Its still quite poor, but fun to see.


Three eagles play with lunch!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8463242457_b550a71354_o.jpg

Edited on Feb 15, 2013 at 06:32 AM · View previous versions
Feb 15, 2013 at 06:30 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · An Informal Tutorial II


Duane N wrote:
Actually, yes I did. I read your other one when it was originally posted. Most of the steps are the same as mine except the noise reduction steps (I use the blur filter in CS4) and how you crop the image. My cropping is done in CS4.....I might try your steps this weekend when it's raining.

I like the simplicity of your processing steps though....less is more. I know PS won't save a bad image but I would love to see one of your bad ones (if that exists ) turned into something presentable.

PS....I don't...Show more →



Ahhhh... I find the sharpening at the posting size is key to a fine tuned final posting product, now that I've been shown this new sharpening step.


Feb 15, 2013 at 06:32 AM
Storm300
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · An Informal Tutorial II


Conrad,

Looking at your amazing work, I had a feeling your workflow was similar to mine. It is almost a carbon copy of mine. I love post work. I'm still running CS4, but I do have LR4... and I use Neat Image as well! I don't really do that intermediate Detail step in LR4.. something I haven't thought of. My White-Black point tweaking is just about the same as yours. In some images, I do like to use a global "Vibrance" adjustment upward (but only slightly!)..otherwise I will do selective saturation and/or curves in Photoshop. I love layers. I do a lot of work in layers including removing crappy distracting elements just like you. In some special images, I have to do quite a bit of work to remove elements I don't wish to have in the final piece, but 80% of my images...it only takes me about 10 minutes or so to complete the entire workflow on an image I feel worthy of sharing on Facebook or FM.

Good stuff, Conrad!!
Feb 15, 2013 at 06:54 AM
Plinian
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · An Informal Tutorial II


Thanks for putting this together, Conrad. If you have enough energy, I would love to see an analogous field guide. The "Tips on improving..." pdf is also terrific (and popular; there were 5 others looking at it when I clicked).

Greg
Feb 15, 2013 at 07:02 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · An Informal Tutorial II


Storm300 wrote:
Conrad,

Looking at your amazing work, I had a feeling your workflow was similar to mine. It is almost a carbon copy of mine. I love post work. I'm still running CS4, but I do have LR4... and I use Neat Image as well! I don't really do that intermediate Detail step in LR4.. something I haven't thought of. My White-Black point tweaking is just about the same as yours. In some images, I do like to use a global "Vibrance" adjustment upward (but only slightly!)..otherwise I will do selective saturation and/or curves in Photoshop. I love layers. I do a...Show more →




This is good to hear man!!! Its fun isn't it seeing the different ways we get where we go!
Feb 15, 2013 at 07:03 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · An Informal Tutorial II


Plinian wrote:
Thanks for putting this together, Conrad. If you have enough energy, I would love to see an analogous field guide. The "Tips on improving..." pdf is also terrific (and popular; there were 5 others looking at it when I clicked).

Greg





Haha!! Oh man I hope get a copy before they run out


Feb 15, 2013 at 07:04 AM
C Parish
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · An Informal Tutorial II


Great post!

Thanks for the info!

Cheers
Feb 15, 2013 at 07:06 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · An Informal Tutorial II


C Parish wrote:
Great post!

Thanks for the info!

Cheers




You're quite welcome!
Feb 15, 2013 at 07:08 AM
John Hanon
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · An Informal Tutorial II


Thanks a lot


Feb 15, 2013 at 07:16 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · An Informal Tutorial II


John Hanon wrote:
Thanks a lot





Sure John!
Feb 15, 2013 at 07:19 AM
canadajim
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · An Informal Tutorial II


Thanks Conrad! This is very generous of you. I'm going to be trying it out this weekend!

Jim
Feb 15, 2013 at 07:57 AM
viczig
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · An Informal Tutorial II


Great stuff, thanks Conrad.
Feb 15, 2013 at 07:59 AM
Cincy Bruce
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · An Informal Tutorial II


Thanks Conrad.

Bruce
Feb 15, 2013 at 08:04 AM
randysc
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · An Informal Tutorial II


Awesome Tutorial Conrad, thank you for sharing this lightroom workflow. Can't wait to try it out. Did you get tired of editing my RAW files

Thanks buddy,

Randy
Feb 15, 2013 at 08:04 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · An Informal Tutorial II


canadajim wrote:
Thanks Conrad! This is very generous of you. I'm going to be trying it out this weekend!

Jim





Hope it helps Jim! Remember everything in moderation brother!


Feb 15, 2013 at 08:12 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · An Informal Tutorial II


viczig wrote:
Great stuff, thanks Conrad.





Sure thing!


Feb 15, 2013 at 08:12 AM
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