"I mainly use a 1D mark3, and various lens : canon 85mm f1.2 II, 70-200mm f2.8 IS, 24mm 1.4. I also use a 20D and used the following lenses : 50mm f1.4, sigma 18-50 f2.8, and sigma 70-200 f2.8."
For a 'small' surprise, I guess:
Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x
If 'small' is perhaps not a clue to subject size, then my guesses -- based on your photos posted to date; your gear list; and a guess about probable future work -- are as follows:
Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L USM
(used) Canon EF 200/1.8L USM
Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE (here, you sell your 24mm)
Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE
I keep my process as simple as possible. All shot with neutral settings...
When I select a file to process, I just open it in photoshop with latest camera raw, select the "1D mk3 / standard" color profile, adjust the white balance if needed ("auto" or "normal" is usually almost perfect).
- I crop the top and bottom for my 16/9
- in a very few cases use the "shadow/highlight" to get back a few details,
- in a few cases use the curves tool to add "linear contrast",
- in most case I "smart sharpen" as follow : 50% with a 0.5 radius
- save the image, launch the scripts to make my web versions, put them on the web, and voila
as you can see even if the camera setting is neutral, this is very little retouching - the secret is to pick well dressed subjects in good light, and big apertures makes the rest ... ...Show more →
Very helpful!
So, why Photoshop?; why not use Canon DPP?
Is your choice a function of your prior PS experience and expertise? Or does PS simply yield higher quality results for you than DPP?
As background, I use Nikon's Capture NX on *.nef files (if I shoot *.jpg files, then I use Photo Mechanic or Nikon's View NX); generally, I avoid PS; I'm not a fan of Lightroom.
Richard, maybe you missed my last post of the last page or sorry I have not been clear : I knew PS before and as I have a simple post processing, and PS does it well, I just kept it.
I never really tried DPP, since the (beta at first) camera profiles have been released, the WB comes out almost perfect each time, so I stopped looking for other softwares.
I tried Lightroom and Aperture once and was not at all satisfied, WB was not better but noise/sharpening was worse. I gave up.
But hey, any body can go his own way, I fully understand people that are happy with DPP or NX !
this is dance !