When I started taking pictures I never really used editing software. I had some pretty good images but not great. I found some free programs, somebody gave me a program but they all had limited capabilities and really didn't help the images at all.
Recently I started using the most up to date Adobe Creative Cloud Lightroom and Photoshop programs. Wow! I have had some limited Photoshop programs in the past but these tools are amazing. I also use a couple of mobile apps to edit images as well, Snapseed and Pixlr. These mobile apps are pretty easy and basic to use and you can get some very cool looking edits out of them. I primarily use the mobile apps for a lot of my GoPro stuff.
Post processing can really bring out the beauty of your images. Sometimes all you need is one small action to get the look you want, other times it may be a whole compliment of actions. I believe post processing can make a good shot to begin with even better. Of course this is not the "magic bullet" that will make your work outstanding but again simply another tool at your disposal. I run all the images I put out through some sort of editing process. Very rarely do I put out an untouched image. I like to bring out the fine details or get the exact look I was going for in my images. I see the finished product in my mind. I take the shot and the post processing puts the final touches on the image.
Sometimes there are simply things you don't notice when composing and capturing the image or something in the background stands out more than you think it should. I recently took a walk around Downtown Springfield Mass the other day and took a great shot of the front facade of Theodore's. Once I downloaded the image, you could see the back side of a street sign in the lower right hand corner. I didn't even notice it when I took the picture. With Photoshop it took about 15 seconds to completely remove the sign.
I shoot in manual mode all the time so once in a while you may get an underexposed or overexposed image. With these tools it is an easy fix. I also shoot in the RAW format which does not get processed in the camera. Jpeg images are "processed" within the camera's software. I like the RAW format as I run all my images though post processing anyway. Most mobile devices won't recognize the RAW format so the mobile apps don't really work with that format. Of course there are exceptions, such as the new Adobe mobile version of Lightroom.
Now to add to this, there are all kind of companies and individuals who put out "presets" for Photoshop and or Lightroom. Presets are actions that are combined to get a "Look". These actions are loaded into the programs and with one click they will edit the image to the preset specifications. These can be useful when editing large numbers of images or if you don't really know how to get the look you desire or simply want a different look to your image.
Some of my images are highly edited and some are virtually untouched, minimal actions.
I guess what I am trying to get at is I want to put my best image forward. I am my own worst critic, I try to get the absolute best looking image I can and post processing is a tool I use to do that.
See you next week.
E
Kappy's Keepers
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