Digital Post-Processing

[Michael Tam]

In the era of digital photography, the mantra of the color-slide days of "do it right the first time" is extending into "making it perfect the second time" through the world of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.  For those who are familiar with the Photoshop CS series software, the following article by Tim Grey, described the process of Layer Mask that brings magic to your beloved images:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... ask-magic/

Good birding and photography in 2013.

[Michael Tam]

"To go with JPEG or RAW format, that is the question". The common answer is to shoot both, ie RAW + JPEG Fine, would give the best of both world. To understand the basics of the RAW format, the following article by Ron Day, explained the various facets into this data system used by well, almost all, serious photographers:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... le-format/

Good birding and photgraphy.

[Michael Tam]

For those with the OC inclinations for the extreme control over your images, there are within the Photoshop CS series Adjustment Layers, Layer Groups, and Layer Masks arsenal.  In this article, digital photography educator Tim Grey, described the use of Layers and Masks in details that may be helpful for one to navigate in the complex world of Photoshop CS series:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... ers-masks/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

When one shoots both RAW and JPEG files, does the Histogram display the RAW or JPEG data?  The following article by Tim Grey, digital photography educator, explains:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... nt-matter/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

Through the equally long hours spent in the field, then in front of the monitor navigating the intricate steps of editing through the Photoshop CS series, there are many problems that one may encounter.  The following informative article, by Rob Sheppard, described the common digital problems and their solutions:

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/how- ... tions.html

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

In digital darkroom or otherwise known as digital post-processing, one must master a steep learning curve over the navigation of various complex steps and pathways in order to achieve the final image.  In this respect, the Adobe Lightroom is probably the most popular software amongst the photographic community.

If one is apprehensive to enter the school of digital post-processsing, there is no better educational institution than the maker ADOBE itself.  The following links will be very helpful for one to learn step by step the basics of Adobe Lightroom 4 software in instructional video format.  So please sit down and bring out the pen and paper to absorb all you can in the wonderful world of digital post-processing:

http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-lightroom-4/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

In digital photography, it is important to organize your files into easy to retrieve categories. In comparative sense, it is a far bigger task than archiving one's color slides during the film days.  The following article offers valuable suggestions of the ways one can manage your images into a digital library of images:

http://www.phototechnique.com/how-to/ho ... ur-images/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

In the age of digital photography, one's treasure collection of beloved images are simply digitalized data to the computing medium. The practice of storing all the data on the desktop or laptop hard-drive is the sure-fire way to risk loosing the entire collection should any electronic decides to "kick the bucket" **. There are different avenues that digital data or one's treasured images be backed up through redundant copies, similar to the engineering practice in aviation since falling from the sky is not a good thing.  The practice of backing up one's image files the proper way can never be underemphasized.

The following articles described this redundant backup practice of digital data:

http://www.naturephotographers.net/arti ... 710-1.html

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... gital-age/

Good birding and photography.

** Footnote:  the origin of this saying "kick the bucket": http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/218800.html

[Michael Tam]

In the climb of the steep learning curve in mastering the necessary skills in digital post-processing, there is much to be learned from other photographers' experience in the various short cuts that may be very helpful to solve a specific problem.  The following article offers many very helpful quick tips that may be call upon to address a particular processing issue:

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/how- ... -tips.html

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

In the beginning, there is JPEG and RAW formats.  It was always known that for those who engage in the pursuit of digital post-processing, the RAW format offers more depth and flexibility.  For those who don't, it is always best to keep both a JPEG and RAW file so upon retirement, there is something in the bank to work with.

When one opens the import module on Lightroom, there is an option called "Copy as DNG".  So what is this "dng bet" business?  It is the Adobe proprietary image standard that encompasses univeral compatibility whereas the Canon RAW or Nikon RAW are specific manufacturer's proprietary format.  To understand further whether one should convert their file storage into DNG or keep as-is in RAW format, please read the following article explaining the differences:

http://photographylife.com/dng-vs-raw

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

Once upon a time, none of us photographers was interested in changing the career focus to being a librarian.  But when our work grows over the years, being able to find the particular once in a life-time image may be likened to "finding a needle in a haystack".

Therefore adding the proper Keyword to the metadata file on the Lightroom will make this future task much easier, as described in the following article:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... -keywords/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

For those who are fortunate to have the fortune (pardon the pun) to indulge in the wonderful world of Adobe Photoshop CS series, an all-new Photoshop CS-6 has been introduced with numerous new features.  When the "must have the latest" appetite makes the call, the due diligence between the retirement savings vs. Adobe Photoshop CS-6, the latter always wins.  Please sit down to enjoy reading this article about the Adobe Photoshop CS-6 below:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/re ... 6-arrives/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

The all new Adobe Photoshop CS-6 introduces new features and improvements to the CS series that is widely used by the professional photographic community.  Please bring out the pen and paper to watch the following instructional video series by the maker of Adobe, explains in step by step lessons on how to navigate this complex digital post-processing software:

http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-photoshop-cs6/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

In the film days, the discipline of "do it right the first time" still applies in the digital age.  There is a limit of data recovery in the original RAW file if the exposure is grossly exposed incorrectly, which also mean more time spend on Lightroom and Photoshop post-processing.

To avoid this scenario, one must gain enough knowledge in the interpretation of the LCD Histogram display, then renders the appropriate exposure compensation in the field.  The following article is very helpful to learn about this aspect of digital photography in order to improve the chance of bringing back an unforgetable image:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... histogram/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

In Macro Photography, there is the dilemma in the balance between magnification and depth of field on the subject.  In this article, naturalist Christina Evans, created an ingenius workflow in Photoshop through Focus Combining of a series of images to achieve an increase of Depth of Field in the final result:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... combining/

Good birding and photography.