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  1. #1
    My name is Alex, not Eric ;)
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    Getting better at RAW processing

    I'm finally starting to get the hang of processing my RAW files to jpegs. I was having a problem with them coming out really grainy and lacking good color tone. But thanks to your tips they are looking much better now, here are my 2 newest ones that I have processed. If you can see something that I should be doing let me know.



  2. #2
    GB1
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Alex - I see nothing wrong with the shots. Of course, if they were full size then it might reveal the graininess more. If you did resize, you might have lost the sharpness just a tad. This is inherit with resizing. You might want to experiment with re-sharpening too. That's a skill also - too much can really screw up the shots (hmm. guess I'm not in a technical mood tonight).

    Good luck
    GB
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  3. #3
    My name is Alex, not Eric ;)
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Quote Originally Posted by GB1
    Alex - I see nothing wrong with the shots. Of course, if they were full size then it might reveal the graininess more. If you did resize, you might have lost the sharpness just a tad. This is inherit with resizing. You might want to experiment with re-sharpening too. That's a skill also - too much can really screw up the shots (hmm. guess I'm not in a technical mood tonight).

    Good luck
    GB
    Thanks for the complements on the shots.

    I haven't had good results with the unsharp mask, it makes things look fake when I try and use it. I did have to resize these since they were shot with my 20D but compairing them to a 100% raw there isn't much lost in quality. Where as before I was having a problem with getting tons of noise when I would resize, but thanks to some tips on here that issue is no more.

  4. #4
    Junior Member biggy smalls's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    You're converting your RAW to JPG? Convert them to TIFF and finish working with them in photoshop, then convert them to JPG if you need to. You should always do your editing in PS with as much information as in the file as you can.
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  5. #5
    My name is Alex, not Eric ;)
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Quote Originally Posted by biggy smalls
    You're converting your RAW to JPG? Convert them to TIFF and finish working with them in photoshop, then convert them to JPG if you need to. You should always do your editing in PS with as much information as in the file as you can.
    Well what I do is open the RAW file in CS2, make all my adjustments then switch it to 8bit then save a jpeg. Once the jpeg is saved and I close CS2 I click no when it asks me if I want to save the changes to the RAW file.

  6. #6
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    They look fantastic!!!

    So your converting your raw files in adobe?
    I have found my images are lacking colour too. Plus, if I use a backdrop, the backdrop colour looks different in all of them.
    I use "rawshooter essentials" to convert to tiff then I use adobe for the rest of my editing.
    Any help with this would be appreciated. Thank you.
    Last edited by Alison; 06-05-2006 at 01:01 PM.

  7. #7
    Junior Member biggy smalls's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    I too convert in raw shooter. I do most of my alterations in raw shooter then I save it in 300 ppi 16bit TIFF and then open it in Adobe ( don't have CS yet). I then do curves, levels and hue/sat while in 16 bit. I then convert to 8 bit to do any sharpening. I save as a TIFF always, but convert the finished TIFF to JPG when needed.
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  8. #8
    My name is Alex, not Eric ;)
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    For those pics that I posted I didn't touch the curves, all I did was the basic adjustments the first dialog box has when you open a RAW with the Bridge, then I crop, spot heal and resize to a 300 DPI jpeg in CS2. Once I figure out how to properly use the curve tool I'm sure I can get them to look even better. But for the most part I try and get the exposure right in camera by checking the histogram after the shot.

  9. #9
    LRPS Alison's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    I usually save to psd or tiff then convert to jpg when needed also.


    Last edited by Alison; 06-05-2006 at 03:30 PM.

  10. #10
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    The shots and post processing look nice. They are a bit to centered for my tastes, but that is an artistic choice and if it is your preference, it's right!

    As for post processing choices, I use Adobe Camera Raw and save as a DPN (digital photo negative) Then do my PSE (I don't have the full Photoshop, just elements) work and save in the various formats needed. If I need to re-work a file, I can load it from the DPN file and adjust the raw conversion again.

    If I am doing large numbers though (Like the shots from my son's baseball games or some such), I will use the program that came with the Digital Rebel (zoombrowser I think) and convert them to JPG and edit from there. That program produces a fine file if the work in the camera was good. I always save the RAW files in case I need to really work over a shot!
    Marty in Central Illinois - The Land of Corn and Flatness!

  11. #11
    Senior Member cyberlord's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Quote Originally Posted by BMWJNKY
    Well what I do is open the RAW file in CS2, make all my adjustments then switch it to 8bit then save a jpeg. Once the jpeg is saved and I close CS2 I click no when it asks me if I want to save the changes to the RAW file.
    Doing your workflow this way you have lost all ability to re-edit the image.

    I don't have CS2 so I use my camera software to do the pre-exposure adjustments and save as TIFF.

    I then open the TIFF and use adjustment layers as much as I can and save that as a PSD. I then do a save as JPG and use the re-size tab in that process to get the size I want. It's a little slower than resizing the PSD image before save for WEB, but sometimes I forget I did it and save the PSD with the smaller image.

    Anyway, my point is, if you need to recreate the JPG with your workflow, you have to do those steps all over again. If you have the storage space keep the original RAW, converted TIFF, and layer adjusted PSD files.

    I then burn them off to DVD when I get 4GIG of files.

    Tim
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  12. #12
    My name is Alex, not Eric ;)
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Quote Originally Posted by cyberlord
    Doing your workflow this way you have lost all ability to re-edit the image.

    I don't have CS2 so I use my camera software to do the pre-exposure adjustments and save as TIFF.

    I then open the TIFF and use adjustment layers as much as I can and save that as a PSD. I then do a save as JPG and use the re-size tab in that process to get the size I want. It's a little slower than resizing the PSD image before save for WEB, but sometimes I forget I did it and save the PSD with the smaller image.

    Anyway, my point is, if you need to recreate the JPG with your workflow, you have to do those steps all over again. If you have the storage space keep the original RAW, converted TIFF, and layer adjusted PSD files.

    I then burn them off to DVD when I get 4GIG of files.

    Tim
    This is why I want to take a digital photo editing class. I have no idea how to do the layers right and it just makes me frustrated when I try which is why I edit my photos the way I do. I have a 120gig slave harddrive for just media file storage in my computer.

  13. #13
    Digitally Challenged - Bonkers Kaelastreet's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    I am using a Nikon D70s and load the RAW images right into my On-Drive archive. From there, I copy and work with the duplicated image keeping my original intact, Photoshop is my primary tool as it is so flexible, so informative, its intuitive and simple to use. If I have to convert a resolved image, as I have to here, then I save them to the best format for the site I am posting too. Normaly Jpg, but with some, I give the option to download larger images in jpg or TIFF, not often, but now and then.
    I seem to print very little, probably because the expense of framing them would outweigh the fun in taking the image in the first place. Photoshop is my darkroom, my idea's pool and my workshop.

    Kizz


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  14. #14
    Senior Member cyberlord's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Quote Originally Posted by BMWJNKY
    This is why I want to take a digital photo editing class. I have no idea how to do the layers right and it just makes me frustrated when I try which is why I edit my photos the way I do. I have a 120gig slave harddrive for just media file storage in my computer.
    The same levels or curves adjustment you do normally you just create an adjustment layer on top of the image layer and make the adjustments there. What's neat about it is you can re-edit your adjustments at any time and change the image at will.

    It really is easy to do. NIKE! (just do it)

    Tim
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  15. #15
    Digitally Challenged - Bonkers Kaelastreet's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Quote Originally Posted by BMWJNKY
    I have a 120gig slave harddrive for just media file storage in my computer.
    I hope that is a RAID drive or you are putting all your eggs in one basket.

    Kizzie


    Nothing is ever as it seems to be

  16. #16
    Senior Member freygr's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaelastreet
    I hope that is a RAID drive or you are putting all your eggs in one basket.

    Kizzie
    I just installed a dual layer DVD burner in my computer, it was only $50 USA. I have not purchased any media for it at this time. Besides before I roll over my CF cards I burn a DVD or CD of the images. I wish I had a RAID drive array.

    I use Thumbs Plus with the Digi Cam plugins, and I can save the raw image to almost any image file format. For all my quick editing I use Thumbs Plus, for more extensive editing I use Photoshop.
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  17. #17
    My name is Alex, not Eric ;)
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaelastreet
    I hope that is a RAID drive or you are putting all your eggs in one basket.

    Kizzie
    My HD is just back up, all the pics I like are burnt to CD twice. One CD is the basic RAW file and the other CD is the adjusted image. I don't save a lot of pictures anyways. If I look at the photo and don't instantly go I really like this one I usually delete it. I have 2 basic catagories for the photos I keep, one is a folder of pics I took at events with my friends or for my friends and the other is stuff I plan on printing and hanging on a wall at some point in time. If it doesn't fit those two catagories 99% of the time it gets deleted. Having massive ammounts of storage isn't a concern for me because all the pictures in my photograph folder on my HD is only 1.3GB. Maybe I'm too critical of my own photos.

  18. #18
    Digitally Challenged - Bonkers Kaelastreet's Avatar
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    Why I said what I said...

    Hi BMWJNKY
    Good to see that you are making an effort to safeguard your work. With modern computer Motherboards, RAID is a process that’s 'built in'. In the Old Days, it needed a whole host of heavy artillery to make it happen, and expensive too. but these days, adding a couple of SATA (Serial ATA) drives is a pinch if cake. Most modern BIOS (Built In Operating System), [ That thing that makes the PC go BEEP after you start her up] have the options already in place.

    For those who do not have a clue what I am on about, let me share, Imagine two large hard drives, running independently, but storing exactly the same information, it is seamless, you, as the operator, only see one drive. The 'system' constantly monitors the status of the drives and if one should fail [Oh Noooo!], the system keeps operating and prompts you to replace the dieing drive. No data is ever lost. You can even swap out a dead drive without turning off the power in many systems, its that easy. No technical wizardry needed for the most part. For less than that cost of a good lens, you can build security into your system....


    No matter what media we choose, with the exception of paper, it will become outdated soon. I once wrote a jug full of precious Pics to a cd, compressing it to ensure that it stayed safe. Long time later, found out that only certain types of machines could 'unlock' them, and I did not have one. Remember, all mechanical pc systems rotate about every five years. Recordable DVD's today, who knows what in five years time?
    Have you noticed, today’s PC's don’t have CD readers, only DVD/CD readers, soon , cd technology will go the way of the quill.[ Be ready to upgrade]


    My reason for saying it in the first place, was that some of our members may not yet have thought about backing up their hard earned pictures in a safe place.
    For me, I suggest always, but rarely follow my own advice, to print your favourites and store those prints in a cool dry place away from light. Yes, the paper will eventually fade, but not till long after I'm gone.

    :idea:

    Kizzie


    Nothing is ever as it seems to be

  19. #19
    My name is Alex, not Eric ;)
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    I'm not exactly sure how my second hard drive is set up. But when me and my friend rebuilt my tower the way he explained it to me is that the OS is basically seeing my second HD as an internal but removeable mass storage device. My main HD is only 80gig but all that is on it are my programs and OS which can be easily replaced if it were to crash. So he said that if the HD with the OS on it ever crashed the second HD would be fine, basicly like having your flash card in its reader and having the computer crash. The data would still be on your flash card, you would just need to get the computer working again to read it.

    Also, when I burn files to CD I do no compression. I'd rather use up 2 CD than use compression to make it fit on one only to have it be unreadable down the road.

    My new motherboard can do RAID, I just couldn't afford 2 new HD's that supported RAID when I rebuilt my computer over the winter.

  20. #20
    Digitally Challenged - Bonkers Kaelastreet's Avatar
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    Re: Getting better at RAW processing

    SATA drives are falling in price all the time, Maybe consider it next time you have a windfall, a Pair of 200 Gb SATA should not cost more than 400 bucks, and you don't need a degree in engineering to install them either...{grin}

    have fun.

    Kizzie.


    Nothing is ever as it seems to be

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