Ok so I'm wondering what everyone does AFTER they take pics...... do you then upload them to a photo software for editing then let a lab print them? HELP........
Here's what I do... -Upload from SD card/Camera to computer. -Upload to my personal Flikr acount. -Edit/Post Production in Gimp. -Find free printing options/Order prints through SnapFish/Flikr.
I generally shoot, backup photos during the shoot on my laptop. When I get home load them into Lightroom. Organize them, sort, tag and prep images. Then I make edits to them, and almost always end up in Photoshop where I make further edits. Then I process them for what ever I'm going to use them for (ie, web, print).
It depends what image or data format you capture images in. JPEG is a ready to print right out of the camera image format and has already been globally edited to one extent or another. JPEGs also have had the file size reduced by as much as 80%, right in the camera. RAW data files have to be edited because they represent exactly what the image sensor saw. In camera settings for parameters like white balance, sharpening, contrast, saturation, monotone, etc are not applied to RAW data files. What many people shooting RAW don't realise is that the image shown on the back of the camera isn't the RAW image. It's a basic JPEG that is embedded in the RAW data file so there is something they can look at to evaluate composition.
My basic process is: -Import into my computer (into “A- Yet to Process” folder) -Edit photos, delete ones I know I will never want. Create copies if I intend to do a couple versions (black and white or something custom). -Tag photos with keywords. Write captions for some of them. Write notes if I feel the need. - Upload the ones I want to share to my Zenfolio account, sometimes Facebook. - Move the files to their permanent location in my organization structure. - The ones I print I ether order from my onlie gallery (Zenfolio), or upload to Sam's Club for pickup, or Shutterfly for delivery Earlier I noticed someone mention free photos. You can get those by searching for several printing outfits online. They often will have promotions for new users that are "first 25 photos free". Some companies run promtions once in a while where you get free photos, the promos all vary. Sam's (and I hear Costco) for folks in the US have great prices and quality. We often use them for day to day photos, my wife for scrapbooking. Next we also send to shutterfly. One thing nice about shutterfly is they pring the date time form exif on the back of the photo, which my wife finds handy. Other places may do that too.
I generally do pretty much the above. For ordering, it depends on what my plans for them are.. To hang and show people, I use Mpix.com. A little more expensive than snapfish/shutterfly, but better quality and shipping can be cheaper if buying more since it's a flat rate. When people ask me for prints, I go with this site also. If I want the pictures quick, cheap and for craft projects then the ol' walgreens, CVS, Walmart'll do.
