jimdavies wrote:
Dennis
Shawnstar started the thread you mention but I can't find it now.
Molokai
Try a PM to shawn he's a nice guy from Hawaii and ask where the post went as there was loads of great work in it. i meant to save it but didn't
I saved a link to that thread but alas it is no more. The link is/was below if it helps to resurrect it. I thought FM kept an archive (?)
I was wondering if anyone would share a workflow that they use to batch process the photos before opening all the shots up for detailed scrutiny / processing...
I'm still trying to work out an automated workflow that will process my photos while I'm sleeping (another hobby of mine... beside photography), so all i need to do after that is is adjust the curves, crop/resize.
oh .. anyway I'm based in asia so I'm not too sure how things work out over there, how many shots you typically end up with etc etc, but here, a traditional wedding ceremony generates heaps of photos that usually make drive me crazy during processing ...
Anyway, the workflow I'm currently playing around with is
1) Auto levels (to optimise the tonal range)
2) Shadows/Highlights ( to bring back some of the shadows and highlights )
3) Curve Adjustment (for contrast and brightness)
4) Resize
5) Sharpen (USM)
Step 1 also has the unfortunate side effect of 'white balancing' my photos on occassion, which somehow drives me nuts....
I still find something lacking in the photos, but this preps the photo up for further processing so i can go through the images faster.
This workflow is definitely going to change, as I'm picking up more tips from the internet, fellow photographers etc. and I may post a refined workflow when I get something I'm happy with.
I am using Rawshooter Premium from Pixmantec which is a great rawconverter, that really speeds up my workflow. Try the free version and judge before spending 59 $ on the full version, which as one of the smart features automatically finds your folders on the CF card. I have nothing to do with the compagny, but when you try great software, then it is difficult not to get excited and tell about it.
abrocketsfan, i used 3 layers...one for the background, one for the bride, and one for the rocks in the front. I played with the curves/layer modes until i got the sky the way i wanted, then masked to reveal the bride...then fixed her curves, and repeated the process for the rocks. It was too far gone to make a clean large print....it was just too dark originally.
What do people do for vignettes? They're a golden way to bring the focus onto a particular subject. Shawn, I've seen you do a cool sort of perspective vignette, like a spotlight is going onto the person from above (not the traditional straight-on from camera angle). Here are a few versions of my work. -Noah
noah2950 wrote:
What do people do for vignettes? They're a golden way to bring the focus onto a particular subject. Shawn, I've seen you do a cool sort of perspective vignette, like a spotlight is going onto the person from above (not the traditional straight-on from camera angle). Here are a few versions of my work. -Noah
Hi Noan. What's the best way to add vignettes? I introduce a blank layer on top of the background and then add a circle gradient going from transparent to black from the center of focus and then adjust the layer's transparency until I get the effect I'm after.
Retina2020, I learned a reasonable way to make vignettes. In Photoshop, use the oval Marquess tool to select the part you want highlighted. create a new layer and a layer mask with that selection. Paint the layer black (select layer, ctrl-backspace will change it to background color). Invert the selection. At this point your oval should be the only thing visisble, the rest is black. select the layer mask (the oval) in the layers palette. do a 20-25 pixel Gaussian blur on it. Reduce the opacity to somewhere between 40-80 until it looks good. Voilá.
Here is my first attempt as postprocessing wedding shots. The link contians both before and after shots.
C & C very welcome, as I am trying to learn what works and what doesn't. Feel free to grab an image and edit and repost it. If you are really interested in seeing/showing what you can do, I'll happily provide raw or high quiality files.
Mostly I have added a soft-light gaussian blur layer, added saturation, a little bit of levels, put in a vignette, resized, added a layer with sharpening that I mask out and paint back in on B&G details such as eyes, flowers, ears etc..
phil300z, thank you! I have to admit that I am pretty happy with some of these myself, as I am very very new to this kind of PP - and I find that it is not really that hard, as long as you can get your head wrapped around how to use layers and how to hide/show parts of layers by painting the layer mask with different brush settings.
justbob, thank you!
I recommend anyone interested in learning this stuff to get this book:
An excellent tutorial that shows you how to do the layering stuff in a no-nonsene (actually it is full of humorous nonsense but that makes it easy to read) fashion, that made all the difference for me in getting started with this.
I think the last picture was not too great (the wide shot during the ceremony. Or rather, I think it is brilliant with the background and the bride, but the groom is kind of halo-ish and that does not look nice at all... will see what I can do about that in the near future
The next issue to tackle is to get the prints the way I want them. I want matte paper for my HP Photosmart 8450 but I haven't found any so far... and I wonder what this will look like when printed 8"x10"
chdrrl wrote:
I was wondering if anyone would share a workflow that they use to batch process the photos before opening all the shots up for detailed scrutiny / processing...
I'm still trying to work out an automated workflow that will process my photos while I'm sleeping (another hobby of mine... beside photography), so all i need to do after that is is adjust the curves, crop/resize.
oh .. anyway I'm based in asia so I'm not too sure how things work out over there, how many shots you typically end up with etc etc, but here, a traditional wedding ceremony generates heaps of photos that usually make drive me crazy during processing ...
Anyway, the workflow I'm currently playing around with is
1) Auto levels (to optimise the tonal range)
2) Shadows/Highlights ( to bring back some of the shadows and highlights )
3) Curve Adjustment (for contrast and brightness)
4) Resize
5) Sharpen (USM)
Step 1 also has the unfortunate side effect of 'white balancing' my photos on occassion, which somehow drives me nuts....
I still find something lacking in the photos, but this preps the photo up for further processing so i can go through the images faster.
This workflow is definitely going to change, as I'm picking up more tips from the internet, fellow photographers etc. and I may post a refined workflow when I get something I'm happy with.
Here's a wee tip I picked up regards using auto levels. The standard auto levels is setup to very slightly clip highlight and shaddow and also alters the colour of your image.
If you go to Adjustments>Levels and then click options, change the clipping from 0.10 to 0.01 and also select the option to work on the greys.
Not sure exactly what the options are now that I'm away from my home PC but if you get there it should be easy to follow
.
the big difference you will note is that when you do an auto levels the image will not change quite so much. you may need to adjust the image a little further using levels or curves but it should not change the colour of your image.
I was advised to do this by a pro so have had no reason to alter back.
If any of you can't find it send me a PM and I'll advise further when I get home. Also if anyone can advise if they have done this, I'd be interested to hear their results.
Very nice examples above and thanks for the posts.
There is a free digital forum where I have posted and discussed some wedding pic ideas.Others discuss lenses,cameras,Raw,etc. http://photochimper.com
shawnstarr03 wrote:
abrocketsfan, i used 3 layers...one for the background, one for the bride, and one for the rocks in the front. I played with the curves/layer modes until i got the sky the way i wanted, then masked to reveal the bride...then fixed her curves, and repeated the process for the rocks. It was too far gone to make a clean large print....it was just too dark originally.
Hey that's me on Page 5!!!! Although most of us already know, Shawn's an awesome guy to work with. Great photographer, very professional and an all around nice guy! I'd reccommend anyone getting married, engaged or just looking for a portrait session to definately meet up with Shawn. Thanks again and we both look forward to meeting up with you again whether it be in Hawaii or in Los Angeles.
This place has loads of free stuff - anything you need. But use them carefully. I often blend them to get my own mixes, especially if there's soft filters involved as I want more control.
