Can the folks out there with some knowledge of post-processing of photos help me out?
I've been a (very) amateur photographer for years. I'm considering putting some stuff online, and I figured before I do, I should learn how to run a basic post-processing job on my photos, pick them up a bit. I did some research into the basic methods, and have been using an (age-old) version of Photoshop to experiment, just trying to get an instinctive feel for what I'm doing based on what looks good to me.
Here's a selection of pics I've played with. It includes the originals, and then the spruced up versions. Can you check them out, give me some critique - is there anything basic I'm doing too much or too little, something I'm not doing that would help a lot? Be as honest and harsh as you like.
(I assume the easiest way to do this will be to link straight to flickr).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124474642@N02/sets/72157644195768609/Just to point it out, the last four pairs of pics were taken with my old camera, which was a piece of shit. I realise there's only so much that can be done to salvage these pictures quality-wise in comparison, but I wanted to include some anyway.
Some general questions too:
- Is there any difference between changing the contrast and altering the black and white "points" on a histogram? I realise that the histogram gives you more control over highlights, shadows and exposure specifically, but generally speaking, the histogram seems to be capable of producing more or less the same effect as altering contrast.
- The tools I've used are sharpening, colour saturation, using the histogram to change highlights/shadows/exposure, and the occasional straightening and changing contrast. Is there an order you would advise to take these steps in, or does it depend on the photo, or does it make no difference?
- In some cases, after all of my edits, I threw the Auto Color function on top, and it changes the photo slightly. I included some of the ones where I liked what it did. If it's possible, can you point out exactly what this function's doing?
- On the pictures from my old camera, I used the Sharpen function a lot, as the pictures were all noticeably a bit blurred. I did notice though that it creates a graininess or "noise" to the pics. Can this be avoided, or is it an inevitable side effect of the function? Is there a roundabout way of sharpening pics without having that effect?
Thanks for any help!
(and anyone else, feel free to peruse).
Topic: Official DTF Photography Thread (Read 146482 times)
