How to Post Process

[zbo2408]

Would some of the pros out there recommend a resource to explain the basics of post processing. Mainly learning how to read histograms and how to adjust levels / white balance etc...

Surprisingly a google search has not led me to an obvious choice of book or website etc.

Thanks

 

[Stryker]

youtube might be able to help you out but I would always suggest you join a camera/photography club near you. Another suggestion is to hire someone who could give you a 1-on-1 post processing tutorial.

Books by Bryan Peterson or Scott Kelby helped me a lot.

 

[Buckster]

I took courses at Lynda.com from Photoshop guru Deke McClelland.

 

[TenaciousTins]

I was just about to start this thread as a friend of mine asked and frankly I am not educated at all in PP. However I don't have photoshop and neither does she. I find that a lot of tutorials are made using Photoshop CS whatever when us casual snapographers don't have the funds for a big program like that. I have Elements 8 and Lightroom 3, but she only has Gimp and Picasa and can't afford anything else at the moment. So I'm wondering if there are non-program-specific rules to be applied when editing. I tend to know what I like in a picture so I do some minimal PP in Lightroom to make it look "better" but there has to be some sort of rules of PP.

 

[Buckster]

I was just about to start this thread as a friend of mine asked and frankly I am not educated at all in PP. However I don't have photoshop and neither does she. I find that a lot of tutorials are made using Photoshop CS whatever when us casual snapographers don't have the funds for a big program like that. I have Elements 8 and Lightroom 3, but she only has Gimp and Picasa and can't afford anything else at the moment. So I'm wondering if there are non-program-specific rules to be applied when editing. I tend to know what I like in a picture so I do some minimal PP in Lightroom to make it look "better" but there has to be some sort of rules of PP.

Most of the same techniques can be applied from program to program, with the big difference in the layout of the tools themselves - where to find them, how to use them, etc. There are, of course, some very specific tools from one program to the next that are found only in that one program, and PS CS5 probably has quite a few more than the others, thus the premium price.

But I think that, for the most part, the techniques themselves are fairly universal, even if the specific buttons and steps layouts aren't.

 

[KmH]

Here is a set of tutorials that includes info about how to use histograms - Photo Editing Tutorials

Post processing often starts with a Raw image data file in a good parametric Raw converter.

My workflow using Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) is:
Set White point.
Set highlight and shdow clipping points.
Adjust Brightness and Contrast.
Adjust image mid-tone contrast
Adjust vibrance.
Adjust saturation.
Make localised adjustments as necessary.
Compensate for any chromatic aberration/vignetting.
Apply capture sharpening.
If needed, reduce image noise
Open in Photoshop for pixel edits.

 

[WesternGuy]

Would some of the pros out there recommend a resource to explain the basics of post processing. Mainly learning how to read histograms and how to adjust levels / white balance etc...

Surprisingly a google search has not led me to an obvious choice of book or website etc.

Thanks

Have a look at these...

http://www.sphoto.com/techinfo/histograms/histograms.
Understanding Digital Camera Histograms: Tones and Contrast

Hopefully, they will help.

Cheers,

WesternGuy