Tag: Lightroom

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Post-processing of digital images

To say that post-production or photo editing equipment and software are controversial is an understatement. In one of the very first postings on this blog I discussed the difference between JPEG and RAW photo image files and the need to always have RAW files available for post-capture digital editing. Now I would like to address the details of post-processing equipment and software. This is clearly controversial and rapidly changing but I will give you my opinions about the advantages and reasoning for what I use (today.)

The first impossible controversy regards the computer platforms available for digital imaging. I will say upfront that I use a PC and software designed for a PC.  My choice was made for three reasons.  First, I came from the world of academia and to a lesser degree, business. The PC is dominant in these areas so I knew the machines and software. Second, there is generally more software available for the PC. Third, the PC is less expensive than a Mac or Apple system. Now before the Mac users start screaming, I am the first to admit that the Mac is probably a better system for any graphics application. Good photo editing software is available for both systems and the software costs are similar. Generally, though, you need to make a choice early in your photo editing career, because the software is usually platform-specific and cannot be used on both systems.  I would lean towards the PC platform if you are in a large business or academic institution. I would lean toward a Mac if you do not need to share all of your non-photographic work with many colleagues and would definitely choose a Mac if you are going to edit video.  

That said, I use a high-end PC with a fast processor (3.6 Mbs), separate high-speed video card with 2 GB memory, 16GB of RAM, and a 2TB internal hard drive, multiple USB3 connections and 2-27" Viewsonic high-resolution monitors. I have multiple external 1, 2, and 4TB hard drives for back-up. You need a lot of RAM for photo editing and lots of hard drive space and a good back-up system to store your work.

There are multiple paths to appropriate post-production software. There is the camera software approach using what comes with your camera. These software packages are usually satisfactory for RAW file editing, conversion to JPEG, and printing. They are proprietary and, therefore, subject to change so if you have any aspirations to develop and expand your photographic work, I would avoid the proprietary camera company programs. A second approach is the low-end, freeware approach. Several programs are available to convert and edit photo files at little or no charge. Sometimes these programs link to on-line photo storage and sharing sites such as Flickr and Picasa. These work great for point-and-shoot and cell phone photographers but those shooting seriously with a dSLR usually want more than these programs can provide. Next are the rich, mid-range, purpose-specific photo editing tools such as Adobe (Photoshop) Elements (for either the PC or Mac) and Aperture for the Mac. These are full-featured programs that have far more capabilities than most photographers want or need and will do almost any editing job asked of them.  Finally, there are the top-end editing tools used by advanced and professional photographers - Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. These are two totally different packages that serve different but compatible roles in your photo editing work flow.

What is Adobe Lightroom (LR)? LR is a photographic database that was designed to store, catalog, and locate large numbers of digital images. LR also combines the photo editing power of Adobe Mini-bridge, Bridge, and CameRAW to view, convert, and edit images in a non-destructive manner and with a very easy to learn user interface. LR manipulates digital images at the image file-level rather than the pixel-level. Adobe Photoshop (PS), on the other hand, is part of a huge creative suite of programs used to manipulate digital images at the pixel-level in a destructive manner.  Wow - that is a lot of very specific terminology - what are these two programs used for and what do they do?

LR is the starting point in the digital imaging workflow of most serious photographers. LR allows the photographer to import RAW (or JPEG) image files from a camera or memory card into a computer. During the import, the files can be renamed, assigned to specific folders, converted to digital negatives (DNGs), have key words assigned, and undergo basic image processing available in Adobe CameRAW (ACR). Once the images are imported LR can be used to correct white balance and tint, adjust exposure, straighten and crop, create local color, contrast, and exposure adjustments, sharpen and reduce digital noise, and apply special effects to the images. LR also creates a viewable image and has multiple tools to compare, sort, locate, grade, tag, flag and copy images. It acts as a file manager for the RAW images allowing movement on hard drives and allows the creation of smart (automatically updated) or stable collections of photos.  LR can geo-tag photo locations.  The latest version of LR also creates various output formats for the web, slide shows, books, and prints.

Photoshop is the top end of photo editing software. Most photographers who do not do graphic design probably only use a small fraction of what PS can do. PS has two import features called Bridge and Mini-bridge that bring photos into ACR for editing and conversion to output files for printing or sharing.  ACR works much like LR to make image-level edits and corrections before PS is used.  PS allows editing at the pixel level so the user has complete control over all elements of the photo.  The photo edits, for the most part, are destructive edits meaning that the image will be irreversibly altered if saved. PS does not have the sophisticated database functions of LR and does not do the cataloging and searching as well as LR.

Both LR and PS can use pre-sets and third-party plug-ins to automate much of the work of photo editing. The automation of PS is far more sophisticated using scripts and batch processing to speed your workflow.  Examples of these include high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, focus stacking, and panoramic stitching of multiple images. The two programs work together seamlessly to enhance your editing workflow and image storage and retrieval.  So, how are the two programs used by a nature photographer?

The more I talk with professional photographers, the more I realize that about 90% of post-production editing is done in LR and only about 5-10% in PS. LR is a powerful image editor that gives busy photographers a comprehensive database with which to catalog tens of thousands of images and find them again in seconds. As an editor, LR performs all of the functions of ACR in a very intuitive user interface.  Color balance, tint, leveling, cropping, exposure and contrast adjustment, noise reduction, and sharpening are handled effortlessly in LR.  Local adjustments of nearly all of these functions can be done with both brush and gradient tools.  I will review these editing functions in more detail at another time, but, for now, recognize that these tools are available.

PS adds three hugely important functions that are not in LR and a few hundred other functions used by graphics designers.  The three biggies in PS are layers, masks, and content-aware fill. These destructive, pixel-level tools add creative touches not possible in LR and give the nature photographer the ability to "fix" issues in a photo that could be distracting to the central theme of the photo.  There are literally hundreds of other manipulations that can be done in PS that are not available in LR. Most of these are interesting but not necessary for the average photographer.

That is the editing overview and I will have much more about editing in future posts. Next time we will explore high dynamic range (HDR) imaging and its role for the nature photographer. 

 

Posted on

Post-processing of digital images

To say that post-production or photo editing equipment and software are controversial is an understatement. In one of the very first postings on this blog I discussed the difference between JPEG and RAW photo image files and the need to always have RAW files available for post-capture digital editing. Now I would like to address the details of post-processing equipment and software. This is clearly controversial and rapidly changing but I will give you my opinions about the advantages and reasoning for what I use (today.)

The first impossible controversy regards the computer platforms available for digital imaging. I will say upfront that I use a PC and software designed for a PC.  My choice was made for three reasons.  First, I came from the world of academia and to a lesser degree, business. The PC is dominant in these areas so I knew the machines and software. Second, there is generally more software available for the PC. Third, the PC is less expensive than a Mac or Apple system. Now before the Mac users start screaming, I am the first to admit that the Mac is probably a better system for any graphics application. Good photo editing software is available for both systems and the software costs are similar. Generally, though, you need to make a choice early in your photo editing career, because the software is usually platform-specific and cannot be used on both systems.  I would lean towards the PC platform if you are in a large business or academic institution. I would lean toward a Mac if you do not need to share all of your non-photographic work with many colleagues and would definitely choose a Mac if you are going to edit video.  

That said, I use a high-end PC with a fast processor (3.6 Mbs), separate high-speed video card with 2 GB memory, 16GB of RAM, and a 2TB internal hard drive, multiple USB3 connections and 2-27" Viewsonic high-resolution monitors. I have multiple external 1, 2, and 4TB hard drives for back-up. You need a lot of RAM for photo editing and lots of hard drive space and a good back-up system to store your work.

There are multiple paths to appropriate post-production software. There is the camera software approach using what comes with your camera. These software packages are usually satisfactory for RAW file editing, conversion to JPEG, and printing. They are proprietary and, therefore, subject to change so if you have any aspirations to develop and expand your photographic work, I would avoid the proprietary camera company programs. A second approach is the low-end, freeware approach. Several programs are available to convert and edit photo files at little or no charge. Sometimes these programs link to on-line photo storage and sharing sites such as Flickr and Picasa. These work great for point-and-shoot and cell phone photographers but those shooting seriously with a dSLR usually want more than these programs can provide. Next are the rich, mid-range, purpose-specific photo editing tools such as Adobe (Photoshop) Elements (for either the PC or Mac) and Aperture for the Mac. These are full-featured programs that have far more capabilities than most photographers want or need and will do almost any editing job asked of them.  Finally, there are the top-end editing tools used by advanced and professional photographers - Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. These are two totally different packages that serve different but compatible roles in your photo editing work flow.

What is Adobe Lightroom (LR)? LR is a photographic database that was designed to store, catalog, and locate large numbers of digital images. LR also combines the photo editing power of Adobe Mini-bridge, Bridge, and CameRAW to view, convert, and edit images in a non-destructive manner and with a very easy to learn user interface. LR manipulates digital images at the image file-level rather than the pixel-level. Adobe Photoshop (PS), on the other hand, is part of a huge creative suite of programs used to manipulate digital images at the pixel-level in a destructive manner.  Wow - that is a lot of very specific terminology - what are these two programs used for and what do they do?

LR is the starting point in the digital imaging workflow of most serious photographers. LR allows the photographer to import RAW (or JPEG) image files from a camera or memory card into a computer. During the import, the files can be renamed, assigned to specific folders, converted to digital negatives (DNGs), have key words assigned, and undergo basic image processing available in Adobe CameRAW (ACR). Once the images are imported LR can be used to correct white balance and tint, adjust exposure, straighten and crop, create local color, contrast, and exposure adjustments, sharpen and reduce digital noise, and apply special effects to the images. LR also creates a viewable image and has multiple tools to compare, sort, locate, grade, tag, flag and copy images. It acts as a file manager for the RAW images allowing movement on hard drives and allows the creation of smart (automatically updated) or stable collections of photos.  LR can geo-tag photo locations.  The latest version of LR also creates various output formats for the web, slide shows, books, and prints.

Photoshop is the top end of photo editing software. Most photographers who do not do graphic design probably only use a small fraction of what PS can do. PS has two import features called Bridge and Mini-bridge that bring photos into ACR for editing and conversion to output files for printing or sharing.  ACR works much like LR to make image-level edits and corrections before PS is used.  PS allows editing at the pixel level so the user has complete control over all elements of the photo.  The photo edits, for the most part, are destructive edits meaning that the image will be irreversibly altered if saved. PS does not have the sophisticated database functions of LR and does not do the cataloging and searching as well as LR.

Both LR and PS can use pre-sets and third-party plug-ins to automate much of the work of photo editing. The automation of PS is far more sophisticated using scripts and batch processing to speed your workflow.  Examples of these include high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, focus stacking, and panoramic stitching of multiple images. The two programs work together seamlessly to enhance your editing workflow and image storage and retrieval.  So, how are the two programs used by a nature photographer?

The more I talk with professional photographers, the more I realize that about 90% of post-production editing is done in LR and only about 5-10% in PS. LR is a powerful image editor that gives busy photographers a comprehensive database with which to catalog tens of thousands of images and find them again in seconds. As an editor, LR performs all of the functions of ACR in a very intuitive user interface.  Color balance, tint, leveling, cropping, exposure and contrast adjustment, noise reduction, and sharpening are handled effortlessly in LR.  Local adjustments of nearly all of these functions can be done with both brush and gradient tools.  I will review these editing functions in more detail at another time, but, for now, recognize that these tools are available.

PS adds three hugely important functions that are not in LR and a few hundred other functions used by graphics designers.  The three biggies in PS are layers, masks, and content-aware fill. These destructive, pixel-level tools add creative touches not possible in LR and give the nature photographer the ability to "fix" issues in a photo that could be distracting to the central theme of the photo.  There are literally hundreds of other manipulations that can be done in PS that are not available in LR. Most of these are interesting but not necessary for the average photographer.

That is the editing overview and I will have much more about editing in future posts. Next time we will explore high dynamic range (HDR) imaging and its role for the nature photographer. 

 

Posted on

Post-processing workflow

In the last two posts I presented data about how "successful" my picture taking has been and what common disasters immediately ruin a photograph. On this post I will address how non-catastrophic photo errors can be corrected in the post-processing phase or the "electronic darkroom."

Most snapshot photographers take a photo and allow the in-camera processor to create an image that can be viewed, shared or printed.  Usually, these images are in a file format called Joint Photographic Experts Group or JPEG.  JPEG is the most common file format used on the internet and is a compressed 8-bit file that has been around since the early 1990s. There are three concerns for serious photographers about capturing images in the JPEG format: 1) JPEG is a compressed format so much of the image data is thrown away during the compression in order to make the file size much smaller, 2) JPEG uses a lossy compression algorithm, meaning that every time the file is changed and saved it is re-compressed causing further loss of image data (the picture quality deteriorates), and 3) JPEG is (almost always) an 8-bit format that does not lend itself well to significant image manipulation in common software programs such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. So what is the alternative to JPEG?

Digital cameras capture an image from the sensor in a RAW format.  The RAW files contain luminance (brightness or intensity), redness, greenness, and blueness data from every single pixel in the sensor.  This creates a huge 12 or 14-bit file that is not viewable without processing by additional software. The RAW data are compressed and converted to JPEG files for viewing in the camera and, depending on the camera quality and settings, are saved as JPEG, RAW, or both file types. Most advanced photographers save their images as RAW files so they can be saved and manipulated as needed without worry about data loss caused by file compression. The RAW files can be digitally manipulated over and over and the images will not lose data or quality. The RAW files have many different names depending upon the brand of camera used.  Canon names their RAW files with the extension .CR2 and Nikon uses the file extension .NEF, in any regard, these are RAW files. I allow the editing software to convert my Canon .CR2 files into .DNG (digital negatives), a non-compressed, open-source file type that is common to almost all RAW processing programs.  Conversion of any RAW file is necessary for viewing, sharing and printing and many file formats can be created from the RAW files.  The common formats are JPEG, TIFF, PSD, GIF, and PNG. The differences in these formats are not important now.

So, the point of this posting was to overview the workflow that I use to prepare RAW images for viewing, sharing or printing. I use Adobe Lightroom for 90+ percent of my post-processing and use Photoshop for most of the last 5-10%. Lightroom is a database program optimized for photography.  It catalogs the images so I can find what I want from more than 35,000 images in a few seconds but it is also a powerful image editing tool that is non-destructive and reversible. 

When I import a file from the memory card of my camera, I follow a specific workflow to prepare the images for viewing. First, I rename the images to the day's photoshoot combined with the camera-generated file number, and, at the same time, I tag each images with searchable keywords that indicate the state, season, subject, and special tags for other processing. While this occurs during the image import, I look for the 5 causes of failures and delete these images on the spot. During the file import, I allow Lightroom to perform common "adjustments" to white balance, exposure, contrast, clarity, sharpening, and removal of digital noise - the same sort of things done to create a JPEG file in the camera but without compression of the file and loss of data. Digital cameras automatically capture the EXIF information for each image - this includes date, time, camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, flash, copyright, and other information embedded into the image file.

After import and screening for 'bad' images, I view every image for 'first round' processing. I straighten the image and crop it if necessary. Next, I recheck the white balance and adjust the exposure and contrast to assure there is no 'clipping' of the whites or blacks that cause loss of clarity or detail in the image. Next, I add more specific keyword tags to selected images and if needed apply fine detail exposure and contrast enhancements to make the image 'come to life" more realistically as I saw it.  Finally, I geo-tag the approximate location of the shot on Google Earth and back-up the files on the computer and re-format the memory card in the camera for the next day's shooting. 

I put the images out of mind for a day or two and then revisit the image folder for the day to compare and eliminate duplicate (or near duplicate) images. I may refine the keyword tags and grade the images from one to five stars (still no 4 or 5-star images!) The starred images may receive additional cropping, exposure, or sharpening adjustments. Finally, a few images will go to Photoshop for advanced editing to remove artifacts or stitch together panoramas or high dynamic range images.

So there you have it, a lot of steps but much of the process is automated.  The result is searchable, unique, refined images that are ready for conversion to JPEGs for sharing or printing. I will expand much of the post-processing information in later posts. But now it is time to start shooting again.

Posted on

Post-processing workflow

In the last two posts I presented data about how "successful" my picture taking has been and what common disasters immediately ruin a photograph. On this post I will address how non-catastrophic photo errors can be corrected in the post-processing phase or the "electronic darkroom."

Most snapshot photographers take a photo and allow the in-camera processor to create an image that can be viewed, shared or printed.  Usually, these images are in a file format called Joint Photographic Experts Group or JPEG.  JPEG is the most common file format used on the internet and is a compressed 8-bit file that has been around since the early 1990s. There are three concerns for serious photographers about capturing images in the JPEG format: 1) JPEG is a compressed format so much of the image data is thrown away during the compression in order to make the file size much smaller, 2) JPEG uses a lossy compression algorithm, meaning that every time the file is changed and saved it is re-compressed causing further loss of image data (the picture quality deteriorates), and 3) JPEG is (almost always) an 8-bit format that does not lend itself well to significant image manipulation in common software programs such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. So what is the alternative to JPEG?

Digital cameras capture an image from the sensor in a RAW format.  The RAW files contain luminance (brightness or intensity), redness, greenness, and blueness data from every single pixel in the sensor.  This creates a huge 12 or 14-bit file that is not viewable without processing by additional software. The RAW data are compressed and converted to JPEG files for viewing in the camera and, depending on the camera quality and settings, are saved as JPEG, RAW, or both file types. Most advanced photographers save their images as RAW files so they can be saved and manipulated as needed without worry about data loss caused by file compression. The RAW files can be digitally manipulated over and over and the images will not lose data or quality. The RAW files have many different names depending upon the brand of camera used.  Canon names their RAW files with the extension .CR2 and Nikon uses the file extension .NEF, in any regard, these are RAW files. I allow the editing software to convert my Canon .CR2 files into .DNG (digital negatives), a non-compressed, open-source file type that is common to almost all RAW processing programs.  Conversion of any RAW file is necessary for viewing, sharing and printing and many file formats can be created from the RAW files.  The common formats are JPEG, TIFF, PSD, GIF, and PNG. The differences in these formats are not important now.

So, the point of this posting was to overview the workflow that I use to prepare RAW images for viewing, sharing or printing. I use Adobe Lightroom for 90+ percent of my post-processing and use Photoshop for most of the last 5-10%. Lightroom is a database program optimized for photography.  It catalogs the images so I can find what I want from more than 35,000 images in a few seconds but it is also a powerful image editing tool that is non-destructive and reversible. 

When I import a file from the memory card of my camera, I follow a specific workflow to prepare the images for viewing. First, I rename the images to the day's photoshoot combined with the camera-generated file number, and, at the same time, I tag each images with searchable keywords that indicate the state, season, subject, and special tags for other processing. While this occurs during the image import, I look for the 5 causes of failures and delete these images on the spot. During the file import, I allow Lightroom to perform common "adjustments" to white balance, exposure, contrast, clarity, sharpening, and removal of digital noise - the same sort of things done to create a JPEG file in the camera but without compression of the file and loss of data. Digital cameras automatically capture the EXIF information for each image - this includes date, time, camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, flash, copyright, and other information embedded into the image file.

After import and screening for 'bad' images, I view every image for 'first round' processing. I straighten the image and crop it if necessary. Next, I recheck the white balance and adjust the exposure and contrast to assure there is no 'clipping' of the whites or blacks that cause loss of clarity or detail in the image. Next, I add more specific keyword tags to selected images and if needed apply fine detail exposure and contrast enhancements to make the image 'come to life" more realistically as I saw it.  Finally, I geo-tag the approximate location of the shot on Google Earth and back-up the files on the computer and re-format the memory card in the camera for the next day's shooting. 

I put the images out of mind for a day or two and then revisit the image folder for the day to compare and eliminate duplicate (or near duplicate) images. I may refine the keyword tags and grade the images from one to five stars (still no 4 or 5-star images!) The starred images may receive additional cropping, exposure, or sharpening adjustments. Finally, a few images will go to Photoshop for advanced editing to remove artifacts or stitch together panoramas or high dynamic range images.

So there you have it, a lot of steps but much of the process is automated.  The result is searchable, unique, refined images that are ready for conversion to JPEGs for sharing or printing. I will expand much of the post-processing information in later posts. But now it is time to start shooting again.

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