Digital Image Processing

Introduction…

Unlike our eyes, the camera creates 2D images. It is fooled by light and dark areas within the scene and often needs to compensate logically, at the cost of reality. It doesn’t see what we see, it merely captures a scene we point it at in the best way it can.

Obviously a photographer who is competent can optimise exposure by knowing how their camera performs under different lighting scenarios,  and this will remove the need for fixing problems in editing, but it’s always limited by what the camera is able to capture. If you think about it, editing is just removing all the problems created by capturing a scene with a camera, and a completely un-unedited image is potentially more unnatural compared to what we really see - most of the time anyway…!

If you are new to photography and beginning to find your way the question of learning how to process your images straight out of the camera can be daunting. However, there are members of the Society who will be only to happy to help if you ask. In addition, to get you going we have put together this information so you will know where to seek out expert information and enable you to quickly progress at your own speed whatever photo editing programme you choose to use. Like the choice of camera there are no ‘rights and wrongs’ and it often comes down to personal choice.

If on your journey you find other sources of learning that you think other members will benefit from please let us know and we can add that to the list.

A Word of Warning….

With software you can achieve amazing things and with practice you will be able to do almost everything from tweaking contrast in an image to moving objects around and even make your image look like a painting. But there are also plenty of things - essential things - that you cannot do. You cannot make an out of focus subject in focus. You cannot un-blur a moving subject because you used the wrong shutter speed. The point is software is not a substitute for camera skills. It is great, perhaps even vital, to know how to work on a photograph after the event. However, that cannot take the place of learning how to use your camera, how to appreciate the light and how to compose a great image. To produce a good image from a poorly taken photograph can take hours sitting in front of a computer. How long does it take to get it right in the first place..? Frequently in less than a second.

Post-Production Software….

There are now several professional photo editing programmes available that suit both the professional and amateur alike that have become increasingly common for the basic editing of photos. For many years Adobe Photoshop has been the market leader and while it offers a comprehensive set of tools for adjusting and manipulating images, it doesn't offer other features such as cataloguing images hence the development of the increasingly popular Lightroom CC programme. It is worth bearing in mind that Photoshop is no longer a standalone programme but for a monthly fee is now part of a wider creative suite of programmes bundled with other Adobe products. The current monthly fee for Adobe’s CC Photographers package is around £9.00 per month which include Photoshop CC 2021, Lightroom CC Classic, Adobe Camera Raw plus a couple of administration packages. Regular updates are also included in the price. Adobe Photoshop Elements is a standalone programme and as its name implies comprises elements of the main programme and includes the ability to organize image libraries. Several other software competitors have since created post-production software alternatives to Photoshop that can deliver a range of different tools, organisational opportunities, creative inspiration and some say better value. However, it should be borne in mind that most of these companies release updated programme versions on a regular basis (usually annually) which in most instances will attract a fee.

This link best photo-editor will take you to a website of the best photo editors that are currently on the market. Hopefully, this table will also assist you to find some basic tutorials or information of each of the programmes that will get you started if you have not already settled on your preferred option. In addition, below you will also find some information and links to information and tutorials that you can also try.

If you run into any problems or want further advice and guidance please feel free to contact the Society’s f1.4 group who will be pleased to help

Hand-out notes from Special Presentations

After Special Presentations it is not unusual for speakers to provide guidance notes explaining how they process digital images. When provided the information will be added below with the most recent at the top of the list. The guidance will be available for about three-months after which they will be archived.

Woodland Ways - Paul Mitchell FRPS (Zoom presentation, 20th December 2022)

CLICK on the image to obtain a copy of the notes provided by Paul after his presentation